At 62, the Tweed Two-Piece Made for Autumn
At 62, the tweed two-piece that is made for autumn
Six things the Melize gets right that autumn outfits 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 an outfit in my life. What I have done is be caught out by the autumn every single year, too cold of a morning for the summer frocks and too dressy an occasion for a jumper, standing in front of the wardrobe with nothing that feels right. So this is not a review. It is a woman who finally found the one thing that is made for this time of year, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Melize, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I first saw it on a woman at a christening on the first cool weekend of the autumn, warm and smart while the rest of us shivered, and 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 black and white tweed two-piece. I took one look and, with the leaves just starting to turn, thought it was exactly right for the season, and that it must have cost her a small fortune. Then she told me the price. Under fifty pounds, for the pair of them. Read on.
Here is what a lifetime of autumns taught me. When the season turns, the outfits we reach for come in two piles. The safe pile, the same tired trousers and the jumper that has seen better days, which does the job but makes you feel dowdy and invisible. And the summer pile we cling to too long, the thin frocks that leave us frozen by the church door. I have owned plenty of both and never once felt right for the season in either.
Too cold for the summer frocks, too dowdy in the same old jumper. Every autumn caught me out, and neither pile was ever me.
The Melize is the first thing I have owned that is made for exactly this time of year, and having worn it three times already this month, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Two pieces, made to go together, in a proper autumn tweed.
TWEED IS THE FABRIC OF AUTUMN, AND IT LOOKS FAR DEARER THAN IT IS
The price I will deal with first, because it was my whole objection. Up close, the tweed is the thing. It has that woven black and white texture that comes into its own the moment the leaves turn, the sort you see in the good autumn windows, and it catches the light like something that cost hundreds. Nobody has ever guessed what I paid, and I confess I have not always rushed to tell them. It simply looks like proper autumn dressing, and that, at our age, is half the battle won before you leave the house.
The tweed up close. Proper autumn cloth, and it looks like it cost the earth.
Three people at the autumn wedding asked if it was designer. I just smiled. The tweed genuinely looks like it cost hundreds.
Christine B., West BridgfordIT COMES ALREADY PUT TOGETHER, FOR A COLD MORNING
This is the part I did not expect to love as much as I do. The jacket and the trousers are made to match, so getting dressed on a dark, cold autumn morning is one decision instead of six. There is no standing there in the chill holding things up against each other. You put on the two pieces and you are done, and you look as though you gave it real thought. When the mornings draw in, that is worth more than I can say.
On a cold morning I put on the two pieces and I am done, and I look like I made an effort. It has taken the fuss out of autumn dressing.
Margaret E., SouthwellIT IS TAILORED, BUT IT IS FORGIVING
The jacket is a proper cropped shape with a bit of structure to the shoulder, so it holds its line and looks smart, but it skims rather than grips, and the high waist on the trousers sits comfortably and does not dig. It flatters where you want flattering and forgives where you want forgiving, which is not a sentence I have ever been able to write about an autumn outfit before.
Structured enough to look tailored, but nothing pulls or digs. It skims right over the middle and I felt lovely all day.
Dorothy S., BeestonTHE WIDE-LEG TROUSERS ARE COMFORTABLE AND WARM ENOUGH FOR A CRISP DAY
I had rather given up on trousers for a nice do, but these changed my mind. They are a wide, flowing leg in a proper tweed, so they cover the leg and keep the chill off on a crisp day, and there is room to sit down to your lunch and go back for pudding in comfort. And there are proper pockets, which I did not expect and now would not be without. Elegant, warm and comfortable at once, which is just what autumn asks for.
The wide-leg tweed trousers, with real pockets. Warm on a crisp day, and you can sit and eat.
The wide leg is so comfortable and keeps the cold off, and they have pockets. Perfect for an autumn lunch.
Pauline H., ArnoldIT IS REALLY SEVERAL AUTUMN OUTFITS
Here is the thrifty bit that pleased me most. You do not have to wear the two pieces together. The tweed jacket goes beautifully over a plain autumn dress or with my ordinary trousers, and the wide-leg trousers dress down with a warm jumper for something smarter than usual. So it is not one outfit for one occasion. It is a jacket, a pair of trousers, and the full set, all from the one buy, and all of it right for the season.
The two pieces, ready to go together or apart, right through the autumn.
I wear the jacket with jeans as much as I wear the whole set. It has turned into about four autumn outfits in my wardrobe.
Eileen T., NewarkHONEST SIZES, AND IT LAYERS UNDER A COAT
The sizing runs honestly, all the way from a 6/8 up to a 22/24, which is not something you can say of every pretty thing, and it comes in three colours, the black and white tweed like mine, a soft grey and a blue. Being a jacket and trousers rather than a bulky coat, it layers neatly under your winter coat when it turns properly cold, so it carries you from these first cool weeks right through the season. I have the black and white. I am rather tempted by the grey for the darker months.
It goes up to my size, and it slips under my coat when it is really cold. I have worn it all over this month already.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Melize, against the autumn outfits you have been buying
You can spend a hundred pounds and more on a dress for one autumn wedding, then never wear it again. I know, because my wardrobe is a graveyard of them. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Summer frocks you cling to, and freeze
Or the same dowdy trousers and jumper
A whole cold morning spent putting it together
One occasion, then it hangs unworn
Often stops at the smaller sizes
Proper autumn tweed, warm and smart
Looks designer, wears again and again
Already coordinated, dressed in one decision
Several outfits, and layers under a coat
Honest sizes, a 6/8 up to a 22/24
About the price
The Melize is £44.95 at the moment. It was £90.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the middle sizes and the popular colours are the first to go, and with the autumn occasions coming 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 whole two-piece that looks like this, I have found nothing wrong with it at all.
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 autumn occasion that catches me out.
If the autumn always catches you out with nothing that feels right for the season, this is the outfit I would put in your hands myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
MELIZE | SOPHISTICATED & VERSATILE SET
- Cropped tweed jacket and matching wide-leg trousers
- Proper autumn tweed that looks far dearer than it is
- Already coordinated, dressed in one decision
- Tailored but forgiving, skims and flatters
- Wide-leg trousers with real pockets, warm for a crisp day
- Wear the pieces together or separately, layers under a coat
- Three colours, honest sizes UK 6/8 to 22/24
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
Autumn occasions coming. Middle sizes and popular colours go first.