At 62, the cardigan that put a bit of joy back in my wardrobe
At 62, the cardigan that put a bit of joy back in my wardrobe
Six things this print cardigan gets right, 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 cardigan in my life. What had happened, somewhere along the way, was that my whole wardrobe had gone beige. Beige, grey, navy and black, sensible and safe and, if I am honest, a little bit sad, because I had decided that colour and pattern were for younger women. So this is not a review. It is a woman who let a bit of colour back in, and enjoyed getting dressed again, saying why.
The one I am writing about is one of the print button cardigans from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. Mine is a cheerful thing, a soft knit cardigan in cream with black spots and a band of sunny yellow, and there is a whole collection of them in different prints. 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 a plain white top and, for the first time in an age, caught myself smiling in the mirror. That was the moment it won me over. Read on.
Here is what a wardrobe full of beige does to you. It makes you invisible, and after a while it makes you feel invisible too. Every morning I reached for the same safe, dull layers, and every morning I felt a little less like myself. I had convinced myself that a woman my age wearing a bit of colour would look as though she was trying too hard, so I wore nothing that could possibly be noticed, and slowly stopped enjoying getting dressed at all.
My whole wardrobe had gone beige, and somewhere in there so had I. This is the cardigan that let a bit of colour, and a bit of me, back in.
This is the first cardigan I have owned that is as comfy as my oldest one and yet makes me feel a bit brighter, and having barely taken mine off since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Softer than I expected, and such a cheerful thing to open.
IT PUTS A BIT OF JOY BACK IN
This is the whole thing, really. After years of beige and grey, the cheerful polka dots and the band of sunny yellow do something a plain cardigan never could. They lift a simple white top and jeans into an outfit that looks like I meant it, and, if I am honest, they lift my mood along with them. It is a small, daft thing, a bit of pattern and colour, and it has made me enjoy getting dressed again.
The cheerful spots, the sunny yellow and the wooden buttons. A bit of joy in a cardigan.
I forgot how much I loved a bit of colour. This cardigan makes me smile every time I put it on, and I have bought three.
Christine B., West BridgfordSOFT AND COSY, COMFORTABLE ALL DAY
For all that it is cheerful, it is first and foremost a proper comfy cardigan. The knit is soft and cosy against the skin, with a lovely relaxed feel, so it is every bit as easy to live in as the dull old cardigan it replaced. I can wear it all day, round the house, out to the shops, and never once want to take it off. Comfort first, and colour as well.
As soft and cosy as my favourite old cardigan, but so much nicer to look at. I have it on from morning to night.
Margaret E., SouthwellCOSY BUT LIGHT, NOT BULKY
It is a lovely cosy layer, but it is not heavy or bulky with it. It keeps the chill off nicely on a cool day and layers easily under a coat without turning me into a barrel, and it is just as good indoors when there is a draught. A proper autumn and winter cardigan that keeps you warm without weighing you down.
Lovely and warm but not heavy at all. It goes under my coat with no bulk and keeps me cosy indoors too.
Pauline H., ArnoldA RELAXED, FLATTERING FIT
The shape is soft and relaxed, so it drapes nicely and skims rather than clings, which is exactly what I want at my age. Worn open it draws a soft long line down the front, and buttoned up with its lovely wooden buttons it has a neat, tidy shape. Either way it is comfortable and forgiving, and it flatters rather than fusses.
The soft relaxed knit and the wooden buttons. It drapes and flatters, open or buttoned.
The relaxed fit is so flattering and forgiving. It drapes beautifully and looks lovely done up or left open.
Dorothy S., BeestonIT GOES OVER ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING
One cardigan, and it lifts the lot. Over a plain white tee and jeans for the shops, over a blouse for something smarter, over a simple top and trousers for lunch. Because the cardigan does all the work, whatever is underneath can be as plain as you like, and the outfit still looks considered. It has quietly become the thing I reach for to finish off almost anything.
By the wardrobe, ready to lift whatever I have on underneath.
It goes over everything and lifts the plainest outfit. A white top and jeans suddenly look like I made an effort.
Eileen T., NewarkA LOVELY CHOICE OF PRINTS, AND HONEST SIZES
Mine is the polka dot, but there is a whole collection of these soft cardigans in different prints, pretty florals and patterns and vintage designs, so there is one to suit every taste. And the sizing runs honestly all the way from a small up to a 5XL, cut with a relaxed, forgiving shape that sits well whatever your figure. I have the polka dot. I am rather tempted by one of the florals too.
Such a lovely choice of prints, and it goes up to my size and still looks lovely. I have ordered a floral one as well.
Maureen C., BinghamThe print cardigan, against the beige ones you have been reaching for
You can have a drawer full of cardigans and not one that makes you feel a bit brighter. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Beige, grey, safe and forgettable
Comfy, but a little bit sad
Nothing that lifts a plain outfit
Makes you feel invisible
Chosen so as not to be noticed
Cheerful polka dots and sunny yellow
Just as soft and cosy, but a joy to wear
Lifts a plain white top and jeans
Makes you feel a bit brighter
A lovely choice of prints, sizes to a 5XL
About the price
The print cardigans are £34.95 at the moment. They were £70.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the middle sizes and the prettiest prints are the first to go, and with the autumn sale on they are going quickly, so once a size or a print 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 cardigan this soft and cheerful, 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 across the collection, 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 that could do with a bit of cheering up.
If your wardrobe has gone all beige and you miss feeling a bit brighter, this is the cardigan I would hand you myself, while your size and your favourite print are still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
THE PRINT CARDIGAN COLLECTION
- A cheerful print cardigan that lifts a plain outfit
- Soft, cosy knit, comfortable all day
- Cosy but light, a warm layer without the bulk
- Relaxed, flattering, forgiving fit
- Goes over everything, buttoned or open
- Lovely wooden buttons
- A choice of prints, honest sizes S to 5XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now. Middle sizes and the prettiest prints go first.