MARILYN | Birds and blossom on washed blue

It looks like something, without looking like I am in costume. That line is thinner than people think.

Interesting clothes get risky after a certain age. Reach for something with real pattern on it and there is a danger of tipping over into the theatrical, the kind of outfit that announces itself before you have said anything, so most of us retreat to plain and stay there. The difference is almost always in the colors rather than the pattern.

Marilyn takes its birds and blossoming branches from old painted screens, but sets them in cream and gold on a soft washed blue rather than the hard lacquer colors that would push it into fancy dress. The branches climb the body as it moves, so the scene reads across the whole shirt instead of sitting in one panel. It is a relaxed open button front cut, easy through the shoulder and hip, in a light matte weave with a point collar, a full tonal button front and two hip pockets.

Why women our age keep coming back to it

• Faded blue, not lacquer. The washed ground is what keeps an antique motif on the right side of the line between interesting and theatrical.
• The pattern moves with you. The branches run upward across the body rather than sitting in a printed block, so it does not look pasted on.
• It layers over what you own. White, navy and pale denim all work under it, so nothing new has to be bought to make it wearable.
• Easy through the shoulder and hip. The relaxed cut means you can wear it open over a tee with the cuffs turned back and it still hangs properly.

Buy more, save more

• Buy 2 and save 10 percent
• Buy 3 and save 15 percent
• Buy 4 and save 20 percent

The discount is applied automatically at checkout.

How it fits

Marilyn runs on the small side, so size up rather than ordering straight. It comes in 8 through 22, and these are UK sizes, not US ones, so go by the measurements rather than the number you usually buy. The chart gives bust, waist and hips as body measurements in inches, so measure over a light top with the tape level and not pulled tight. If you are between sizes, want room through the shoulder, or plan to wear a tee underneath, take the larger one.

30 days to change your mind

Send it back within 30 days for a full refund. There is no restocking fee and no questions about why.

A few recent reviews

The blue is soft and faded, not bright. That is the whole reason it works.
Zelda K., Asheville

Over a white tee with the cuffs rolled. I have worn it to three lunches this month.
Thelma W., 69

The gold is subtle, not metallic. I was worried about that from the photo.
Bernita S., Savannah