At 62, I opened my wardrobe and could not find one thing that was any fun
At 62, I opened my wardrobe and could not find one thing that was any fun
Six things the Kimmy gets right that a drawer full of sensible jumpers gets 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 I opened my wardrobe one cold morning this month and properly looked at it for the first time in years. Navy. Grey. Black. Two beiges. All of it perfectly nice, all of it perfectly appropriate, and not one single thing in there that would make anybody smile, including me. So this is not a review. It is a woman who noticed she had got very sensible, 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 Kimmy. Soft and fluffy, roomy in the way you want a jumper to be, purple across the top and cream below, with one black cat stretched out fast asleep along the middle and his tail hanging down. 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.
A jumper with a cat on it. At 62. Read on.
Here is how it happens, and I do not think I am the only one. You buy the sensible one every time, because it goes with everything, and because the cheerful one on the next hanger feels like it is asking something of you. Nobody decides to be the woman in navy. You just make the safe choice forty times in a row, and one morning the wardrobe has quietly made the decision for you.
I had not stopped liking colour, or fun, or anything with a bit of character. I had simply stopped buying it, one sensible jumper at a time.
The Kimmy is the first thing I have bought in years that is a bit of fun, and having worn it half to death since it arrived, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it came. Softer than I expected, and that cat made me laugh out loud.
It is fun without being fancy dress
This was the bit I worried about. There is a difference between a jumper with a bit of character and one of those novelty things that comes out once a year, and I did not want to look like I was in costume. It is one simple black cat, asleep, drawn in a few clean lines. That is all. No slogans, no bells, no glitter. It reads as a nice jumper that happens to have a cat on it, which is exactly what I wanted.
Just the one cat, fast asleep along the middle. Nothing else going on.
I was worried it would look childish and it does not at all. It is a proper grown-up jumper that just happens to have a cat on it.
Maureen A., BeestonUnderneath the fun, it is a proper jumper
It is soft and fluffy to the touch, with a nice bit of weight to it, a ribbed crew neck and ribbed cuffs that hold their shape. The shoulders drop a little so it sits easy rather than pulling anywhere. If you took the cat off it entirely, it would still be the jumper I reached for on a cold morning, and that is the whole point.
Hung up ready for the morning. It has hardly been on that hanger since.
Lovely and soft, much nicer quality than I expected for the money. It washes well and has kept its shape.
Christine D., HucknallThe colour sits up where it does you good
The purple is across the top, up by your face, and the bottom half is a quiet cream. So you get the lift of a proper colour near your face, which at our age does half the work, and the calmer half sits where you might not want the attention. It is a cleverer bit of design than a jumper at this price has any business having.
The purple is gorgeous near the face. I look far less washed out in this than in my usual grey.
Val S., SouthwellRoomy, so you can actually get comfortable
It is cut relaxed and generous rather than close, so there is room for a vest underneath on a cold day and room to sit at the table without anything digging in. I can push the sleeves up and get on with things. It is the sort of jumper you forget you have on, which is the highest praise I can give.
At the table with a cup of tea. Roomy enough to be comfortable all morning.
Beautifully roomy without being shapeless. I have room for a long-sleeved top underneath when it is really cold.
Eileen P., RavensheadIt goes with what is already in the wardrobe
Jeans, leggings, my ordinary trousers, a skirt on a Sunday. Because the bottom half is cream and the pattern is just the one cat, it does not fight with anything. All that sensible navy and grey I already own turned out to be the perfect thing to wear it with, which I did enjoy.
Goes with everything I own. I have worn it with jeans, black trousers and my denim skirt and it looks right with all of them.
Jean W., BinghamTen colours, and honest sizes
There are ten colours to choose from, so you can have the purple like mine or something quieter if you are easing yourself in. And the sizes run from a UK 8/10 right up to a 22/24, in the same relaxed cut, which is not something you can say about most things with a bit of character on them. Whatever size you take, you get the same jumper.
So pleased it comes in my size and still looks the same as the photos. Ordered the purple and went back for a second colour.
Pauline H., ArnoldThis, against the sensible jumper you keep buying
You can buy a plain navy jumper anywhere, and most of us have three. I know, because I counted. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Navy, grey or beige, like the last one
Nobody has ever mentioned it
Safe, and a little bit invisible
Chosen because it goes with everything
Perfectly nice, and quite forgettable
One sleeping cat, and nothing else
People smile and ask about it
Fun, without tipping into fancy dress
Still goes with the navy you own
Soft, roomy and properly warm
About the price
The Kimmy is £31.95 at the moment. It was £64.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that with the autumn sale on the middle sizes go first, and once the autumn stock 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 weeks of wearing it, I have not found 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.
Over the bedroom chair, ready for tomorrow. The navy one has not had a look in.
If you opened your wardrobe this morning and could not find one thing in it that was any fun, I would start here. Not because a jumper changes anything. It does not. But there is something in catching sight of yourself and thinking, well, that is more like me, that I had stopped expecting at 62. Go and have a look while your size is still there.
Caroline
KIMMY | Cat Print Jumper
- One simple sleeping cat, no slogans or novelty
- Soft, fluffy knit with ribbed neck and cuffs
- Colour across the top, quiet cream below
- Relaxed, roomy cut with dropped shoulders
- Goes with jeans, leggings, trousers or a skirt
- Ten colours · UK 8/10 (S) to UK 22/24 (5XL)
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now, half price. The middle sizes go first.