A note from Leya
At 67, I found the jacket that turns a dog walk into an outfit
Every Sunday I walk the labrador across the common and finish at the pub on the green for a sandwich and a half of cider. I wear jeans, a jumper and the old fleece, because it's Sunday and I'm 67 and that is the uniform. Half of Surrey is wearing it too.
Last Sunday I'd barely sat down when the woman at the next table leaned over, looked me up and down, and asked the question I've been smiling about all week.
Where on earth did you get that jacket?
She didn't say hello, and she didn't mention the dog, which everyone usually does. Before I'd finished my drink her friend had asked as well, and the landlord said I looked as though I'd walked out of a country magazine. It isn't often a woman with muddy boots and a labrador under the table gets that sort of attention, and I found I rather enjoyed it.
How it happens
Somewhere in your fifties, getting dressed for the weekend turns into a routine. Jeans, a warm jumper, the fleece or the anorak by the back door. It's practical, it's sensible, and nobody looks twice.
And what the shops offer instead isn't much better. Stiff, formal jackets that belong at a funeral, or country-style ones cut for someone half my age and priced for someone twice as rich.
I'd accepted the fleece. Or I thought I had, until two strangers interrupted my Sunday sandwich.
What I had wrong
I thought the choice was between practical and smart. Something for walking the dog, or something for lunch, but never both at once.
The answer turned out to be a jacket that does both jobs. A tailored cut in a classic herringbone pattern, with contrasting trim along the edges and antique-style buttons down the front. It looks like it belongs to a woman who owns proper wellies and knows the names of all the birds.
Same jeans. Same jumper. Same labrador. And suddenly the whole thing looks like an outfit rather than a uniform.
Mine is the Rachel
It's from Susan and Kate London, a British label started by two sisters.
It's called the Rachel, and it was the herringbone that made me stop scrolling. It has that heritage feel you'd expect from a jacket handed down through a family, and the contrasting trim gives it a crisp edge, so it looks considered rather than old-fashioned.
The cut is tailored without being stiff. It skims rather than squeezes, so there's room for a jumper underneath and I can reach for the dog's lead without the seams pulling. The buttons have an old-fashioned look that people keep commenting on, and it's warm enough for a brisk morning without making me feel bundled up.
What happened at the pub
I wore it over a navy jumper and jeans, exactly as usual, and the questions came before the sandwich did. Where was it from, was it a country brand, did it come in anything else.
My son, who hasn't commented on anything I've worn since he was twelve, saw a photo and asked whether I'd been somewhere posh. I'd been to the pub. That's the kind of jacket this is.
Three things I've learned since
One. It turns everyday clothes into an outfit. Jeans and a jumper suddenly look deliberate. Over a blouse and good trousers, it's ready for lunch anywhere.
Two. The details do the work. The herringbone, the trim and the buttons mean people assume it cost a great deal more than it did.
Three. It goes both ways. A muddy walk in the morning, lunch in town the same afternoon. I haven't had to change once.
About the price
I want to be straightforward about this, because it was the thing that made me hesitate.
The Rachel is £54.95 at the moment. It was £185.00.
I've spent more than that on fleeces that did nothing for me at all. For a jacket that works for the dog walk, the pub and lunch with the family, it's the hardest-working thing on my coat hooks.
I did what I imagine you're doing now and read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.8 stars. Not a suspiciously perfect five, which if anything made me trust it more.
What I'd tell you if we were friends
If you and I were sat in that pub and you asked me, this is what I'd say. So here it is, the short version.
Keep the jeans and the comfortable boots. Just swap the fleece for one jacket that looks as though you meant it. It's the difference between being dressed for the weather and simply being dressed, and it's no more effort to put on.
Two practical things. The sale is on now, and the middle sizes always go first. It runs from a UK 6 to an 18.
The fleece is still by the back door. These days it's mostly the labrador who lies on it.
Leya
Rachel | Heritage Jacket
£185.00 £54.95
- Classic herringbone pattern with a heritage feel
- Contrasting trim and antique-style buttons
- Tailored cut that skims without squeezing
- Room for a jumper underneath
- Warm enough for cooler days, never bulky
- UK sizes 6 to 18
- Free UK delivery
Sale on now. The middle sizes go first.
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