Rhea | Trendy Striped Blouse

"I had it on for three hours in the sun, in and out of the car, and I forgot about the sleeves entirely. My sister said I looked ten years younger. I told her it was a long sleeved blouse on one of the warmest days of the year."

The Rhea is the blouse our customers buy when they have quietly given up on long sleeves in summer. Too warm, too thin, or too obviously there to cover something. This is the one that changed their minds.

A softly striped long sleeved blouse in a lightweight fabric that breathes, with a relaxed crew neckline and an easy cut that flatters without billowing. The stripes are the classic kind, the sort you would have called timeless in a Boden catalogue twenty years ago. Light enough to forget you have sleeves on. Easy worn loose, easy tucked into trousers with a small necklace.

Why women our age keep coming back for it

• Long sleeves that are not warm. The whole point. A lightweight weave that stays cool in the sun, so you are not peeling it off in a car park by eleven.
• Easy arm coverage, without looking like coverage. It reads as a nice blouse you put on without thinking, not as something you wore to hide.
• A relaxed cut that flatters. Loose enough to skim, structured enough that it does not billow. Lovely untucked, smart tucked in.
• Three quiet colours, sizes 8 to 18. Soft blue, khaki and a gentle grey. Most of our customers buy two.

Why the price is what it is

£42.95 for a blouse you will actually keep wearing is, frankly, on the suspicious side. Most of our customers ask. So here is the honest comparison, written on the back of a notebook in our office.

We are 22 years old this month, and the Anniversary Sale is the only time of year we let go of these prices. Once a colour is gone for the season, it is gone until next May.

Stack the sizes, stack the savings

• Buy 2, save 15% extra
• Buy 3, save 20% extra
• Buy 4, save 25% extra
• Buy 5, save 30% extra

The discount comes off automatically in the basket. Most customers grab two colours. The soft blue is already running low in the middle sizes.

What arrives in the post

Every order comes wrapped in soft tissue inside a small kraft paper parcel, tied with natural twine, with a handwritten note from Eleanor tucked inside. About a week with Royal Mail. Tracked. Free.

"Thank you for trying us. Hope this one earns its place in your wardrobe."

How it fits

The Rhea runs true to UK size with a relaxed, lightly loose cut. If you are between sizes or like a roomier drape, size up by one.

• S fits UK 8 to 10
• M fits UK 12
• L fits UK 14
• XL fits UK 16
• 2XL fits UK 18

No questions, 30 day returns

If it does not earn a place in your wardrobe, post it back within 30 days for a full refund. No restocking fee, no questions. We would rather it went to someone who will wear it.

A few of the recent reviews

"The first long sleeve I have worn to a summer lunch in twenty years. It is genuinely light, it does not cling, and I stopped hiding my arms in photographs." — Margaret, 64

"I bought the blue and the khaki. Lovely with white linen trousers and a small necklace, and it does not feel warm at all." — Jennifer, 58

"I have three cardigans I bought only to cover my arms at dinner. I have not reached for any of them since this arrived." — Linda, 71

4.6 stars across 1847 verified buyers, most of them women aged 50 to 80.