Real stories · The top that comes pre-jewelled

Every cardigan needed 'the right top' underneath — this one ended the search

One top that finishes every cardigan in the wardrobe — that's what this turned out to be, and it has ended a search I didn't know I was on. I'm 67, and winter dressing here is cardigans and blazers all the way down; the trouble was always what went UNDER them. The plain tops looked unfinished, the fancy ones fought the knitwear, and the necklace drawer got involved far too often.

What I wanted was an underneath that arrived already finished.

Then I found the Perlisse from a British label called York Boutique — a softly gleaming top with a neat row of pearls right along the round neckline and pretty gathered cuffs. Mine is the champagne; there's white, black and green as well.

The pearl neckline is the whole idea. It sits exactly where a necklace would — which is why the jewellery drawer now stays shut and every open cardigan instantly looks deliberate — while the soft, smooth fabric drapes kindly and feels gentle all day. Under the navy cardigan it does the coffee morning; under the good blazer it has done a birthday lunch without a single addition.

A row of pearls stitched right where a necklace would sit, on a softly gleaming top — which is why everything worn over it suddenly looks finished, and the jewellery drawer stays shut.

It was £29.95, half the usual £60 — rather less than one decent necklace, and it IS the necklace. I did check I could send it back if it didn't suit — a fortnight, free delivery — which settled it.

It has since gone under every cardigan I own in rotation, plus the blazer twice, and at the café Margaret leaned in for a closer look at the neckline, then sat back with the air of a woman doing sums. 'So you just… put it on. And that's the whole outfit sorted.' Yes, Margaret. That's precisely the arrangement.

If your cardigans also spend winter waiting for 'the right top', do have a look. The Perlisse is rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 240 women, it comes in four colours, in UK sizes 8/10 all the way to 24/26 — and at half price the champagne goes first.