Real stories · The hoodie that counts as a dress

I wanted hoodie comfort without looking like I'd given up — this dress solved it

A dress with all the comfort of a hoodie and none of the given-up look — that's what this one turned out to be, and it has quietly solved my whole winter. I'm 67, and the cold months always forced the same choice: the soft hooded things that made me look like I'd stopped trying, or the proper clothes that felt like effort from the moment they went on.

What I wanted was one garment that refused to choose.

Then I found the Loravynna from a British label called York Boutique — a soft knee-length hooded dress in black, with sparkling panels across the front and hem, a drawstring hood and proper front pockets. There's brown, red and blue as well.

The trick is in the mix. The soft jersey and the hood do the hoodie's job — warm, easy, hands in pockets, hood up when the wind cuts — while the sparkling panels quietly do the opposite job: they catch the light and make the whole thing read as DRESSED — which is why the same garment now does the school pickup, the café and a Friday supper without a change in between. Black tights, boots, done.

Hoodie-soft with a drawstring hood and pockets, sparkling panels doing the dressing-up — which is why comfort and effort finally live in the same garment.

It was £44.95, and I'll be honest: I paused at that. Then I counted what it replaces — the jumper, the skirt, the going-out top that lives on standby — and divided by how often I've worn it since, which is most days. Less than half the usual £110, and earning it back weekly. A fortnight to send it back and free delivery settled the rest.

It has since done three weeks of everything — including one blustery doorstep chat with the postman, hood up, perfectly warm — and at the café Sandra looked me over and delivered the exact verdict I'd hoped for: 'you look done-up. How are you THAT comfortable?' Wrong way round, Sandra. I'm comfortable, and it does the done-up.

If your winter wardrobe also splits into 'soft' and 'presentable', do have a look. The Loravynna is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 230 women, it comes in four colours, in UK sizes 8-10 to 22 — and at this price the black goes first.