Thursday, June 16, 2011

Boden Weekly Review Roundup: Dresses, Tunics, and Tops!

Hi, everyone! Thanks for the well wishes yesterday. I was under the weather, and pretty much stayed in bed all day yesterday. I had the combo of a migraine and some sort of virus, which combined made me tired, irritable, and in pain. Ugh. :P Today I am still tired, but fine. Now that I get migraines less than before, I find that when I *do* get them, I am less tolerant to them. (Which seems weird!)

As promised, here is the Boden Weekly Review Roundup. :)

Remember, if you would like to see something at the Boden site, click through the Boden stock photo. If you would like to see something on me or CW a bit larger, click on the photo, and a bigger photo will appear. If you would like to see something on one of the other fab Boden bloggers, click on the link I have provided back to their blog.

Right now, I have the 15% off maternity coupon in my sidebar. I think Boden knows the sale is right around the corner for us, and isn't spending too much time and energy in being inventive with their promos. Whatever, lol.

I do have a quick request concerning the upcoming sale (late June, early July, maybe?)...would you mind e-mailing me a review if you have something you wanted to review but haven't had the opportunity? I have a very large and exhaustive word file started with all the reviews that have been done up to this point (links to other blogs or my weekly review roundup) plus links back to Boden, and I will happily add to it as need be, but if I could have the whole document done before the sale actually drops, that would be uber-fab. :) I would love to make the Boden summer sale as easy to navigate as Ms. Gigiofca makes it for us when J. Crew updates their sale sections!

This week's reviews:
It's a dual mommy/me review!  :)  I will get to CW's review at the end (in the Mini-Boden review section), but I do want you all to see how nicely the print on her dress matches the Mommy version.  It *isn't* the exact same print, but it is pretty close.  Rex actually had a blast trying to figure out what was different.  (Her dress has no deep red, green, or orange blooms.)

CW willingly put her hands on her hips to pose with me.

And she was willing to stand to the side for a side view.  :)

And a back view, natch. 

Quick review of the Notch Neck Shift (which I have reviewed here in the green/blue terrazzo print)...the dress is form fitting, but because of the nubby cotton fabric does stretch out a bit through the day.  On me, the size US 8 Regular/UK 12 Regular is a bit big through the bust, but I need to fit my hips, so I kind of just have to suck it up already.  :)  Plus, it isn't so big through the bust that it even really bothers me (I mentioned sizing advice re: bustline with the terrazzo print version review, so definitely check that out if your upper body is where you carry your weight).

The print is a bit bright, especially in this pink blossom colorway, but the two terrazzo prints are a bit more subdued and can probably be made office appropriate, even if your office is fairly conservative.

We were actually headed to church and dinner at IHOP (my kids LUUUURRRRRVVVVE IHOP), so the way we wore it was fine.  I did get a bit cold at church and wished I had a cardi with me, so bear that in mind if you run "cold."

I made this shot "arty" with Picasa's Picnik.  The dress (and many of Boden's prints, really) lend itself to photo editing in a 60s/70s style (like I did with the shot in yesterday's post).  I look at pics of my mom and dad from the 60s and 70s and they all have this kind of look, a bit aged, a bit yellow, but you can still tell how bright, beautiful, and groovy the prints of the clothing were. 

Only the most professional of photos from that period still look good today.  I see very little aging from my photos from the mid-90s, though, and from what my photo shop tells me, that is because the processing of photos, plus the cameras themselves, were better overall in the late 80s and early 90s (before that, only the professional photographers had any real good reason to buy higher-end equipment...by the 80s and 90s, that equipment was A LOT less expensive, making the equipment more accessible to all).  So all of you people who were born in the 80s and 90s, count yourself as lucky that all of your baby photos aren't completely yellow and faded.  ;)

Notch Neck Shift
Notch Neck Shift Dress.  Want to see it in real life in the green colorway on a real person?  Check out on Suburban Mom under "Other Bloggers"--her review is the first one!

Other Bloggers:

Notch Neck Shift Dress. Suburban Mom agrees with me on the awesomeness of this dress! She models the green floral version for us in her review. :)

Printed Jersey Top
Printed Jersey Top. Suburban Mom had a great day at the pool, and chose to wear this top in white as part of her cover-up!

Twist Jersey Top
Twist Jersey Top. Suburban Mom rocks the red version of this top. Beautiful!

Stripy Tunic
Stripy Tunic. Louise models this for us, and now she has me thinking I should put this on my wish list! She looks adorable in it!

Mini-Boden:
What drew me like a butterfly to this pretty print dress and its amazing florals was that it was a dead ringer for the notch neck shift that I own.  Upon seeing it further, I also (from a very practical standpoint) realized that CW could easily wear this for two or THREE years.  Right now it is a sort of large dress that is super-flowy.  The neck, because of its tighter ruffly neckline, fits fine, even if it is on the bigger side.  By next summer, this dress will be exactly the right size everywhere, and the summer AFTER that (when CW will be 4!), this will fit more like a tunic, that she can wear with cute little capri pants or bermuda shorts.  Love that!

CW is in the size 3-4 version, and could have easily fit in the 2-3 version.  If you are considering this for your daughter, remember true size if you want it a bit big so that she can wear it many years, or one size down if you want it to fit perfectly right away.  :)

Pretty Print Dress
Pretty Print Dress. CW is wearing the Blossom Dahlia colorway but it also comes in a spotted version (blue/purple) and a larger, more mod floral (red/blue).  I do want to mention this is NOT a cotton jersey fabric, more like a cotton poplin, so if you need a more stretchy jersey material for your daughter, this would not be the choice!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!  Talk with you all soon!