At 62, the cosy jumper that keeps the chill off my neck
At 62, the cosy jumper that keeps the chill off my neck
Six things that make this chunky roll-neck the warmest, most flattering jumper I have owned, 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 jumper in my life. But I want to tell you about the cold. It is not my hands or my feet that feel it these days, it is the draught round my neck and my chest, that thin chilly feeling that a crew-neck jumper does nothing for. So I had taken to hiding under scarves indoors, in the same safe beige I always wear, warm enough but washed-out and tired with it. This is not a review. It is a woman who found a jumper that keeps her genuinely warm and looks lovely, saying why.
What I found is from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is called the Catey, a big soft chunky roll-neck, and I chose mine in a warm rust colour, one of fourteen. 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 pulled it on that first cold morning, felt that big roll-neck close warm round my throat, and caught sight of the colour near my face in the mirror. I looked well, for once, rather than chilly and grey. That was the moment it won me over. Read on.
Here is the little defeat every autumn used to bring. When the mornings turned, a crew-neck left my neck bare to the draught, so I wrapped a scarf round indoors and reached for the same beige I always did, and stood about feeling both chilly and dowdy. I had decided warmth and looking well were two different things, and that at my age I could only really have the one.
I thought I had to choose between a jumper that kept me properly warm and a jumper that made me look well. This one quietly does both.
This is the first jumper I have owned that is genuinely warm and genuinely lovely at once, and having barely had it off since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
Hung up ready for the morning. Warm rust, a big roll-neck and a proper chunky knit.
THE BIG ROLL-NECK KEEPS THE CHILL OFF YOUR NECK
This is the heart of it. That big, soft, fold-over roll-neck comes right up and wraps warm around my throat and chest, so the cold draught that a crew-neck lets straight in is simply gone. On a raw morning I feel cosy through and through, right up to my chin, in a way an open neckline never managed. For anyone who feels the chill round their neck as I do, this alone is worth it.
Over the kitchen chair of a morning. That big roll-neck comes right up.
I feel the cold terribly round my neck and this is the answer. That roll-neck is so cosy, I am warm the moment I put it on. I have not reached for a scarf indoors since.
Christine B., West BridgfordA PROPER COLOUR THAT LIFTS YOUR FACE
Here is the part I did not expect. All that warm rust sitting up near my face has quite lifted me, so I look well and rather cheerful instead of drained and grey the way beige always left me. A good colour close to your face does half the work at our age, and after years of safe, sensible neutrals it has been a small joy to have a proper one. There are fourteen to choose from, so there is a flattering one for everybody.
The warm rust up near the face of a morning. A friend asked if I had been away.
The colour is gorgeous and it does something lovely to my complexion. I have had more compliments in this than in anything for years, and I feel brighter wearing it.
Margaret E., SouthwellA CHUNKY KNIT THAT LOOKS EXPENSIVE
It is a proper chunky knit, thick and characterful with a lovely waffle texture, so it looks and feels as though it cost a great deal more than it did. It has real substance to it, nothing thin or cheap-looking about it, the kind of hand-knit look that reads as considered rather than made-do. People assume it is an expensive one, and I have decided not to correct them.
The chunky knit up close. Real substance to it, and it looks far dearer than it is.
The knit is lovely and thick, it looks so much more expensive than it was. Feels like proper quality, not a thin cheap jumper. Two people have asked me where it is from.
Dorothy S., BeestonA RELAXED DRAPE THAT SKIMS AND FLATTERS
It is cut with an easy, relaxed shape and a soft dropped shoulder, so it skims gently over the middle and the tops of the arms rather than clinging where I would rather it did not. It is forgiving in all the right places and still looks neat, which is a rare thing to find. I feel comfortable and covered and tidy in it, never sausage-wrapped.
So flattering. The relaxed fit skims over my tummy and arms and just looks neat and easy. Comfortable and covered without being shapeless. Exactly what I wanted.
Pauline H., ArnoldSOFT, COSY AND EASY TO LIVE IN
For all that it looks lovely, it is a proper cosy jumper underneath, soft against the skin and warm without being heavy or itchy. I throw it on over my jeans of a morning and it does everything, a coffee in town, a cold kitchen, a walk with a coat over the top. It has quietly become the first thing I reach for now the mornings have turned.
The morning it arrived. Softer and chunkier than I expected in my hands.
So soft and warm without being heavy. I live in it, over jeans, under my coat. It has become the jumper I reach for every single cold morning.
Eileen T., NewarkA COLOUR FOR EVERYONE, AND HONEST SIZES
Here is the joy of it. There is a whole run of colours to choose from, fourteen in all, so you can pick the one that lifts your own face, a warm rust like mine, a soft pink, a berry red, a navy, a proper green, a grey. And the sizing runs honestly from a small right up to a 3XL, cut relaxed to flatter whatever your figure. They make lovely gifts too. I have the rust, and I am quietly tempted by the green.
So many gorgeous colours I could not choose, so I bought two. It goes up to my size and still looks lovely and relaxed, not an afterthought. True to size as well.
Maureen C., BinghamThis, against the safe beige jumper you have been hiding in
You can spend every autumn chilly round the neck and washed out in beige, because that is what feels safe. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
An open neck that lets the draught in
Warm enough, but washes you out
Beige, sensible and forgettable
Thin and a little cheap-looking
Leaves you chilly or dowdy, often both
A big roll-neck that keeps the chill off
Just as warm, and lifts your face
A proper colour, one of fourteen
A chunky knit that looks expensive
Warm and flattering at once
About the price
The Catey is £32.95 at the moment. It was £66.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that with fourteen colours the popular ones are the first to go, and with the autumn sale on they are going quickly, so once a colour has sold out 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 jumper this warm and this lovely, 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 things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
If you feel the cold round your neck and you are tired of hiding in beige, this is the jumper I would point you to myself, while your colour and size are still in stock. Go and have a look.
Caroline
THE CATEY ROLL-NECK JUMPER
- A big soft roll-neck that keeps the chill off your neck
- A proper warm colour that lifts your face, fourteen to choose
- A chunky waffle knit that looks expensive
- A relaxed drape that skims and flatters
- Soft and cosy, easy over jeans and under a coat
- Honest sizes UK 8 (S) to UK 20 (3XL)
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now, half price. With fourteen colours, the popular ones go first.