At 62, the Pretty Blouse Where the Ruffle Does the Dressing
At 62, the pretty blouse where the ruffle does all the dressing
Six things the Velma gets right that everyday blouses get wrong, 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 blouse in my life. What I have done is spend years reaching for the same plain tops that do nothing for me, or the fussy blouses that need ironing and a brooch before I dare leave the house. So this is not a review. It is a woman who found one pretty thing that dresses her with no fuss at all, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Velma, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I first saw it on a woman at a garden party, so pretty and put together in the softest blush, and 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.
A blouse with a ruffle. I can hear you, because I said the same to my friend Sue. A ruffle will be too young or too much at our age, I thought. Then I saw how soft and how flattering the little frill was, doing all the work so she needed no jewellery, and I changed my mind. Read on.
Here is what a drawer full of tops taught me. Everyday blouses come in two piles. The plain pile, the tops that are comfortable enough but do nothing for you and need a necklace and a scarf to look like anything. And the fussy pile, the blouses with the pie-crust collars and the pussy bows that need ironing and feel like hard work. I have owned plenty of both and never once had one that was pretty and easy at the same time.
A plain top that needed a necklace to look like anything, or a fussy blouse that felt like hard work. Neither one was pretty and easy at once.
The Velma is the first blouse I have owned that is both, and having felt pretty and put together every time I have worn it, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. Soft as anything, with that pretty ruffle down the front.
THE RUFFLE DOWN THE V DOES THE DRESSING FOR YOU
This is the whole charm of it. There is a soft gathered ruffle that runs down the V at the front, and it does all the decorating, so the blouse looks finished and pretty before you have added a single thing. No necklace, no brooch, no scarf, no fiddling. I put it on and I look done, which at my age of a morning is the whole battle. It is prettiness with none of the fuss.
The soft ruffle down the V. It does the decorating so you do not have to.
The ruffle does all the work. I put it on and look like I have made an effort, with no jewellery and no fuss.
Christine B., West BridgfordTHE V-NECK IS SO FLATTERING
The neckline is a soft V, and it is the most flattering shape, opening up the neck, framing the face and drawing the eye up rather than sitting high and square and closing everything in. It is kind to a fuller face and a shorter neck alike, and with the ruffle running down it, it draws a lovely soft line right down the centre. I feel it does me a real favour.
The V-neck is so flattering, it opens up my neckline and frames my face. So much kinder than a high round neck.
Margaret E., SouthwellIT IS SOFT AND LIGHT, AND NEVER CLINGS
It is a soft, light linen sort of feel, so it is cool and comfortable and drapes gently rather than clinging to anything. On a warm day it does not stick to you, and it falls loose and easy over the middle instead of showing every little thing. It is the rare blouse that is genuinely comfortable and genuinely pretty at the same time.
So light and soft, and it does not cling. It drapes lovely and loose, cool and comfortable all day.
Dorothy S., BeestonTHE SLEEVES ROLL TO COVER THE TOPS OF THE ARMS
The sleeves roll to a neat three-quarter length, so the tops of the arms are covered, which so many of us want by now. And you can push them up when it warms up or let them down when it cools, whichever suits the day. It is a small thing, and it turns out to matter every single time I put it on.
The sleeves roll to a neat three-quarter length, covering the tops of the arms.
The three-quarter sleeve covers the tops of my arms, which is just what I want at my age. Just right.
Pauline H., ArnoldIT GOES WITH EVERYTHING, DRESSED UP OR DOWN
It is a relaxed, forgiving shape, and it goes with everything I own. Tucked into jeans for the shops, over smart trousers for a lunch, with a skirt for something nicer. Flats and it is easy, a heel and it is out to dinner. One pretty blouse, and it works with the whole wardrobe, up or down, which is exactly why I keep reaching for it.
On the wardrobe door, ready to go with whatever I put it with.
Jeans, trousers, a skirt, it goes with the lot, and dresses right up for an evening. So useful.
Eileen T., NewarkFIVE SOFT COLOURS, AND HONEST SIZES
The sizing runs honestly from a small up to a 3XL, so it fits properly with a bit of room, and it washes and wears beautifully with no fuss. It comes in five soft colours, my blush pink and a white, a blue, a green and a black, so there is a shade to suit everyone. I have the blush. I am rather tempted by the blue for the summer.
It goes up to my size and still looks pretty and neat, and it washes without any fuss. I have ordered the blue as well.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Velma, against the blouses you have been buying
You can find a blouse for twenty-odd pounds almost anywhere. I know, because I have a drawer full of them, most of them plain or fussy. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Plain, and need a necklace to look like anything
Or fussy, with pie-crust collars and bows
Fitted and clinging, or shapeless
Need ironing before you leave the house
Often stops at the smaller sizes
The ruffle finishes it, no jewellery needed
Pretty and soft, never fussy or hard work
Relaxed shape that drapes, never clings
Flattering V-neck that frames the face
Honest sizes, all the way to a 3XL
About the price
The Velma is £27.95 at the moment. It was £56.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the popular colours and the middle sizes are the first to go, and once a size in a colour 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 I have found nothing wrong with this one.
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 six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
Folded for the drawer. The pretty one I reach for first.
If your top drawer is all plain tops and fussy blouses, and you would like one pretty thing that dresses you with no fuss at all, this is the blouse I would put in your hands myself, while your colour is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
VELMA | RUFFLE V-NECK BLOUSE
- Soft ruffle V-neckline that does the dressing for you
- Flattering V that frames the face
- Soft, light linen feel, never clings
- Roll-tab three-quarter sleeves that cover the arms
- Relaxed shape, dresses up or down
- Goes with jeans, trousers or a skirt
- Five soft colours, honest sizes S to 3XL
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
Popular colours and middle sizes go first.