Real stories · The jacket between the dog coat and the funeral suit

Malcolm owns a dog-walking coat and a funeral suit — this jacket finally fills the gap

The jacket between the dog coat and the funeral suit — that's what this is. I'm 67, Malcolm is 68, and for years his wardrobe has had exactly two answers: the ancient waxed thing he walks Winnie in, and the dark suit that only comes out when somebody dies. Everything in between — birthday lunches, a nice dinner, drinks with the neighbours — was a coin toss between scruffy and funereal.

What I wanted was the missing middle: smart enough for a restaurant, easy enough that he'd actually wear it.

Then I found the Corvandaros from a British label called York Boutique — a quilted jacket in navy with brown corduroy-look shoulders, a neat stand collar and snap buttons, finished with a striped lining that looks rather dapper when he takes it off. I chose the brown-trimmed one; there's a grey as well.

The trick is that it's smart without trying. The diamond quilting and corduroy-look shoulders read as country-gentleman rather than office — which is why it works at Sunday lunch AND over jeans at the pub: structured enough to look intended, soft enough that he forgets he's wearing it. The stand collar keeps the wind off his neck, and the snap buttons mean no zip negotiations with cold fingers.

Diamond quilting, corduroy-look shoulders and a stand collar — smart enough for the restaurant, easy enough for the pub, and the coin toss between scruffy and funereal is finally retired.

It was £49.95 — half the usual £100 — which for the entire missing middle of a man's wardrobe is not a difficult sum, and with a fortnight to send it back and free delivery there was no risk at all.

It has since done a birthday lunch, drinks with the neighbours and one nice dinner out, and at the lunch our daughter said 'Dad looks smart' with genuine surprise in her voice. Malcolm pretended not to hear it. He heard it. It was £49.95 in the sale, half the usual £100.

If the man in your house also lives between a dog coat and a funeral suit, do have a look. The Corvandaros is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 170 customers, it comes in brown-trimmed navy and grey, in sizes S to 5XL — and with Christmas coming, the missing middle is exactly the present to give.