Real stories · Still bright after the wash

My cheerful tops always went dull after a few washes — this patterned hoodie still looks new

Still as bright after ten washes as the day it arrived — that's the bit nobody believes. I'm 67, and I've had a long, disappointing relationship with cheerful clothes. The colourful ones are always the first to fade: three washes and the pattern's gone muddy, and the thing that made me smile in October looks tired by November. So I'd stopped buying colour at all.

What I wanted was something bright that would stay bright.

Then I found the Lunavieraine from a British label called York Boutique — a patterned hoodie with a Fair Isle-style folk pattern in bands of rust, mustard, cream and sage, with a hood and a curved hem. I chose the brown; there's blue and green too.

It's made to last through countless washes and keep its cosy feel and its colours — which is why it still looks like the day it arrived, even though it's in the washing basket more than anything else I own. It's soft and breathable, the relaxed fit is easy to wear all day, and the hood is there when the wind gets up.

Made to keep its colours and its cosy feel through countless washes — which is why the most-washed thing I own still looks like the day it arrived.

At £34.95 — half the usual £70 — it has cost me less per wear than anything else in the wardrobe.

It has done the café, the dog walks and more trips through the wash than I'd admit to, and Pauline asked last week whether it was new. It's been in the wash every week since it arrived, Pauline. I did check before ordering that I could send it back if it didn't suit — you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free.

If your colourful clothes also give up after a few washes, do have a look. The Lunavieraine is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 320 women, it comes in brown, blue and green, in UK sizes 4/6 all the way to 24/26 — and the brown goes first.