A letter from a reader

At 62, every jumper I owned pulled across my arms

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

My upper arms are not what they were, and every jumper I owned knew it. The sleeves gripped like sausage skins, I could feel the seams pulling every time I reached for something, and if I went up a size to get my arms in, the rest of it hung off me like a sack. So most of the winter I wore a cardigan undone and felt the cold, or I sat in my coat.

I had a drawer full of jumpers I could only wear if I kept my arms by my sides.

So I stopped buying them altogether.

Then I saw one on a friend at book club

Margaret came to book club in the loveliest rust-coloured jumper, a chunky, cosy knit with the front crossing over in a soft V and a white shirt collar peeping out underneath. When she reached across for the biscuits, the sleeves just moved with her. I said it looked lovely and she pushed her sleeve up to show me how roomy it was. She told me it was the Saselle, 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 book club the next month

I wore mine to the next meeting over a white shirt with my navy trousers. Three different women asked me about it before we had even started on the book, and my friend Sue told me I looked like I had made an effort, which I have decided to take as a compliment. I passed the teapot round twice and did not think about my arms once.

It is a small thing, a jumper you can move in. I had forgotten how nice it is to be warm and comfortable at the same time.

Three things I have learned since

One. The sleeves make all the difference. They are batwing sleeves, cut wide and roomy through the shoulders and upper arms, so there is plenty of room and nothing grips when you reach or stretch.

Two. The crossover front is so flattering. The front drapes softly across in a V, which is kind to the neck and the middle, and it looks lovely with a white shirt collar showing underneath.

Three. It is cosy without being heavy. It is a chunky textured knit that feels warm and soft, and the relaxed shape falls easily, with nothing clingy anywhere.

About the price

I had assumed a jumper this lovely would cost a fortune.

The Saselle is £42.95. It was £86.

There is no catch. They have their autumn sale on and delivery is free. Mine is the rust, and it also comes in green, black, cream and turquoise, from a UK 8 up to a UK 20.

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, "The first jumper in years that does not pull across my arms. I have worn it every week since it came." 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 your jumpers pull across your arms, it is not your arms that are wrong. It is the sleeves. Find one with room in them.

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