A letter from a reader

At 62, I could never make my clothes go together

I have never written to a shop before, and I did not expect my first letter to be about a cardigan.

I have never had the knack of putting an outfit together. Some women just throw things on and look lovely. I stand in front of the wardrobe holding one thing against another, and whatever I pick, my daughter says, "Mum, that does not go." So years ago I gave up and went beige. Beige top, beige cardigan, beige trousers. Nothing clashes, and nothing looks like anything either.

I wanted something with a bit of colour that would go together on its own.

So I put up with it, and kept on dressing like a cup of milky tea.

Then I saw it on a friend at the harvest supper

Jean came in wearing the cheeriest cardigan, a warm mustard yellow with a deep band of soft pale blue round the hem and the cuffs, two little black buttons at the front, over a plain white top and jeans. She looked put together in the way I never manage, and when I said so she laughed and said, "It does it for me. The colours are already matched." She told me it was the Myriam, from Nottingham Boutique, a little boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I ordered mine that evening.

What happened at half-term

I had the grandchildren for a day at half-term, so I put the Myriam on over a white top and my jeans, and off we went to the garden centre for lunch. Three different women asked me about it, one of them in the queue for the café, and my friend Sue told me I looked like I had made an effort, which I have decided to take as a compliment. My daughter said it went. She has never said that before.

It is a small thing, an outfit that just works. I had forgotten how nice it is to get dressed without second-guessing myself.

Three things I have learned since

One. The two colours do the work. The warm main colour and the soft pale blue hem and cuffs are already matched for you. Put it over a white top with jeans or smart trousers and the outfit is done.

Two. The shape is easy. It is a soft, relaxed knit that skims rather than clings, with an open V-neck that shows off a necklace or the top underneath, and two buttons at the front, or wear it open.

Three. The sleeves stay out of the way. They are three-quarter length with deep turned-back cuffs that sit neatly above the wrist, so they are never in the washing-up.

About the price

I had assumed something this cheerful would cost a fortune.

The Myriam is £38.95. It was £78.

There is no catch. They have their autumn sale on and delivery is free. Mine is the mustard, and it also comes in blue, purple and pink, each with the same pale blue hem and cuffs, from a UK 8 up to a UK 18.

I did go and read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars. Not the suspiciously perfect five you see on some sites, which if I am honest made me trust it more. One woman had written, "I am hopeless with colours. This one I just put on and go, and I get compliments every time." That was the one that decided it for me.

What I would tell you if we were friends

If you came round and we sat out on the porch with a cup of tea, this is what I would tell you.

If putting colours together has never been your thing, do not give up on colour. Find the piece that has done the matching for you.

It does not look like it was made for somebody half my age, and it does not look like I have given up either.

Caroline