Real stories · The dress with the necklace built in

I forgot my necklace at a dinner — and nobody noticed, thanks to this dress

A little black dress that brings its own jewellery — that's what the crystal neckline amounts to, and it has quietly solved my entire evening routine. I'm 67, and getting ready for a dinner used to end the same way every time: dressed, ready, and then twenty minutes at the jewellery box auditioning necklaces that were all somehow wrong — too much, too little, too tangled.

What I wanted was an evening dress that came pre-decided.

Then I found the Mariviannea from a British label called York Boutique — a black dress with long sleeves, a flattering square neckline traced in sparkling crystal detailing, and a neat flared skirt. Mine is the black; there's red and white as well.

The neckline is the whole performance. The crystal detailing catches candlelight, lamplight, any light going — which is why the jewellery box now stays shut — while the square cut frames the face and the fitted shape stays soft and breathable rather than rigid. It's glamour with all the decisions already made.

A little black dress with sparkling crystal detailing along the neckline — which is why the jewellery box stays shut, and the light does all the work at the table.

It was £39.95 — less than half the usual £100, and rather less than I once paid for a necklace that spent one evening tangled and the rest of its life in a drawer. A fortnight to send it back and free delivery settled the last doubt.

It has since done one anniversary dinner and one birthday do, sparkling gently through both, and at the dinner I realised halfway through the starter that I'd forgotten to put on so much as an earring — and not one person noticed, because the dress had come dressed. My granddaughter's verdict: 'Granny's dress is made of stars.'

If your evenings also end at the jewellery box, do have a look — with the season's dinners coming, the timing is no accident. The Mariviannea is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 180 women, it comes in black, red and white, in UK sizes 8/10 to 14/16 — and at this price the black goes first.