A letter from a reader

At 62, every fleece I owned made me look like I was off up a mountain

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

I have always loved a fleece. Warm, light, easy to throw on. The trouble is every one I have ever owned looked like it belonged on a walking holiday in the Lake District. Navy, shiny zip, a little toggle on the hem. Fine for the dog walk. But the minute I was meeting someone for lunch, or popping into town, I would take it off in the car and either freeze in a cardigan or haul out my big winter coat, which is far too much for October.

I wanted something as cosy as a fleece that I would not be embarrassed to wear into a nice café.

So I put up with it, and kept the fleece for the dog and the coat for best.

Then I saw it on a friend at the tea rooms

Pat came in out of the cold wearing a soft camel jacket over a cream roll-neck, and I honestly thought it was a good wool coat until I gave her a hug. It was a teddy fleece, the soft curly kind, with a neat little stand-up collar, a zip, and a tiny button tab on each cuff. She looked smart, she looked warm, and she did not look one bit like she was about to climb anything. She told me it was the Gillian, from Nottingham Boutique, a little boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I ordered mine that evening.

What happened at lunch in town

The first cold Saturday I wore it into town with my cream roll-neck and jeans, met my sister for lunch, and kept it on right through to the pudding. Three different women asked me about it, one of them at the next table, and my friend Sue told me I looked like I had made an effort, which I have decided to take as a compliment. Nobody asked if I had been out walking.

It is a small thing, a fleece you can wear anywhere. I had forgotten how nice it is to be warm and still feel put together.

Three things I have learned since

One. Teddy fleece looks expensive. The soft, curly texture reads more like a good wool jacket than a sports fleece. It falls just below the hip and has a neat shape, so it looks smart over a roll-neck and jeans.

Two. The collar does the work of a scarf. Zip it right up and the stand-up collar keeps the wind off your neck. On a milder day, wear it open.

Three. Warm without the weight. It is cosy and soft but light on the shoulders, easy to put on and take off with the full zip. The two slanted pockets are just right for cold hands, and there is a neat little button tab on each cuff.

About the price

I had assumed something this soft and this smart would be well out of my budget.

The Gillian is £32.95. It was £66.

There is no catch. They have their autumn sale on and delivery is free. Mine is the camel, and it also comes in pink, navy and black, from a UK 8 right 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, "Finally a fleece I can wear out to lunch. People think it is a proper jacket." 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.

Keep your old fleece for the garden. For everything else, find one that looks as nice as it feels. You should not have to choose between cosy and smart.

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