Real stories · Light, cool, and comfy all summer

The summer dress that's so light and cool I forget I've got it on

I'm 67, and summer had become the season I dreaded getting dressed for. Everything felt hot and tight — the shift dresses hung off me and sweltered, and anything with a bit of shape clung to my tummy and hips in the heat, so I'd tug at it all day. I'd got to the point of hiding in the same two tunics, roasting, rather than face it.

What I wanted was a proper summer dress that was light and cool and comfortable — something that floated over me instead of gripping, that I could put on and forget in the heat.

Then I found the Mairwen dress from a British label called York Boutique — a flowing plus-size dress in a soft, airy chiffon. I ordered it half expecting to send it back.

I didn't send it back. It's wonderfully cool and light — the airy chiffon just skims over the tummy and hips instead of clinging, the little cuffed sleeves cover the tops of my arms, and the whole thing is so light I forget I've got it on. For the first time in years I wasn't hot and tugging all day — I was comfortable, and I felt rather nice too.

So light and cool I forget I've got it on — and it floats over everything instead of clinging.

A dress this comfortable, I assumed, would be sixty pounds. But York Boutique sells direct, so it was from £29.95 in the summer sale. I've since ordered it for my sister too.

A friend stopped me at church to ask where it was from. It's a proper generous fit — the sizes run all the way up to a 5XL — and it's a midi length that sits nicely on the leg.

If summer dressing leaves you hot and tugging like it did me, do treat yourself to a look. The Mairwen is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 300 women, it's from £29.95 in the summer sale instead of £60 — half price — and the popular sizes always seem to go first.