At 62, the shirt that makes jeans and a top look put-together
At 62, the shirt that makes jeans and a top look put-together
Six things the Nina gets right that everyday tops 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 shirt in my life. What I had was an everyday uniform of a jumper and jeans, comfortable enough but a bit shapeless and thrown-on, and on the days I wanted to look that little bit tidier I never quite knew what to reach for. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found the one thing that makes a plain outfit look pulled-together, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Nina, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is a soft cotton shirt in a pretty red-and-white check, with a proper collar and a row of little buttons. 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 over my usual jeans and, without doing a single other thing, looked as though I had made an effort. That was the moment it won me over. Read on.
Here is what my wardrobe had taught me to expect. Comfortable, yes, but never quite pulled-together. A jumper is cosy but it hangs there looking like you threw it on, a blouse feels too dressy for the shops, and so I would stand at the wardrobe on the mornings I wanted to look nice, and reach, in the end, for the same old jumper anyway. I had a drawer full of clothes and nothing that made a plain pair of jeans look considered.
A drawer full of clothes, and nothing that made a plain pair of jeans look considered. This is the one thing that does.
The Nina is the first thing I have owned that makes the plainest outfit look pulled-together in an instant, and having barely taken mine off since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Such a fresh, pretty check, and softer cotton than I expected.
IT MAKES JEANS AND A TOP LOOK PUT-TOGETHER
This is the whole thing, really. There is something about a crisp collared shirt that reads as tidy and considered where a jumper reads as thrown-on. So the moment I put the Nina on over my jeans, the whole outfit looks as though I planned it, even on the mornings I did not have the energy to. A plain pair of jeans, a shirt with a collar, and suddenly I look pulled-together.
The proper collar, the little buttons and the pretty check. This is what looks considered.
It makes my jeans and a plain top look properly put-together. I honestly wear it more than anything else I own.
Christine B., West BridgfordSOFT, LIGHTWEIGHT COTTON, COMFORTABLE ALL DAY
For all that it looks smart, it is a lovely soft, lightweight cotton, so it is comfortable and cool to wear rather than stiff or scratchy. It does not cling and it lets the skin breathe, which is just right indoors with the heating on, or on a milder day. It has the tidy look of a proper shirt with none of the fuss, and it is easy to wear from morning to night.
So soft and light, not stiff at all like some cotton shirts. Comfortable all day and it breathes lovely with the heating on.
Margaret E., SouthwellA RELAXED, LONGLINE, FLATTERING FIT
The cut is soft and relaxed, and it comes down a little past the hip, so it skims gently over the tummy and the hips rather than clinging, and covers what I would rather have covered. Worn loose over jeans it draws a soft, easy line, and it never feels tight or fussy. Tidy and flattering at once, which is exactly what I want at my age.
The soft relaxed cut, falling past the hip. It skims and covers, and still looks tidy.
The longer, relaxed fit skims over my middle and covers my hips. Tidy and flattering, and so comfortable with it.
Dorothy S., BeestonIT LAYERS WITH ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING
One shirt, and it does the lot. Buttoned up on its own with jeans, open over a plain white top, or under a jumper with just the collar and the hem showing, which looks so smart for the colder days. It works a dozen different ways, so it earns its keep right through the year, and it goes with everything I already own, jeans, navy, white, the lot.
I wear it open over a tee, buttoned on its own, and under a jumper with the collar out. So many ways, all year round.
Pauline H., ArnoldA CHEERFUL CLASSIC CHECK THAT NEVER DATES
A gingham check is one of those happy, timeless patterns that has never really gone out of style, and it lifts an outfit with a bit of colour without being loud or trying too hard. It is fresh and pretty and cheerful, and it will look just as right next year as it does now. It is the sort of thing you reach for again and again and never tire of.
By the wardrobe, a cheerful check ready to pull a plain outfit together.
Such a cheerful, classic check, it lifts my outfit without being loud. It will never date, I will wear it for years.
Eileen T., NewarkFIVE LOVELY COLOURS, AND HONEST SIZES
The sizing runs honestly from a small up to a 3XL, cut with a relaxed, forgiving shape that sits well whatever your figure. It comes in five lovely checks, my red-and-white and a blue, a light blue, a dark blue and a soft pink, so there is one to suit everyone and to go with everything. I have the red. I am rather tempted by the blue as well.
It goes up to my size and still hangs nicely and looks smart, not a sack. So pleased I have ordered the blue too.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Nina, against the jumper you keep reaching for
You can have a wardrobe full of comfortable things and still feel a bit thrown-on in every one. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Comfy, but shapeless and thrown-on
Never quite looks pulled-together
One way to wear it, and that is that
Warm, but a bit dull
Leaves you looking like you gave up
A crisp collar that looks considered
Makes jeans and a top look put-together
Layers a dozen different ways
A cheerful classic check that never dates
Tidy, flattering and easy to wear
About the price
The Nina is £27.95 at the moment. It was £56.00.
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 shirt this useful, 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 morning I want to look put-together without the fuss.
If your everyday jeans and a jumper feel a bit thrown-on, and you want something that looks put-together without any fuss, this is the shirt I would hand you myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
NINA | CHECKED BUTTON-FRONT SHIRT
- Makes jeans and a plain top look put-together
- Soft, lightweight, breathable cotton
- Relaxed, longline, flattering fit
- Layers open, buttoned, or under a jumper
- A cheerful classic gingham check that never dates
- Proper collar and little white buttons
- Five lovely colours, honest sizes S to 3XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now. Middle sizes go first.