Real stories · The dress that argues with November

By mid-November our street looks like a black-and-white film — I refused to join it

The dress that argues with November — that's what this one is, and November needed arguing with. You know the stretch I mean: grey sky, grey pavement, grey coats on every single person including, I noticed with some alarm, me. The whole street goes black-and-white, and the mood quietly follows.

I decided the album needed one colour photograph.

It's the Averline from a British label called York Boutique — a midi dress in proper scarlet red, scattered all over with a lively multicoloured print. V-neck, half sleeves, a flowing cut that moves with you — and real side pockets, because whoever designed it clearly wears dresses herself.

The colour does the heavy lifting. Worn with black tights, boots and a cardigan it's a winter outfit through and through — which is why it works in January, not just July — and against a grey street that scarlet does something no beige ever managed: people SMILE at you. Strangers. Repeatedly. It's the cheapest mood treatment I've found.

Proper scarlet with a lively print, cut for winter layering — which is why one dress now does the arguing with November on my behalf.

It was £29.95 in the sale — half the usual £60 — and I did check I could send it back if the red was too much in person: a fortnight, free delivery. It was not too much. It was, if anything, overdue.

At the coffee morning it caused a small sensation. Margaret delivered her verdict — 'very brave' — wore it for approximately ten minutes, and then quietly asked me to write the name down. The lavender one is now on its way to her.

If your street has also gone black-and-white on you, do have a look. The Averline is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 240 women, comes in five colours, in UK sizes 8/10 to 18/20 — and at half price the scarlet goes first.