Boden: Breezy Beach Dress Review, Plus Sale Choices...

By now, most of you have read that Boden is offering a diminishing discount sale until Saturday, May 28, 2011.  Today, tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday, you will receive 25% off plus free shipping and returns on all items (including the limited edition pieces, which until this sale have NEVER been part of a promo).  If you wait until Friday, the sale dips down to 20% and free shipping/returns.  Wait till Saturday, and it goes down to 15% (which is what I normally have with my maternity coupon).  I definitely purchased at least one item, and probably will again on Thursday.  I anticipate that on Thursday I will be including some mini-Boden in my cart, too.  :)

To make sure you receive this promo, click through the diminishing discount link that is on my sidebar (it is the second link--right below the My Arbonne button).  After clicking through, the discount should remain for a while, normally it lasts a couple of days on my computer.  This way you can ensure that all purchases you make you receive the sales price.  The links that I will provide to items in this post should come up normal priced, UNTIL you put them in your shopping bag.  After you place them in your bag, the sales price should show up.

So the review I have for you today is a VERY popular item.  I personally can see why, but I am frankly surprised at how well it is selling (some items I think will sell well flounder and then others sell like pancakes on Shrove Tuesday).  I wore it for the first time on Saturday, when we were running around like crazy people (we were gone from the house from the very early morning until the very end of the afternoon).  The Breezy Beach Dress held up well, felt cool (it was hot that day, and every breeze that blew by worked WITH the fabric, which was a relief), and fit like a dream.  Plus Mr. Dina LOVED it.  :)

Breezy Beach Dress.  I purchased a size US 6 Regular, or UK 10 Regular.  The long would have probably been okay, but too long in the torso (I have the torso of a woman at least five inches shorter than I am, it is sort of ridiculous).  The bust is a touch too big, but the hips and waist are exactly right.  By the end of the day, the whole thing had stretched out a bit, so based on that, TAKE YOUR SMALLER dress size in Boden.  Trust me.  :)

Hands on hips.  The best part of this dress shape is that it made me feel tee-tiny.  (And I haven't felt like that since before the cruise--hello, weight gain!)  So until I lose that last few pounds I gained on the ship, I will be wearing dresses just like this one.  :)

If it looks good from behind, you have a winner.  I could go in Stacy and Clinton's infamous 360 degree mirror room and feel good about the way I look in this dress, 100%.

This colorway is nearly sold out (as is its sister shade of radish), in fact the only sizes left are the size US 12 and up. If you wear smaller than a size 12, you could pick up the lino floral pattern, which is a more petite floral print and from my monitor reads more like a spotty wash solid (you will see what I mean if you click through the Boden link).  I hope that they bring back the Hawaiian floral in the smaller sizes as the radish version is really lovely, but I am not holding my breath.

The necklace, btw, is the J. Crew knotted mesh necklace.  Makeup is all Arbonne (wink!).

The dress at lunch.  Yes, I did purposely plan for CW's carters dress to match mine.  Too bad mini-Boden doesn't have a little girls version of this actual dress, 'cause you all know what a fool I am for this whole mini-me thing.

BTW, is there anything finer than an al fresco lunch?  I mean, it has it all, great weather, shade (love the market umbrella), and divine food.  This was taken at Southside 815 which has the yummiest Southern food in Alexandria. 



Breezy Beach Dress.

Here are some other items I personally can recommend from this sale based on my own experience:

Notch Neck Shift Dress. I have both the ruby peony and sailor terrazzo colorways. If I own two, I obviously can highly recommend it. LOL.


Bow Shift. I did a review on this last week, and I know many of you were waiting for a good sale to pick it up.  ;)


Showstopping Knitted Jacket. I have already worn and loved mine, but definitely color me jealous those who waited until now...at $291, this is a fair price (really fair, the work that went into this jacket is phenomenal).


Printed Tunic. Definitely one of my favorites. Hands down.



Surf Suit (top--girls, bottom--boys). Must put the spotlight on these amazing suits. CW and Rex both loved and will continue to love (read: abuse the heck out of) these suits this summer.

So what did I get?

Silk Feather Top. I literally have looked at this on a three-times weekly basis to make sure it didn't sell out in my size and color preference. I was so freaking excited when I saw that the limited edition pieces were part of this promo that was all it took to convince me. :) So for a little over $100, this pretty silk top is coming to momma. (And for once, I have money in my account--yippee!)

This is for polyvore, a nice, clean photo.  I like the grey version, but this mustard/pink/grey version makes my heart pitter patter.  (In a good way, of course.)

Did you all decide to partake?