A note from Leya · Not too warm, not too cold
At 67, I've finally stopped taking my coat on and off all day
A layer that's warm enough for the early dog walk AND light enough to keep on all day. I'd started to accept you had to choose. I'm 67, and every autumn morning goes the same way. Coat on for the labrador at seven, too hot by the second field, carried over my arm by the time I'm home. Or the cardigan instead, and I'm cold at the gate before I've even shut it.
What I wanted was one thing I could put on after breakfast and simply forget about until bedtime.
Then I found the Élise from Susan and Kate London, a British label started by two sisters. It's a hooded overshirt, which I'd never have thought to look for, and it turned out to be exactly the in-between I'd been missing.
It's cosy the way a coat is, without the weight of one. The fit is relaxed through the shoulders and sleeves, so it goes over a T-shirt or a light jumper without pulling, and it never feels tight round the middle. It does up with press studs, the hood pulls in with a drawstring when the wind gets up, and there are two chest pockets for a phone, a tissue and a handful of dog biscuits. Open over a light top now, fastened with a scarf once the colder mornings come.
Warm enough for seven o'clock, light enough for three.
It has done every morning walk since it arrived, the Saturday market and a long lunch in a pub garden that went on rather longer than planned. At the market, the woman on the cheese stall asked where it was from and wrote the name down on the back of a receipt. My daughter tried it on in the hall and asked, only half joking, whether I'd be needing it at Christmas.
It was £44.95 in the sale. I hesitated, because I already had a coat and a drawer full of cardigans, until I realised this does the job of both. Half the usual £90, free delivery, and I'd checked I could send it back within 30 days if the fit was off. It comes in five checks and one striped version, in sizes UK 8 to 18.
If your mornings also swing between 'too hot' and 'too cold' with nothing in between, do treat yourself to a look. The Élise is rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 260 women, it's £44.95 in the sale instead of £90, and the middle sizes always seem to go first.
Élise | Hooded Overshirt
£90.00 £44.95Save 50%
- Cosy like a coat, without the bulk
- Relaxed fit over a tee or light jumper
- Press-stud front and drawstring hood
- Two chest pockets for small essentials
- Six colourways · UK 8 to 18
Sale — while sizes last.
Leya Whitmore is 67 and lives in Guildford with a labrador. She is not a fashion writer.
Susan and Kate London · Free UK delivery · 30 day returns