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At 62, I'd spent every Perth summer in a cardigan to hide my arms. This is a letter about the dress that let me take it off
Six things this floral-cuff midi dress gets right that twenty summers of "a nice dress, and a cardigan over the top" never did, from a woman who had been sweating for her arms since about 2005.
Maggie Whitfield · 62 · Perth, WA · 5 min read
I'm 62, and I want to tell you about the cardigan. Every woman my age knows the cardigan. It's the one you put on over a perfectly nice summer dress, in 36 degrees, because somewhere in your forties you decided your upper arms were not for public viewing. I've worn a cardigan to barbecues, to Christmas lunch, to the beach, to my own sixtieth. I've sat in the sun at Cottesloe, quietly cooking inside it, telling everyone I "feel the cold." Nobody in Perth feels the cold in January. So this is not a review. It's a woman who finally took the cardigan off, telling you why.
The dress I'm writing about is the floral-button midi dress with the rose cuffs, from the floral collection at Perth Boutique, a small Australian boutique that dresses women our age. Mine is the sage green. My friend Lorraine, who never lets me get away with anything, spotted it first, held her phone across the table at our Thursday coffee and said, "Mags. Sleeves. With roses on. You've got no excuse now." When Perth Boutique later asked if they could share my letter, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
Here's what twenty summers of the cardigan taught me. It doesn't hide anything. Everybody knows exactly why a woman of sixty is wearing a cardigan at a pool party. All it does is make you hot, make you cross, and make every summer dress you own look like it's been borrowed from someone more confident. And the dresses with sleeves? They're either made of something you'd sweat through in an hour, or they look like they belong at a funeral.
The cardigan never hid my arms. It just made sure everyone knew I was worried about them.
This is the first summer dress I've bought in years that I didn't immediately plan a cardigan around, and having worn it for a month, to brunch, to Kings Park, over to Rottnest and to my granddaughter's school concert, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
Sleeves that cover, without the cardigan
This is the whole reason I bought it. The dress has full, voluminous three-quarter sleeves, so the bit of the arm I've spent twenty years worrying about is covered. But because they're loose and airy rather than fitted, they don't cling and they don't trap the heat. It's sleeves, without the feeling of sleeves. For a woman who has been wearing a second layer in a heatwave since 2005, that is close to a miracle.
34 degrees, barbecue at Lorraine's. Took no cardigan. Did not miss it once. Lorraine raised a glass "to the arms."
The rose cuffs move the eye where you want it
The sleeves finish in big, sculptural rose-knot cuffs, and I didn't realise how clever this is until I wore it. Everybody's eye goes straight to the roses, which sit at the wrist, which is, at 62, about the slimmest part of me left. Nobody looks at your arms. They look at your cuffs, and then they ask you where you got the dress.
Woman in the queue at the bakery in Subiaco reached out and touched my cuff. Then apologised. Then asked where it was from.
Light enough for a proper Perth summer
It's made in a lightweight, breathable textured fabric, a polyester and linen blend, and it's genuinely comfortable in the heat. I walked the whole of the Kings Park spring wildflower trail in it on a 31-degree morning and came home without that damp, stuck-to-yourself feeling I'd had in every sleeved summer dress before it. The linen in it gives it a lovely relaxed texture, too, rather than that shiny look some summer dresses have.
Kings Park, 31 degrees, two hours. Still cool by the café. Still no cardigan in my bag, because I'd stopped packing one.
A relaxed A-line that skims, to mid-calf
The cut is relaxed and straight, falling into a soft, loose A-line, so it skims over the tummy and hips rather than following them. And it's midi length, sitting at mid-calf, so my knees stay my own business. I can sit cross-legged on the grass with the grandchildren, climb on and off the Rottnest ferry and bend down to pick up a dropped hat without a single thought about what the hem is doing.
Rottnest. Ferry, bike, beach, quokka selfie with my granddaughter. Same dress all day. Looked right in every photo.
Flower buttons, and actual pockets
A row of little flower-shaped buttons runs down the front, which is the sort of detail you'd expect on something far dearer, and it makes the dress feel special even on a Tuesday. And there are side pockets. Real ones. Sunnies, phone, the ferry ticket, a tissue for the granddaughter. Any woman over sixty knows exactly what pockets mean.
School concert. Phone in one pocket, tissues in the other. Needed both. Cried at the recorder solo. No regrets.
Eight colours, so you can have more than one
The same dress comes in eight colours: sage green, beige, white, pink, black, navy, chocolate brown and olive. I went for the sage, which is soft and easy near a face my age. I'll be honest about sizing, because I promised I would: it runs from XS to 2XL, which is roughly an Australian 6 to 16, so it won't suit everyone. Because the cut is relaxed, I ordered my usual size and it fitted. If you're unsure, their team will help you with sizing if you send your measurements. It's a hand wash or gentle cycle, laid flat to dry, which keeps the cuffs looking lovely.
Ordered the navy for Christmas. Lorraine ordered the pink. The cardigans have gone into the bottom drawer. For winter. Possibly.
This dress, against the summer dress and cardigan
Most of us didn't choose the cardigan. We just stopped trusting summer dresses on their own. Here's the difference, laid out plainly.
Two layers in 36 degrees
Everyone knows why it's there
Eyes go straight to your arms
No pockets, so a handbag everywhere
Worn out of worry, not choice
One light, breathable layer
Airy three-quarter sleeves built in
Rose cuffs draw the eye to the wrist
Real side pockets
Worn because I love it
About the price
The sage green one is $101.95 at the moment. The website says it's usually $316. I won't pretend I know what a dress like this ought to cost, but I can tell you I've spent more than that over the years on summer dresses I only ever wore with a cardigan, which means I never really wore them at all.
Perth Boutique also take a bit off if you buy more than one: 10% for two, 15% for three and 20% for four, and it comes off automatically at the checkout, even if you mix and match across their sale collections. That's how the navy ended up in my basket. You can also split it with Afterpay, which works out at about $25 a fortnight.
Shipping was free with Australia Post, tracked and insured, and there's a money-back guarantee if it isn't right. That's what got me to press the button, because a part of me was sure I'd chicken out and send it back. I didn't.
XS to 2XL
rose cuffs
Australia-wide
If you're 55, or 62, or 70, and you've spent your summers sweating inside a cardigan for the sake of your arms, this is the dress I'd hand you myself, while your colour and size are still there. Take the cardigan off. Nobody was looking at your arms anyway. They'll be looking at the roses.
Maggie
Sage Green Floral-Button Midi Dress
Buy 2 save 10% · Buy 3 save 15% · Afterpay available
- Airy three-quarter sleeves that cover the upper arm
- Sculptural rose-knot cuffs
- Flower-shaped buttons down the front
- Real side pockets
- Breathable, lightweight polyester and linen blend
- Relaxed A-line, mid-calf length
- 8 colours in the collection · sizes XS to 2XL
- FREE shipping Australia-wide & money-back guarantee
Spring sale on now, while stocks last.
About the writer. Maggie Whitfield is 62 and lives in Perth with her husband Ray, a lemon tree that produces more than they can eat, and a standing Thursday coffee with Lorraine. She worked as a dental receptionist for twenty-six years and is now, in her own words, "saying yes to things."
This page is an advertisement for Perth Boutique. Individual experiences may vary. Perth Boutique · Free shipping Australia-wide · Money-back guarantee.