At 62, the jumper with the collar that actually flatters my face
At 62, the jumper with the collar that actually flatters my face
Six things the Mable 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 noticed, in one or two photographs I would rather not dwell on, was that my cosy old jumpers were doing my face no favours at all, closing everything in high at the neck and, somehow, hardening the whole look. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found a jumper that is kind to her face, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Mable, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is a soft, fine knit with a lovely folded shawl collar that opens into a V at the front, and mine is a rich dusty plum. 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 put it on and caught myself in the mirror looking, well, softer, and rather more like the version of me I remember. That was the moment it won me over. Read on.
Here is the thing nobody quite tells you. As the years go on, it is the neck and the jaw that show it first, and what we put around them matters more than we think. A high, round jumper closes the neck right in, seems to shorten it, and draws a hard line straight across the softest part of the face. I had a drawer full of cosy jumpers that all did exactly that, and I had started to dread the group photograph.
It is the neck and the jaw that show it first, and a high round jumper does neither any favours. This is the first one that is genuinely kind to my face.
The Mable is the first jumper I have owned that is soft and cosy and actually flatters my face, and having barely taken mine off since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Such a rich, elegant colour, and softer than I expected.
THE SHAWL COLLAR FRAMES AND FLATTERS THE FACE
This is the whole thing, really. The soft, folded shawl collar sits around the neckline like a gentle frame, and it draws the eye up to the face and softens the jaw rather than cutting a hard line across it. It is the most flattering thing I have ever had around my neck, and the difference in a photograph is not small. I look softer, kinder, more like myself.
The soft folded shawl collar and the open V. This is what frames and flatters the face.
The collar is so flattering on the face. It softens my jaw and draws the eye up. I look better in this than in things that cost far more.
Christine B., West BridgfordIT IS SOFT AS CASHMERE
For all that it looks so elegant, it feels every bit as lovely as it looks. The knit is fine and soft and light, with that gentle, expensive, cashmere-soft handle against the skin, not a scratch or an itch anywhere. It is a genuine pleasure to put on, the sort of soft that makes you want to keep it on all day, and it looks and feels a great deal dearer than it is.
So soft, like proper cashmere, not a scratch to it. It feels far more expensive than it was, and I never want to take it off.
Margaret E., SouthwellTHE OPEN V FLATTERS AND NEVER FEELS STUFFY
The collar opens into a soft V at the front, and that does two more lovely things. It lengthens the neck and opens up the neckline, which is flattering in itself, and it means the jumper never feels hot or closed-in around the throat the way a high neck can. It is cosy where you want it and open where you want it, so I am warm without ever feeling stifled.
The open V lengthens my neck and it never feels stuffy or hot at the throat like a polo neck. Cosy but not closed in.
Pauline H., ArnoldA NEAT, RELAXED FIT THAT FLATTERS
The body is cut neat but relaxed, so it skims softly over the middle rather than clinging, and it stays looking tidy and elegant rather than baggy or shapeless. It is comfortable and forgiving through the tummy and the hips, but it keeps a lovely refined line, so the whole effect is put-together. Flattering top to bottom, not just at the collar.
The elegant collar and the neat, soft fit. Flattering at the face, and all the way down.
The fit is so flattering, neat but relaxed, it skims over my middle and still looks elegant. Not baggy at all.
Dorothy S., BeestonSMART ENOUGH FOR ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING
Because it looks so elegant and considered, it goes anywhere. With smart trousers for a lunch or a do, with jeans for the shops, with a skirt for something nicer, and it always looks the part. It is the jumper I reach for when I want to look that little bit refined without any effort, which at our age is rather often, and it never lets me down.
By the wardrobe, elegant enough for trousers, jeans or a skirt.
It looks smart with everything, trousers, jeans, a skirt. So elegant, I feel refined and put-together every time.
Eileen T., NewarkSEVEN LOVELY COLOURS, AND HONEST SIZES
The sizing runs honestly from a small up to a 4XL, cut neat but relaxed so it sits well and flatters whatever your figure. It comes in seven lovely colours, my rich plum and a cream, a red, a green, a blue and more, so there is a shade to suit and flatter everyone. I have the plum, which is lovely on, and I am rather tempted by the green as well.
It goes up to my size and still looks elegant and flattering, not a sack. The plum is gorgeous, and I have ordered the cream too.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Mable, against the cosy jumpers that do your face no favours
You can have a drawer full of warm jumpers and not one that is kind to your face. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
A high round neck that closes you in
Shortens the neck, hardens the jaw
Warm, but does your face no favours
Cosy but a bit shapeless
Dreaded in the group photograph
A soft shawl collar that frames the face
Lengthens the neck, softens the jaw
Cosy and genuinely flattering
Soft as cashmere, neat and elegant
The one you are pleased to be seen in
About the price
The Mable is £39.95 at the moment. It was £80.00.
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 this soft and this flattering, 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 that little bit more like myself.
If your cosy jumpers do nothing for your face, and you would like one that does, this is the jumper I would hand you myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
MABLE | SHAWL-COLLAR V-NECK SWEATER
- A soft shawl collar that frames and flatters the face
- Lengthens the neck and softens the jaw
- Soft as cashmere, a fine luxe knit
- An open V that flatters and never feels stuffy
- Neat, relaxed, flattering fit
- Smart enough for trousers, jeans or a skirt
- Seven lovely colours, honest sizes S to 4XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now. Middle sizes go first.