Real stories · Summer dressing

The summer dress that finally made me feel like myself again

I'm 67, and somewhere along the way summer had stopped being my favourite season. The problem was always the same — the dresses. Every year I'd stand in a changing room feeling too hot, too covered up, or completely swamped by something shaped like a tent. I have a little dog, Winnie, and by August even pottering round the garden with her left me tugging at whatever I had on.

What I wanted felt so simple: a dress that was cool and easy, that didn't cling in the heat, but still looked like I'd made an effort. Everything I tried was either clingy synthetic that had me sweltering by lunchtime, or a shapeless sack that added ten years. I'd more or less resigned myself to the same two old frocks on rotation.

Then a friend from my book group turned up in the most gorgeous easy dress and told me it was from a British label called York Boutique — the Maribel. They were having a summer sale, so I picked the green to try, fully expecting to send it straight back.

I didn't send it back. The fabric is light and breathable, so for the first time in years I wasn't red and flustered by teatime. It has a relaxed, flowing shape that skims over everything you'd rather it skimmed over, and a simple round neck that looks tidy with a necklace or on its own. It falls to a lovely knee-to-midi length. I put it on and just felt… like me.

For the first time in years I felt cool, comfortable and actually pretty — all at once.

I'd braced myself for the price — proper summer dresses in the shops seem to start at sixty pounds now. But because York Boutique sells straight to you, with no shop taking a cut in the middle, the Maribel was £29.95 in the sale. I ended up ordering the blue as well.

The best bit was Sunday lunch. My sister looked me up and down and asked where I'd 'suddenly got my figure back' — it isn't my figure, it's the cut. Two of us at the table ordered one before the coffee came. It comes in green, black, white and blue, and in sizes right up to a 22/24, which so many nice dresses simply don't.

If summer has been more of a trial than a treat lately, do have a look. The Maribel is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 300 women, it's £29.95 in the summer sale instead of £60 — half price — and the middle sizes always seem to go first. I'd not dawdle.