Three pieces that already go together

This is the thing I would tell you if I only had a minute. The Rhoda is three pieces that were designed to be worn together: a long open-front jacket, a softly draped camisole and flowing wide-leg trousers, in a colour the boutique calls Beige Grey. The jacket is a soft beige, the top a cream and the trousers a relaxed grey. For forty years I had been trying to build that look from a blouse, a cardigan and a jacket that had never met each other. This time the pieces already belong together, and I stopped thinking about what I had on.

A jacket for the air-conditioned café, not a coat

The Rhoda jacket is long and open at the front, a layer rather than a tailored coat, so it goes on and comes off in one movement, exactly as I had watched Glenda do it. The jacket falls softly rather than standing up on its own. A jacket you cannot bear by eleven o’clock is no use to anyone up here, and this one I kept on in the café and slipped off on the terrace.

The jacket between my fingers, the cream top underneath. Soft, and easy to wear all day.

Relaxed enough to wear from morning to late afternoon

Looser was never quite the answer on its own, because loose things so often look careless. The Rhoda is relaxed, but it is relaxed on purpose. The listing talks about relaxed proportions that give you freedom to move and feel comfortable throughout the day, and that is a fair description. The long jacket falls open and flows as you move, and the wide-leg trousers move when you walk instead of clinging. The following week Jan and I went back to Torquay, and I wore the whole set out the door without trying on a single other jacket, and I still had it on when we got home in the late afternoon.

On the Esplanade before lunch, all three pieces on. Peter took this one.

Soft, simple pieces with nothing to fuss over

Look at the three pieces one by one and they are each very simple. The jacket has soft, flowing edges and an open front instead of a row of buttons, so there is nothing to do up and nothing to pull across your back when you reach into the car. The camisole is softly draped, plain enough to wear on its own. The trousers are wide-leg and flowing, and I can sit through a long lunch without thinking about my waistband. The morning of that second lunch I left the set folded on the kitchen table while I found my handbag, and I remember thinking how little there was to fuss with.

Folded on the kitchen table that morning, next to my coffee and a few roses from the garden. Three pieces, already matched.

Take the jacket off and it is still a finished outfit, and there are more sets

This was the part I liked best. By midday it had warmed up beautifully and I took the jacket off while we walked along the Esplanade. The cream top and grey trousers still looked like something I would happily wear on their own. The listing says you can wear all three pieces together or mix them with pieces already in your wardrobe, and I do both: the cream top with trousers I already own, the grey trousers with a plain top from my drawer.

The Rhoda only comes in the one colourway, Beige Grey, but it is not the only set in the Summer Retreat collection. There is the Edna, a vintage relaxed set in white, beige or brown, the Kerry, a smocked two-piece in beige, black or olive green, and the Philippa, a layered three-piece in brown.

Soft neutrals that people notice, in sizes XS to 2XL

The three shades in the Beige Grey are slightly different, so it does not look as though someone tried to make everything exactly the same colour, and none of them is strong enough to fight with the handbags, shoes and jewellery I already own. What I did not expect was how often people would mention it. At the second lunch the waitress asked where it was from, and Jan told her before I could. It comes in sizes XS through 2XL. My one piece of advice is to check the measurements before you order, particularly the trouser length and the fit across the shoulders.