At 62, the jumper that is warm and smart at the same time
At 62, the jumper that is warm and smart at the same time
Six things the Faye gets right that jumpers get wrong, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never once sat down to write about a jumper in my life. What I had done, every winter, was accept a quiet little trade-off, that I could be warm or I could look smart, but not both, so I spent the cold months in cosy jumpers that made me look as though I had made no effort at all. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found she could have both, from one jumper, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Faye, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is a soft ribbed jumper with a lovely tall collar and a little row of buttons at the front, and mine is a rich wine burgundy. When the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
I put it on with a plain pair of jeans and looked, for once, as though I had dressed with a bit of thought, while feeling as cosy as I do in my oldest jumper. That was the moment it won me over. Read on.
Here is the little trade-off the cold weather had taught me to accept. A proper warm jumper, the cosy sort, always looked a bit shapeless and thrown-on, like I had given up for the season. And the smarter knits that looked nice were forever leaving my neck and my chest cold, so I would sit there in a lovely top reaching for a scarf indoors. Warm or smart. I had stopped believing a jumper could be both, and had settled, a little grumpily, for warm.
Warm or smart, but never both. That was my winter. This is the first jumper that let me stop choosing.
The Faye is the first jumper I have owned that is properly warm and genuinely smart at the same time, and having barely taken mine off since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Such a rich colour, and far smarter than I expected a cosy jumper to look.
THE COLLAR AND BUTTONS MAKE IT LOOK SMART
This is the whole thing, really. The tall collar and the little row of buttons at the throat do something a plain round-neck jumper never can, they make it look considered, a proper smart knit rather than a cosy afterthought. It has the look of something you would wear to a nice lunch, so it lifts a plain pair of jeans into a proper outfit, and it does it the moment you put it on.
The tall collar and the little buttons. This is what makes a cosy jumper look smart.
The collar and buttons make it look so smart, like a proper considered top, not a comfy old jumper. I get compliments every time.
Christine B., West BridgfordTHE TALL COLLAR KEEPS THE DRAUGHT OFF YOUR NECK
Here is the clever part, and the bit I did not expect to love so much. That same tall collar folds softly around the neck and keeps the chill right off, which for me is exactly where the cold gets in. No more reaching for a scarf indoors, no more cold draught down the back of the neck. It is like having a little bit of a polo neck, but a soft, easy one you can wear open at the throat.
The tall collar keeps my neck lovely and warm, which is just where I feel the cold. I have not reached for a scarf indoors since.
Margaret E., SouthwellA SOFT RIBBED KNIT, COMFORTABLE ALL DAY
For all that it looks smart, it is first and foremost a lovely comfy jumper. The ribbed knit is soft and cosy against the skin, with a gentle stretch and give, so it is every bit as easy to live in as the shapeless old thing it replaced. I can wear it all day, at my desk, out to the shops, round the kitchen, and never once want to change out of it.
So soft and cosy, and the ribbed knit has a lovely bit of give. As comfortable as my favourite old jumper, but far nicer.
Pauline H., ArnoldA RELAXED, FLATTERING FIT
The shape is soft and relaxed, so it skims gently over the middle rather than clinging to it, and the tall collar draws the eye up to the face. It is comfortable and forgiving through the body, but the collar and the buttons keep it looking neat and pulled-together rather than baggy. Flattering and easy, which is just what I want at my age.
The soft collar and the neat button placket. It skims and flatters, and looks tidy.
The fit is so flattering, it skims over the middle and the collar draws the eye up. Comfortable but still neat and smart.
Dorothy S., BeestonIT DRESSES UP A PAIR OF JEANS, AND GOES ANYWHERE
One jumper, and it does the lot. With jeans for the shops of a morning, then out to a lunch or an evening just as it is, no need to change into something smarter. Because the jumper itself looks considered, whatever is on the bottom can be as plain as you like and the outfit still looks like you meant it. It has quietly become the thing I reach for whenever I want to look nice and feel warm.
By the wardrobe, ready to dress up a plain pair of jeans.
It dresses up my jeans instantly. I can go from the shops to lunch without changing, it always looks smart enough.
Eileen T., NewarkTHREE LOVELY COLOURS, AND HONEST SIZES
The sizing runs honestly all the way from a small up to a 5XL, cut with a relaxed, forgiving shape that sits well whatever your figure. It comes in three lovely colours, my rich wine burgundy and a soft blush pink and a pretty sky blue, so there is a shade to suit everyone. I have the burgundy for the autumn. I am rather tempted by the blue for the spring.
It goes up to my size and still looks smart and neat, not a sack. So pleased with it that I have ordered the blue as well.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Faye, against the winter trade-off you have settled for
You can have a drawer full of jumpers and still feel you must choose between warm and smart. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Warm, but shapeless and thrown-on
Or smart, but leaves your neck cold
A plain round neck, nothing special
Needs a scarf indoors to keep cosy
Makes you look like you gave up
Warm and smart at the same time
Tall collar keeps the draught off your neck
Collar and buttons look considered
Cosy without a scarf
Dresses up a plain pair of jeans
About the price
The Faye is £36.95 at the moment. It was £74.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the middle sizes are the first to go, and with the autumn sale on they are going quickly, so once a size has gone it can be a wait for it to come back. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and for a jumper this warm and this smart, I have found nothing wrong with it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
Folded away, ready for the next cold day that calls for warm and smart at once.
If you are tired of choosing between warm and smart when it turns cold, this is the jumper I would hand you myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
FAYE | V-NECK POLO JUMPER
- Warm and smart at the same time
- Tall polo collar keeps the draught off your neck
- Collar and buttons look considered, a cut above a plain jumper
- Soft ribbed knit, comfortable all day
- Relaxed, flattering fit that skims the middle
- Dresses up a plain pair of jeans
- Three lovely colours, honest sizes S to 5XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now. Middle sizes go first.