A letter from a reader

At 62, I packed my dresses away every October

I have never written to a shop before, and I did not expect my first letter to be about a dress.

Every year, as soon as the clocks went back, my dresses went into a box on top of the wardrobe. They were all thin summer things with short sleeves, and the one or two winter dresses I had ever tried either clung in all the wrong places or made me look like I was off to a funeral. So from October to April I lived in trousers and jumpers. Warm, sensible, and the same thing every single day.

I could be warm, or I could feel nice in a dress. I had decided I could not be both for half the year.

So I stopped looking, and the trousers came out again.

Then I saw one on my cousin Linda at the craft fair

Linda was in the loveliest deep green dress, long sleeves, a soft leaf pattern all over it and black tights and boots. She had her hands in the pockets and looked completely at ease. I said I had not seen her in a dress in winter for years, and she said neither had she until this one. She told me it was from Nottingham Boutique, a little boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is called the Finella. I ordered mine that evening.

What happened at my niece's engagement party

I wore it to my niece's engagement party at the village pub, with thick black tights and my brown ankle boots. I walked in and felt properly dressed up for the first time since September. Three different women asked me about it before the toasts, and my friend Sue told me I looked like I had made an effort, which I have decided to take as a compliment.

It is a small thing, a dress. But I had missed feeling like that, and I had not realised how much.

Three things I have learned since

One. A winter dress is all about the sleeves and the boots. Long sleeves, opaque tights and a pair of ankle boots, and a dress works right through the winter. I wish I had worked that out years ago.

Two. The shape is everything. It is a relaxed cocoon shape that skims rather than clings, so it does not catch on your tummy or your hips. It just falls.

Three. Pockets change everything. Two proper side pockets, for my hands, my keys and a tissue. And the tonal leaf pattern means it looks rich and considered without being loud.

About the price

I had expected a dress like this to cost a good deal more.

The Finella is £34.95. It was £70.

There is no catch. They have their autumn sale on and delivery is free. It comes in green, burgundy, blue, black, purple and brown, from a UK 8 up to a UK 20.

I did go and read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars. Not the suspiciously perfect five you see on some sites, which if I am honest made me trust it more. One woman had written, "First dress I have worn in winter for about ten years. I have bought it in two colours now." That was the one that decided it for me.

What I would tell you if we were friends

If you came round and we sat out on the porch with a cup of tea, this is what I would tell you.

If your dresses go into a box every October, they do not have to. You just need one made for the colder months, with long sleeves, a shape that skims and a good pair of boots.

It does not look like it was made for somebody half my age, and it does not look like I have given up either.

Caroline