Real stories · The dress that doesn't hibernate

My dresses retire every October — this one is warm enough to work all winter. And it has pockets

The dress that doesn't hibernate — that's what this is. I'm 67, and every October my dresses go into hibernation with the garden furniture. Dresses, apparently, are a summer arrangement — and so winter becomes months of trousers and jumpers, however much I'd rather put on one good thing and be done with it.

What I wanted was a dress built for January, rather than one merely surviving it.

Then I found the Averlysa from a British label called York Boutique — a knee-length dress in a proper warm ribbed knit, with long sleeves, a neat stand collar with three buttons, and — I need you to sit down — pockets. I chose the black; there's khaki, red and a lovely earth yellow.

The knit is the difference. It's genuinely warm, like wearing a well-behaved jumper that happens to be a whole outfit — which is why it works in January with thick tights and knee boots instead of sulking in the wardrobe until May. The relaxed cut skims without clinging, the little collar-and-buttons detail makes it look considered rather than merely cosy, and the pockets mean my hands and my reading glasses both finally have somewhere to live.

A dress in proper warm knit with long sleeves, a buttoned collar and actual pockets — one good thing to put on in January, done, and nowhere near the wardrobe until May.

At £49.95 I hovered an evening — then counted what it replaces (the skirt, the jumper, and the twenty-minute negotiation between them), noted it was half the usual £100, with a fortnight to send it back and free delivery. Done.

It has since done a museum afternoon, two cafés and one long cold walk to the postbox and back, warm the entire time, hands in pockets like a woman entirely at ease. My daughter has requested one for Christmas — the earth yellow. It was £49.95 in the sale, half the usual £100.

If your dresses also hibernate from October, do have a look. The Averlysa is rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 240 women, it comes in black, khaki, red and earth yellow, in UK sizes 8-10 all the way to 26 — and at half price the black goes first.