Real stories · An easy, elegant dress

The one dress I now reach for whenever I want to feel graceful

I'm 67, and I'd a summer garden party to go to. I wanted to look graceful without spending the afternoon fussing over it — but somewhere along the way I'd started dressing only for comfort, and quietly accepting that comfort meant frumpy. For a party I wanted to feel put-together again, like myself.

The trouble is the elegant things are never comfortable. Waistbands that dig in, zips that won't do up over a good lunch, cuts made for a much younger woman. I'd more or less decided that 'graceful' had quietly passed me by.

Then I came across the Esmé maxi from a British label called York Boutique. A soft V-neck dress with a gathered waist, in a whole range of colours — pretty florals and rich solids both. I chose the deep emerald green, half expecting to be let down.

I wasn't. It's a soft stretch jersey — genuinely as comfortable as a nightie — but the V neck and the gathered waist do all the flattering for you. It skims the floor, moves when you move, and that deep green honestly looks far more expensive than it is.

Comfortable as a nightie, but it looks like I've made a real effort.

A dress that looks like this, I thought, would be eighty pounds. But York Boutique sells direct, so it was £39.95 in the summer sale. I stood a little taller the moment I put it on.

A guest at the party actually asked if it was designer — it really wasn't. It comes in six colours, florals included, and in sizes right up to a 3XL, which so rarely happens with a dress this elegant.

If you've a summer do coming up and you'd like to feel graceful again, do treat yourself to a look. The Esmé is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 300 women, it's £39.95 instead of £80 — half price — and the middle sizes always go first.