A letter from a reader

At 62, I had a wardrobe full of trousers and nothing to wear on top.

I almost did not write this down, because it is only a blouse and I am not the sort of woman who gets excited about clothes any more. But three different people stopped to ask me about it when I met a friend for lunch on Saturday, and when that happens at 62 you start to think there might be something in it.

My trouble was never the trousers. I have plenty of those, perfectly good ones. It was the top halves that let me down. The comfortable tops looked like something to do the housework in, and the smarter ones were either sleeveless, which I will not wear any more, or stiff and fussy and not worth the bother. So I ended up in the same tired jumper over everything, and never quite felt like I had made an effort, even when I had.

I had decided that smart, comfortable, and covering my arms were three things that never came in the same top.

So I reached for the same old thing, and told myself nobody was really looking.

Then I saw it on a friend

A friend of mine wore one to a coffee morning and looked so easy and so pulled together that I had to ask. It is from Nottingham Boutique, a little boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years, and they had their summer sale on. Mine is the Britney, a soft blue striped one, and it comes in three colours. I ordered it that same evening before I could talk myself out of it.

What happened at lunch

I wore it to lunch having done nothing more than pull it on over the same old jeans, and instead of feeling like the frump at the table, I felt properly put together. Three separate women came over to ask me where it was from. Three. My friend Sue said I looked lovely and asked if it was new, which for something I had thrown on in two minutes felt like quite the compliment.

That was the moment it clicked for me. I had spent years thinking the trouble was my wardrobe, when really I was just missing the one thing that pulled it all together.

Three things I have learned since

One. The stripes do the flattering. They run up and down, so I look a touch taller and slimmer than I am, and it skims over the middle instead of clinging. It is the cleverest thing, and it costs nothing.

Two. The sleeves are a quiet relief. The long sleeves cover the tops of my arms, which I had gone shy about, and yet the fabric is so light and airy that I am perfectly cool in it even on a warm day. Covered and comfortable, at last.

Three. It makes everything else look smarter. Thrown over my ordinary jeans or trousers, it turns them into an outfit. It is that bit longer at the front too, so I feel nicely covered whatever I put it with.

About the price

I will be honest, when I saw how little it was I was a bit suspicious. A blouse that looks this considered usually costs a good deal more.

The Britney is £24.95. It was £50.00.

There was no catch. It arrived quickly, it goes straight in the machine, and it looked exactly like the picture, which we all know is not always the way.

I did go and read the reviews before I ordered a second one in the khaki. 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, "It covers my arms, it is cool in the heat, and it makes everything I already own look smarter." That was the one that decided it for me.

What I would tell you if we were friends

If you and I were sat in the garden and you asked me, this is what I would say.

If you have a wardrobe full of perfectly good trousers and jeans and nothing on top that both covers your arms and makes them look like an outfit, so you keep reaching for the same tired jumper, then it is worth ten minutes of your evening to go and have a look.

Not because a blouse will change your life. It will not. But there is something in catching sight of yourself and feeling pulled together instead of frumpy, on a day you made no effort at all, that I had quietly given up on, and I would rather you did not give up on it too.

Two practical things. The sale is on at the moment, and the middle sizes go first, which I found out because the one I wanted had sold out by the time I went back for a second colour. And once the stock has sold through, that is it until next year.

I have not reached for a cardigan to cover my arms since.

Caroline