Real stories · The sweatshirt that passes for a blouse

I wanted sweatshirt comfort without looking like I'd given up — this one passes for a blouse

The sweatshirt that passes for a blouse — that's what this is. I'm 67, and the most comfortable things I own all send the same message: staying in today. A plain sweatshirt is heaven at home and slightly defeated at the café, and I was tired of choosing between comfortable and dressed.

What I wanted was one top that lied convincingly in both directions.

Then I found the Melvarith from a British label called York Boutique — a black sweatshirt with white flowers spilling across the shoulders and down the front, and a half-zip collar with a neat silver ring pull.

The print does the dressing up. The florals cascade from the neckline exactly the way they would on a good blouse, and the zipped collar stands like a proper collar rather than slumping like a crew neck — which is why, across a café, it reads as an outfit rather than loungewear. Underneath all that it's still a soft, regular-fit sweatshirt: warm without bulk, straight over the head, comfortable through a whole day of errands.

Florals where a blouse would have them and a collar that stands like it means it — which is why it reads as an outfit across a café while feeling like a sweatshirt the entire time.

At £29.95 — half the usual £60 — it cost less than the blouse it impersonates, and with a fortnight to send it back and free delivery there was no risk in finding out.

It has since done the café twice, a bus trip into town and one long afternoon of present-wrapping, and Sandra — who notices everything — asked if it was new 'because it looks smart'. From Sandra, that's a published review. It was £29.95 in the sale, half the usual £60.

If your comfortable clothes also announce that you've given up, do have a look. The Melvarith is rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 230 women, it comes in black, in UK sizes 8/10 to 16/18 — and at half price the middle sizes go first.