At 62, every jumper I owned came right up to my chin
At 62, every jumper I owned came right up to my chin
Six things the Honora jumper gets right that my drawer of crew necks got 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. But every October I would open my drawer and find the same thing. Crew necks, polo necks, round necks, all of them sitting right up under my chin. Put one on and I looked like I had no neck at all, just a soft wall of wool from my chin to my waist. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found a jumper that lets her look like herself again, saying so.
What I found is from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is called the Honora, a soft, light knit jumper with an open V-neck and three-quarter sleeves. Mine is a lovely muted sage green. 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.
One V-neck. Fourteen colours. Read on.
Here is how it happens, and I suspect it happens to most of us. The weather turns, we reach for something warm, and warm always seems to mean high at the neck. A high neck on a fuller figure makes everything look bigger and shorter than it is. So we start pulling at the collar, or hiding under a scarf, or wearing a cardigan open over the top to break it up.
I did not need a smaller jumper. I needed one that showed a bit of me.
The Honora is the first jumper I have owned that is soft and cosy and still gives me my neckline back, and having worn it most days since it arrived, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The afternoon it came. Softer than I expected, and such a pretty green.
A V-neck that gives me my neck back
The neckline opens into a clean V, so there is a little space between my chin and the jumper. It draws the eye down and makes me look longer in the body, not shorter. I can wear a favourite necklace with it again, or nothing at all.
In the sitting room on a grey afternoon. The V is just low enough.
The V-neck is so flattering. I feel slimmer in it straight away.
Margaret H., BeestonSleeves that stay out of the washing up
The sleeves stop just below the elbow, finished with a deep ribbed cuff. No more pushing them up every time I wash a cup or put my hands in the sink, and no more soggy cuffs. It is a small thing, but I notice it twenty times a day.
Washing up after lunch. The cuffs stay exactly where they are.
Love the three-quarter sleeves. Nothing gets in the way.
Jean T., ArnoldLight enough for the house
It is a fine, soft knit, cosy without being heavy. I can wear it all day indoors with the heating on and not feel like I am cooking, then pop a coat over it to go out.
Folded on the end of the bed. You can see how fine the knit is.
Soft and light. Perfect for wearing round the house all day.
Pauline W., HucknallA relaxed fit that skims, not clings
It is cut loose and easy through the body, with dropped shoulders, so it skims over my tummy rather than hugging it. Nothing pulls across the bust and nothing sits too tight on my arms.
Doesn't cling anywhere. Comfortable and still looks smart.
Sheila M., Long EatonA neat finish, tucked or loose
The ribbed hem and cuffs keep it looking tidy. It comes to the hip, so I wear it loose over jeans most days, and tucked into the front of my good trousers when we go out for lunch.
Looks lovely with my jeans and just as nice tucked in.
Brenda P., CarltonIt goes with everything, in fourteen colours
Mine is the sage, but it comes in fourteen colours, from black, white and stone to raspberry, coral, sky blue and orange. It goes with jeans, trousers and skirts, and it comes in sizes UK 8/10 right up to UK 22/24.
Bought the sage first, then went back for the raspberry.
Christine R., West BridgfordThis, against my old crew necks
Most of us have a drawer of high-necked jumpers we have stopped enjoying. I know, because I had that drawer for years. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Right up under my chin
Sleeves in the washing up
Thick and too warm indoors
Clung in all the wrong places
Always grey or navy
An open, flattering V-neck
Three-quarter sleeves
A soft, light knit
Relaxed and skimming
Fourteen colours
About the price
The Honora is £29.95 at the moment. It was £60.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that with the cold weather starting the middle sizes are going first, and once this batch has gone it can be a long 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 after weeks of wearing it, I have not found it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I went back for a second colour. 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.
If every jumper in your drawer comes right up to your chin, I would start here. Not because you need more jumpers, but because you deserve one that shows a little of you. Go and have a look while your size is still there.
Caroline
HONORA | Sage Green V-Neck Knit Sweater
- Flattering open V-neck
- Three-quarter sleeves with deep ribbed cuffs
- Soft, light, finely textured knit
- Relaxed fit with dropped shoulders, skims without clinging
- Ribbed hem, hip length, lovely tucked or loose
- Fourteen colours, UK 8/10 to UK 22/24
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The sale is on now, half price on every colour. From sage and stone to raspberry, coral and sky blue.