Real stories · One dress, cool all day, pockets

The cowl-neck dress I pull on for anything — cool, flattering, and it has pockets

A dress I could pull on for anything, that stayed cool and made me feel neat — I'd been looking for that all summer without quite finding it. I'm 67, and in warm weather everything I owned seemed to fall into two camps: the shapeless ones that felt like nighties, and the smart ones that were hot, tight and made me fidget by eleven. And not one of them had a pocket, so I'd be forever hunting for somewhere to put my keys.

What I wanted was one dress that skimmed rather than clung, kept me cool, looked put-together for a lunch or the shops, and — was it too much to ask? — had proper pockets.

Then I found the Cecily dress from a British label called York Boutique — an elegant cowl-neck dress, and I chose the white, which is so fresh in the heat.

It's become the one I reach for. The fabric is a soft, light breathable blend, which is why it stays cool and never sticks to me, even on the sticky days. The cowl neckline drapes softly — ever so flattering, and it hides a multitude — while the shape follows you gently without pinching anywhere. It's sleeveless, knee-length and it has real side pockets. Deep ones. My keys and my reading glasses live in them now.

One dress, no thinking, cool all day — and I can put my keys in a pocket. That's my whole summer sorted.

A dress this useful, I assumed, would be fifty pounds. But York Boutique sells direct, so it was £24.95 in the summer sale. I honestly went back to check the price twice.

A woman at the garden centre asked me where it was from while we were both queuing for the tills. I'll admit I checked before ordering that I could send it back if the size wasn't right — you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free — which made trying it an easy decision. It comes in twelve colours and in sizes UK 8 to 20.

If your summer wardrobe is either shapeless or stifling like mine was, do treat yourself to a look. The Cecily is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 300 women, it's £24.95 in the summer sale instead of £50 — half price — and the middle sizes always seem to go first.