At 62, the cosy jumper that looks like it cost a fortune
At 62, the cosy jumper that looks like it cost a fortune
Six things the Irma 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 always believed was that you must choose, that you could be cosy, in something soft and shapeless you would never quite feel put-together in, or you could look elegant, in something smarter that never let you properly relax. 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 Irma, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is a big, soft, oversized jumper that drapes beautifully, in a lovely soft oatmeal, and it is the most expensive-looking thing I own, though it was anything but. 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 threw it on over a pair of slim trousers and looked, to my great surprise, as though I had stepped out of a magazine, while feeling as cosy as if I had a blanket round my shoulders. That was the moment it won me over. Read on.
Here is the choice the years had taught me to accept. Cosy, or elegant. The big soft jumpers I loved to live in were warm and comforting but hung there shapelessly, so I felt comfortable but looked like I had given up. And the smarter knits that looked lovely were forever a little stiff, a little snug, never quite something I could sink into of an evening. Warm and shapeless, or smart and uncomfortable. I had chosen cosy for years, and quietly minded how it looked.
Cosy or elegant, warm or smart. That was the choice, and I had made my peace with looking comfortable rather than chic. This jumper let me stop choosing.
The Irma is the first jumper I have owned that looks a small fortune and feels like a blanket 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. Softer and far more expensive-looking than I had any right to expect.
IT LOOKS EFFORTLESSLY EXPENSIVE
The first thing anyone says is how expensive it looks. The soft, oversized drape has that quiet, understated elegance you see in the good magazines and the smart shop windows, the sort of minimalist, dear-looking knit you would expect to pay the earth for. It looks considered and elegant with no effort at all, and nobody has ever guessed what I really paid.
The wide soft neck and the lovely knit. This is what looks so quietly expensive.
It looks so expensive, like a designer knit. I have had more compliments on this than on things that cost five times as much.
Christine B., West BridgfordIT IS AS COSY AS A BLANKET
Here is the lovely part. For all that it looks so smart, it is the cosiest thing imaginable to wear, soft and warm and roomy, like wrapping yourself up in a blanket and taking it out with you. The wide neck and the big soft sleeves mean nothing is tight or fitted anywhere, so you can sink right into it. Elegant to look at, and a proper hug to wear.
It looks so smart but it feels like a hug, soft and warm and roomy. I could stay in it all day, and often do.
Margaret E., SouthwellTHE DRAPE IS SO ELEGANT AND FLATTERING
The oversized shape drapes in soft, easy folds rather than clinging, so it skims right over the tummy, the hips, everything you would rather it skimmed, and does it with a certain grace. There is nothing frumpy about it, the way a shapeless jumper can be, it simply falls beautifully, and covers what I want covered while looking elegant rather than baggy. Forgiving and lovely at once.
The soft elegant drape, falling in easy folds. It skims and covers, and looks graceful.
The drape is so flattering, it skims right over my middle and hips but still looks elegant, not baggy at all.
Dorothy S., BeestonTHROW IT ON AND YOU LOOK PULLED-TOGETHER
The loveliest part is how little it asks of you. On the mornings I cannot be bothered, I throw the Irma over a pair of slim trousers or my leggings, and that is the whole outfit, done, and I look pulled-together and elegant in seconds. It does all the work, so whatever is underneath can be as plain and comfortable as I like, and I still look as though I made a proper effort.
I throw it over leggings and look instantly put-together. It does all the work, I barely have to think about the rest.
Pauline H., ArnoldWARM WITHOUT THE WEIGHT
For all that it is big and cosy, it is a soft, light knit rather than a heavy one, so it keeps you lovely and warm without weighing you down or feeling bulky and hot. It is just right for a cool autumn day, indoors with a draught, or out and about with a coat over the top, and it never feels like a great heavy thing on your shoulders. Cosy, but easy to wear.
By the wardrobe, ready to throw on and look elegant in an instant.
Lovely and warm but so soft and light, not heavy or bulky at all. Perfect for the house or under a coat.
Eileen T., NewarkSEVEN LOVELY COLOURS, AND HONEST SIZES
The sizing runs honestly all the way from a small up to a 5XL, and because it is a soft oversized shape it sits beautifully whatever your figure, with room to feel wrapped up and comfortable. It comes in seven lovely colours, my soft oatmeal and a black, an olive green, a navy, a grey and more, so there is a shade to suit everyone. I have the oatmeal. I am rather tempted by the olive for the autumn.
It goes up to my size and still drapes beautifully and looks expensive, not a sack. So pleased I have ordered the grey too.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Irma, against the jumpers you have been choosing between
You can have a drawer full of jumpers and feel you must always choose between cosy and elegant. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Cosy, but shapeless and frumpy
Or smart, but stiff and snug
Warm, but looks like you gave up
Nothing you could call elegant
Never both at once
Looks effortlessly expensive
As cosy as wrapping up in a blanket
An elegant drape that skims and flatters
Throw it on and look pulled-together
Cosy and chic at the same time
About the price
The Irma is £37.95 at the moment. It was £76.00.
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 that looks this expensive and feels this cosy, 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 day I want to look expensive and feel cosy at once.
If you have been choosing between cosy and elegant, and would rather like both, this is the jumper I would hand you myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
IRMA | OVERSIZED DRAPED SWEATER
- Looks effortlessly expensive, like a designer knit
- As cosy as wrapping up in a blanket
- An elegant oversized drape that skims and flatters
- Throw it on and look pulled-together in seconds
- Soft, light knit, warm without the weight
- Wide soft neck and roomy batwing sleeves
- Seven lovely colours, honest sizes S to 5XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now. Middle sizes go first.