My Superfluities: Boden Weekly Review Roundup: Fearless Edition.

*The name of the post will make more sense at the end of the post, lol.*

Amazingly we are nearing the end of "regular" spring/summer time as far as Boden is concerned. Soon (I am guessing early July based on prior years) we will see these lovely spring/summer clothing go on sale. Here's the thing...and this is based on my experiences over the years...the very first day of the Boden sale people go CRAZY and buy out the place. But I am never one of them. Why? Well often I find that the sale price, while good, isn't all that GREAT. In fact, whenever Boden does a "catch of the day" or specialized sale (say 20% off swimwear, for example), because of the stackability of coupons with those sales, I have found in-season items for prices at the same price or BETTER than when the same items go on sale. (It is hard to resist 20% off a skirt with an additional 15% off by using one of my sidebar coupons, for instance. In fact, I got the textured cotton skirt for around $37 that way.) It isn't until the Boden sale goes into their second and third cuts that the prices go rock bottom. Plus, and please do correct me if I am wrong here, I have always had to pay for shipping with the sale and you are never allowed to apply any extra % off of sale items (non-stackable, in other words).

That said, I may bite on a few items if they stick around for the sale. Many of the limited edition items I adore but need a good 30-40% off before I will take the plunge.

So here is my advice on the upcoming Boden sale...wait to buy an item if you know that it has a lot of stock in the colorway and size you want, or if you only sort of want it or will only get it at a substantial savings (basically that is mainly kids clothing for me). If you love an item now and need it now, buy it now, and please wear it before it goes on sale so you don't feel terrible if it goes on sale before you have worn it. :) Also make sure to buy an item if it is a "hot" item that is currently low in stock. Definitely grab any item that you want and that only pops back every once in a while (pop backs happen more than you might realize--I just got the terrazzo tunic in the red colorway this way!) now...it may be forever gone once the sale hits. And remember, for some reason, the 15% off maternity coupon is still working from my sidebar. It is good that this coupon gives us all a "baseline" coupon just in case!

I hope this helps you all...

So now that we know that the Boden Spring/Summer sale is nearing, that also means that the Autumn items are also here! I have had a couple of days of non-stop work AND I have had computer issues that dumped my Boden preview bag (grrr), so I have still not done my picks from the Autumn collection, but I will (hand on heart). Take a look and pick your faves here. (Guess what, my most petite friends? Coming this fall, Boden will be offering petites in many of their pieces--wahoo!!!)

Before we *finally* start the roundup, I added three extra reviews to my roundup from last week a few hours after it was published (Saint Tropez Skirt, Twist Jersey Top, and the Pool Party Tunic) and I fear some people may have missed them. :)

Onto the reviews:

Tropical Maxi Dress. I have NEVER felt compelled to own a summer maxi dress. In fact, it took a really good sale to get me to bite (last week's diminishing discount was my ultimate push, thanks so much, Johnnie). Oh, I was so very wrong in my hesitation. I don't know if all maxi dresses feel this good, but wow. This is a great dress. I felt at once elegant, thin, and cool (not "cool," but the opposite of hot, it was nearing 100 degrees today). I knew I could wear it as a SAHM (which is what I did today) and to dinner. Seriously, I think every single woman needs this dress.

From the side. This is the graphite colorway, and its leaves are beige. I wanted something more demure. I have a lot of summer color in my wardrobe, so I knew getting a jersey maxi dress in a muted color palette would be a definite novelty (something I experience very little these days).

This is a size UK 8 Regular, or US 4 Regular. Thoughts on sizing: I have a very short torso and most long dresses by Boden have very long straps. Had I bought the US 4 Long, the skirt would have been a more ideal "maxi" length (probably hit right below my ankles as opposed to two inches above my ankles), but then I would have to wear a cami and/or take the straps up. Since I want a dress I can just wear and go with, I erred on the "regular" length and will deal with my less than maxi "maxi." LOL.

I also chose to get the 4 as opposed to the 6 because my bust is quite small (32B). The hips on this dress are free, so I knew I would have to go with my bust size, and that is how I ended up with the 4. BTW, the smallest this dress comes in is a size 2, so many of the smaller ladies who read my blog will likely be sized out. (But not next fall, woo!)

From the back. If you make a dress that makes my rear view this nice, I may have to get multiples. Great work, Johnnie. Pear shaped ladies, REJOICE!

Chose to take off the shoes for this shot so you can see the "casual" look for the beach. I need to go back to the beach JUST. TO. WEAR. THIS. DRESS. :)

Close-up of the neckline. This shows how scandalous this dress would be if I had opted for the long. There would be a lot more of my non-assets on display. Teehee, non-assets.

Tropical Maxi Dress. The above colorway is almost sold out. The one I am modeling is still available in superfluity. ;) I like the idea of getting this dress in the purple/green colorway...

Reviews by other blogger friends:

V-Neck Knitted Top. Polly *bravely* made a trip to the dentist wearing the grey version of this top. Polly, you are so right to use the Boden Autumn Preview as a way to keep your mind off of root canals and crowns (yeep!).

Textured Cotton Skirt. The lovely Suburban Mom models this skirt in the fudge colorway. I love the pairing with pink!

Silk Feather Top. I wore this last week, in a review post, but it was one day later than the prior roundup, so I wanted to make sure to include it in this week's post.

Swimwear (here is where the fearless comes out!):

Crossover Swimsuit (me) and top half of the Surf Suit (CW). I love this suit SO MUCH that I am actually braving wearing it in front of all of you. I have been inspired of late by Ugly Betty, last week's episode (I watch it in syndication--yes, I just admitted to that) where they were shooting the Fearless issue of Mode in the Bahamas has stuck with me. What good is life when you are just sort of half-living it? I spend a good portion of my summer in the water, so I actually have a lot of info on swimwear, and I am not ashamed to show off my body at the pool, so why worry about being judged in my own space? I know you all love having these reviews and since so few of us review swimwear, these IRL photos are even more important.

Okay, nuff said. :)

I bought this suit in a size US 4 or UK 8. Again, I went with my bust size. It is FAR better to go a bit small first with stretchy swimwear because swimwear always gets droopy and saggy with use. Swimsuits are supposed to hug your body, trust me.

After my years of swimming competitively, I know this suit fits exactly right...it doesn't ride up in the back near the thighs (hate that--always seems to happen with my speedo competition suits when they are dry--they are fine in the water, but I have to wear the suit to get to the pool, right?). This suit also has a tummy control panel which made me feel super-svelte.

The size 4 also had the exact right length straps, so there was no straps falling off the shoulders moments.

And for those of you that need this, there are pads that are removable from the bust.

CW's suit is only half-on as we put her whole suit on at the pool (she still wears swim diapers, word of warning, swim diapers are NO good at holding in #1, only #2, if you all get my drift...we always wait to put on her swim diaper till last).

From the back. Only (teeny) gripe I have is the way the straps sort of rolled under on themselves. I also would have far preferred a cross back, which would allow me to swim laps. I am unable to swim laps in a suit like this, these sort of straps limit my arm mobility (I worry about straps falling off when doing the front crawl/freestyle).

From the side...you can see how well the tummy control works here. So you all know, there is no constriction, in fact, I could barely tell it was there until I took off the suit and saw the meshy fabric they use in those kind of control garments.

In a cover-up from J. Crew last summer (2010). I also have a large selection of cover-ups. :)

I will not be modeling any bikinis, but I do wear them, so if you have any questions for me on bikinis, please do let me know. (Not just Boden, but J. Crew, too.)

Crossover Swimsuit. (Model on the left is wearing the crossover swimsuit in a blue abstract floral. It also comes in a pink/blue version of the one I wore today and a pink version of the one the model is wearing in the stock photo.)

Surf Suit (girls). CW owns the pink dotted version.

Strappy Jersey Dress. Although I am wearing a J. Crew jersey dress from last year, this jersey dress from Boden has a similar feel and beautifully saturated colors.

Surf Suit. Rex received his properly sized Surf Suit. He has the other version with the puffer fish in a size 4-5, but that is really loose on his bottom, so I bought the octopus in his true size (swimwear at least) of 3-4. He definitely wears this one better. I will hold off on him wearing the puffer fish one until next summer.