Real stories · The blouse I never adjust

I counted how often I fiddled with my blouse in one afternoon — fourteen times

A blouse that stays comfortable AND looks deliberate — that's what this one is, and I only understood how rare that was after I started counting. One afternoon, out of curiosity: fourteen adjustments. Pulling the fabric off my middle, retucking, unsticking a sleeve, straightening a button line. Every fitted blouse I owned demanded a day of small maintenance — and the baggy alternatives looked like I'd resigned.

Fourteen times. For a garment whose only job is to sit there.

Then I found the Mavelle from a British label called York Boutique — a relaxed blouse in a fine blue stripe, with a proper classic collar, a neat button front and soft gathered cuffs.

The relaxed drape is the mechanism. Because it skims instead of clinging, there's nothing to tug at, nowhere it sticks, nothing to monitor — which is why my count went from fourteen to zero — while the collar and cuffs quietly do the 'put together' part a baggy top can't. Worn loose over navy trousers I look deliberate, not disorganised.

A drape that skims instead of clinging, with a collar that does the formality — which is why it needs precisely zero adjustments between breakfast and bed.

It's £29.95 in the sale — half the usual £60 — and I did check I could send it back if the fit disappointed: a fortnight, free delivery. It fitted the first day and has barely been on a hanger since; it washes well and comes off the airer looking crisp.

At the café Sandra looked me over and said 'you look very relaxed today.' I was, Sandra. That's the whole trick of it — I'd simply stopped doing my fourteen little jobs.

If your blouses also come with a maintenance schedule, do have a look. The Mavelle is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 240 women, comes in four colours, in UK sizes 8/10 to 16/18 — and at half price the blue stripe goes first.