Real stories · The skirt that came back

I quietly gave up skirts years ago — this set brought them back

A skirt again at 67 — warm, and with nothing to match — that's what this set gave me. Because somewhere in my sixties I quietly retired skirts. Not because I stopped liking them; because a skirt is a project. It needs the right top, the right length, the right weather, and on a cold morning trousers simply win the argument.

What I wanted was a skirt with all the decisions already made.

Then I found the Velirayae from a British label called York Boutique — a two-piece set in soft green: a relaxed boxy jumper and a neat A-line skirt, cut from the same fabric as a pair. I chose the green; there's red, black, brown and grey as well.

The set is the trick. The jumper and skirt were designed together — same cloth, same colour, the proportions already worked out — which is why it looks intended the moment it's on, with nothing to coordinate and nothing to get wrong. With thick black tights it's warm enough for a proper autumn day, and the relaxed cut skims rather than clings. A skirt, with the ease of a jumper and trousers.

A jumper and a skirt cut from the same cloth, made to be worn together — which is why it always looks intended, with nothing to coordinate and nothing to get wrong.

It was £44.95, half the usual £90, and I did pause — then counted it properly: a good jumper and a good skirt, bought separately, would cost more and might never agree with each other. I'll admit I also checked I could send it back if the skirt and I fell out again — a fortnight, and the delivery's free — which settled it.

It has since done a coffee morning, a library run and one lunch in town, and at the lunch Sandra looked me up and down and said 'you've got legs, then' — which is Sandra for a compliment. My daughter asked where the set was from before the coats were even off.

If you also retired skirts somewhere along the way, do have a look. The Velirayae is rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 190 women, it comes in five colours, in UK sizes 4/6 to 20/22 — and at half price the neutrals go first.