Boden: Stitched Hem Mini and a Surprise!

We have had fun in Boden-land this week, have we not?  :)

A few of you requested that I do a review of the stitched hem mini the. moment. it. arrived. at. my. house.  Well, is one day after okay?  LOL.

And a lot more of you are all "what secret about Boden do you have to tell us, dinagideon?"  Soon, soon...(end of the post, hint hint).

1. Stitched Hem Mini, Boden, Size 8 LONG (or for you delightful Brits out there, Size 12 LONG).  Made from a lightweight canvas cotton, this skirt has belt loops, a zip fly, and a splashy, yummy Nordic-looking print (seriously, just saw a pillow at IKEA last night with this pattern).

The length is 22 inches, but if you were to buy a regular it would be 19 inches.  As you can see, this is less "mini" and more pencil on me, but with my leg length, I don't NEED to show off all of my leg every single day.  I quite like this length, hitting an inch or so above my knee.

I like the belt loops, and if I had more energy for this review, I would have grabbed my avocado belt to tie the entire look together.  (I will wear this entire look sometime this spring or summer, including the shoes.  Probably not the glasses and slightly frizzy hair.  LOL.)

2. Factory Lace Tank, Size Extra-Small, Elm, J. Crew Factory (outlet).  I bought this last night at the Potomac Mills outlet (I had a return so I spent no actual money).  I love the tank for layering, but on its own with a flesh-colored cami, it looks cute, too. 

3. Bensimon Elastic Sneakers, Size 40, Madewell.  I love the look of these kicks.  Definitely a lot like the Keds I wore growing up, but a tiny bit cooler.  Love the vanilla cream color, a great mid-brown with a hint of warmth.  I almost went with a 41 and when I first tried them on I thought I had chosen a too small size, but in the end, the 40 was perfect (they have stretched out just enough from just wearing them around the house).

Side view of the stitched hem mini.  The waist is a bit big, but with me, I expect that if I fit something for my hips.  Boden's skirts tend to be made this way, to sit at the waist and not lower.

Aren't the Bensimons adorable?

How I would wear the skirt if I was still teaching...paired with the Cashmere Suzy Jacket (sample, Fall 2007, J. Crew Collection, and oh, SO SOFT) and the Anticipation heels (Anthropologie's Miss Albright brand).  The outfit strikes me as professional, elegant, and still fun.

Same look with the jacket opened.

And now for the secret that I have been dying to tell you all.  (So, in answer to Johnnie Boden, no, I think if you told me a secret, I would totally blab.  Which I am doing. RIGHT. NOW.)

Have you always wanted Boden, but taken further?  I have!  I adore the J. Crew Collection, so when I read the above insert, I jumped for joy (well not just because of what I had read but also because of the sequined sweater jacket and the gorgeous eyelet dress on Edda).

Go ahead and open up the photo to read the entire secret.  I'll wait.

:)  Done?

I wasn't.  I needed to KNOW MORE.  So I wrote this to Boden customer service:

I received my Spring 2011 catalog today and oh, my goodness, I am so excited about Boden Limited Edition. Please tell me more! I would love to know how to pre-order, how to view the items, and how much is the sparkly sequin cardigan that is on the model on the "can you keep a secret" insert...and okay, how much is the gorgeous white dress on the model on the back of the insert? Thank you so much from your #1 US fan.

To which I received this response:

I am so happy to hear that you are looking forward to our new Boden Limited Edition. It is very exciting! I would like to let you know that this range will be launched on February 11th. I do hope you look forward to it, until then!

Thank you for being a great customer to Boden and for sharing your excitement. 

Well, fab.  I still wanted more but at least I now know that on Mr. Dina's birthday (yup, 2/11/11), I will not only be giving him some presents, but maybe I will be giving myself a present, too.  LOL.  ;)

You all have a great afternoon.  Talk soon.