Real stories · Brighter than the forecast

Every jumper I owned was grey or beige — this is the one that outvotes the weather

One jumper significantly brighter than the forecast — that's what this is. I'm 67, and at some point my wardrobe quietly went greyscale. Grey jumper, beige jumper, the grey-beige one for best. Nobody decides this; it simply happens, the way hallways fill with sensible shoes. And then one grey November morning you catch the stack on the shelf and think: this is a weather report, not a wardrobe.

What I wanted was one jumper that disagreed with the sky.

Then I found the Fiorenna from a British label called York Boutique — a soft knitted jumper in broad colour-block bands of denim blue, cream, deep teal and a properly cheerful bright blue, with fine contrast stitching where the bands meet.

It works because the colour is built in, not added on. The blocks do what a necklace or scarf normally has to — which is why it looks finished over plain trousers with no further decisions — and underneath the cheerfulness it's still a proper soft jumper: breathable, relaxed, warm enough for the whole grey season. I wore it to the café and the waitress said it was the brightest thing she'd seen all morning. It was eleven o'clock.

The colour is knitted in, not added on — which is why one plain pair of trousers and this jumper now count as an outfit.

At £34.95 — half the usual £70 — it cost less than the grey jumper it dethroned.

It has since done the café, the school-run-hour walk with Winnie, and one coffee morning at which Pauline asked whether I'd 'had news'. No news, Pauline. Just blue. I did check before ordering that I could send it back if the colours were loud in person — you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free.

If your shelf also looks like a weather report, do have a look. The Fiorenna is rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 340 women, it comes in six colourways, in UK sizes 8/10 all the way to 22/24 — and the blues go first.