Real stories · The cardigan that counts as dressed

There's a gap between 'dressing gown' and 'dressed' — this chunky knit cardigan fills it exactly

The cardigan that counts as dressed — that's the gap this one fills. I'm 67, and there is a precise hour of the morning, and again around four in the afternoon, when what I want is the comfort of a dressing gown, but the doorbell, the postman and my own standards insist otherwise.

What I wanted was something exactly as comforting — that I could legitimately answer the door in.

Then I found the Alverine from a British label called York Boutique — a chunky knitted cardigan with pockets, and I chose the cream-beige, which is soft and goes with every single thing I own.

It's the details that promote it from 'blanket' to 'clothes'. The knit is a proper chunky rib with real weight to it, which is why it feels like being wrapped up rather than dressed up — and the shawl collar folds softly around the neck exactly where a draught would otherwise get in. The two deep pockets hold reading glasses, a phone and a tissue with room to spare, and the longer length covers the hips and the lower back. Over a white top and jeans it looks entirely deliberate, which is the whole point.

As comforting as a dressing gown, but with a shawl collar and deep pockets that make it count as actually dressed — the doorbell holds no fear any more.

It has since done every tea in the garden, two school pickups and a morning at the market, and it goes on the moment I'm home the way slippers do. Malcolm calls it 'the sheep'. He is not wrong, and I am not insulted. The postman, for the record, suspects nothing.

It was £34.95 in the sale — the usual price is £80, so that's more than half off — and I'd checked I could send it back if it bagged or bobbled, which you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free. It comes in two soft colours and in sizes S to XL, and that's the one thing I'd flag: the sizes are limited, so it's not one to think about for a fortnight.

If you also know that precise dressing-gown hour, do treat yourself to a look. The Alverine is rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 270 women, it's £34.95 in the sale instead of £80, and with sizes only to XL it genuinely does sell through.