A letter from a reader

At 62, I stopped believing comfortable could also look like I had made an effort.

I almost did not write this down, because it is only a dress 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 at a coffee morning on Saturday, and when that happens at 62 you start to think there might be something in it.

For a long time getting dressed had become the most tiring part of my day. I would stand at the wardrobe, full of things, and find nothing that was both comfortable and fit to be seen in. The comfy things had gone shapeless. The smart things needed thinking about, and pulling in, and an eye kept on them all day. And somewhere along the way I had gone shy about the tops of my arms, so half of it was ruled out before I started.

I had decided the choice was comfortable and frumpy, or smart and fussy. Never both, and never with my arms covered.

So most mornings I gave up and reached for the same dark trousers, and told myself it did not matter.

Then I saw it on a friend at a coffee morning

A friend of mine turned up to a coffee morning looking calm and put together while I felt like I had got dressed in the dark, and I could not stop looking at her dress. She told me it was from Nottingham Boutique, a little boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years, and that they had their summer sale on. Mine is a black and cream one with a lovely hand painted swirl to it, and it comes in a whole row of other prints. I ordered it that same evening before I could talk myself out of it.

What happened at the coffee morning

I wore it to a coffee morning the next weekend, not expecting anyone to notice. Instead, three separate women came over to ask me where it was from. Three. My friend Sue looked me up and down and said I looked like I had made an effort, which coming from Sue I have decided to take as a compliment. What none of them realised was that it was the most comfortable thing I had worn all week.

That was the moment it clicked for me. I had spent years believing I had to choose between being comfortable and looking like myself, and here was a dress that quietly did both, and covered my arms into the bargain.

Three things I have learned since

One. Comfort is the fabric, not a bigger size. For years I bought things baggier hoping to feel comfortable and only ended up looking bigger. This is soft and it moves with me, so it is easy to wear without swamping me.

Two. The pockets change the whole day. There are proper deep pockets in the side seams, so my hands have somewhere to go and I am not clutching a bag around the house. Such a small thing, and it matters more than I expected.

Three. The sleeves and the print do the quiet work. The sleeves sit just right over the tops of my arms, so I feel covered and at ease, and the artistic print looks far more expensive than it was. It is the bit everybody comments on.

About the price

I will be honest, when I saw how little it was I was a bit suspicious. Something this comfortable that also looks like it cost a fortune usually does cost a fortune.

The dress is £39.95. It was £80.00.

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 another print. 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 have worn it to death and it still looks lovely, and it is the only thing I do not have to think about in the morning." That was the one that decided it for me.

What I would tell you if we were friends

If you were sitting across from me with a cup of tea, I would not give you a sales pitch. I would just say that getting dressed had quietly become a chore for me, and one simple dress made the mornings easy again. With the sleeves I know I will keep wearing it right through to the cooler months, so it has more than earned its place.

Order your usual size, pick the print that makes you smile, and give yourself one thing you do not have to think about.

It is the rarest kind of everyday dress. The one that feels like nothing to wear and still makes you feel like yourself.

Caroline