My Superfluities: July 2011

I was totally reminded about my Fun Dress from Boden Summer 2009 when I saw the very lovely Polly showing hers off (along with Fiona's Uptown Flats, lol). Polly's is from the current Autumn 2011 line (as are the flats), but regardless of how I remembered that I owned a fun dress, too, doesn't matter. The fact was, I chose to wear it upon being reminded. :)

I will be including Polly's very awesome review in this week's BWRR (Wednesday for anyone who wants to send a review my way), but I knew that some of you are chomping at the bit to see more, so I wanted to make sure you saw these two reviews as soon as possible.

I have also included links back to these two items at the very bottom of this post, so you can see other colorways, sizes, and measurements.

So onto my "fun" night with my "fun" dress. Mr. Dina has a penchant for Washington Nationals baseball games, ESPECIALLY if it is "bobblehead night." I don't care about that (except when they had a George Washington bobblehead, now that was worth it!), but it is always nice to have an excuse to drink beer, hang out with friends, and go into the city.

And it is always SO MUCH BETTER when it is 100 degrees at night, but won't allow my sarcastic self to come out and ruin this otherwise very positive post.

So anyhoo, onto the outfit and other silliness...

I could already tell I was going to boil in this outfit, even though it is cotton and cotton lined. Seriously, I could have worn a bikini and had a direct fan to my face and I would have still been hot. At least the dress has a really pretty floral embroidered pattern at the bottom to avert the eyes away from the sweat pouring from my forehead.

This I took in a US 8 Regular (which at the time meant UK 12 Regular). From what I can tell, Boden HAS STAYED consistent with sizing, as evidenced by my recent acquisition of my fifth fun skirt (yeah, yeah, I am sucker for the word fun). I knew I wanted to get a size smaller than my prior fun skirts as they were all a bit loose now, and I was exactly right...the US 8 Long in that most recent fun skirt is what I needed. So, go, Boden, with your consistent selves!

My little lady was all fretting over her cheerleader outfit saying it was "too small." That is why she looks a bit despondent. But from what I could tell she looked 100% adorable!

The glasses are the A.R. Trapp Troubadour sunglasses from J. Crew last year (but are still around, at a MUCH higher price point--ugh) and the Seychelles necklace from J. Crew Spring 2008.

I took the above photo with the "panorama" feature on my new camera (an Olympus shock and waterproof version). Nationals park is really pretty lit up and right after the sun sets.

Oh, and check this out...who was at the park, too? Yep, that is none other that the fab blogger HeidiG.! I saw on FB that she was at the park, and we arranged to meet up for a quick hello during the first half of the seventh. :)

Fun Dress. The model is wearing the version that Polly showed off in her blog post.

Uptown Flats. These look really cute!

You all have a great night, talk with everyone tomorrow!

Hey. All. Man. :) Thanks for your patience with me...but I promise the IRL photos of the fun skirt plus the oodles of written reviews plus a special "stylist" segment will all make the wait worth it. LOL.

I have received two mini Boden catalogs, a large mini Boden/Johnnie B. catalog, and two regular Boden catalogs. My sister in law has received a mini-Boden catalog with a really cute insert on Boden that I plan to scan and share with you all as soon as possible.

I have only received the fun skirt. While I love it, I want the other items. They are coming from Britain, so I get it, but please, Atlantic winds get that ship to our shores FASTER!

Reminder, if you would like to see an item on me closer up, please click the photo itself. If you would like to be taken to the Boden website, you should click on the Boden stock photo of the item (usually a model in some "Boden" pose). There are a few downloaded photos in the "stylist" section and they do not lead to Boden's website, but I need those to show how the look will come together, plus it allows me to clip them to polyvore so I can create a set to put into this post later on...

The current promo I have running is 10% and free ship/returns. If you have anything else (usually in a catalog), you can still use that if you go through my links, you would just have to change the promo code in the shopping bag portion of your checkout process.

And without further ado...

Fun Skirt. I have bought quite a few of these skirts over the years, but this is the first time I bought the skirt in a size US 8 long or UK 12 long. Prior to that I was a size US 10 long and bought that size instead. I can still wear those skirts, but man, do they ever look dowdy. What a difference proper sizing can make. It isn't the dead sexiest skirt ever, haha, but it is work appropriate, with a fantastic embroidered pattern that won't look awful five years from now, and in a very versatile neutral coloring (yay for something I can wear all my bright colors with!).

As you can see, the long (25 inches) hits right at my knee. Reminder, I am high-waisted with very long legs, so most skirts run shorter on me. This skirt also is meant to be worn at your true waist, so if you prefer your skirts to sit lower on your waist, this is not gonna be your friend.

~~Sadly, petites, this skirt is not offered in your needed shorter length. Agh! (There are many items that are, so be on the lookout!)~~ My BIG BAD OOPS. (Drrrrrr...dinagideon smacks head with palm of hand.) :) The skirt is available in petites, just under the tab on the item pages that says petites, with an ~~inseam~~ (what the bleep, I must be tired) length of 20.5, that should be short enough, I suppose! The regular length is 22 inches.

From the back. I love how the pattern continues. It is fairly subtle for a Boden fun skirt, but still very distinct...I know I will be asked where I got it when I go out in real life in it (not for a few weeks yet, so very hot here, even though it is cotton, it is a heavy cotton with a silky poly lining, so it is more meant for fall and winter).

Close up of the embroidered pattern. What a neat fern detailing. :)

Fun Skirt. Also available in a fun taupe mod pattern and a purple geometric pattern.

Everyday Tweed Mini. Gymrat1279 did a review polyvore of this skirt (she got the lovely robin's egg blue version), in which she said: Fits TTS. I got the same size as I get in J. Crew skirts. I also got it in the Long length so I could wear it to work (as it is normally a mini.) It hits about an inch above my knee in the long length (I'm 5'7.) It is a bit more A-line than the J. Crew skirt but I would still feel that it could be classified as a pencil skirt in the long length.

British Tweed Kilt. Gymrat1279 also reviewed this in her polyvore (comments section), and she said of it: It's TTS and I love it. Unfortunately I had to send it back to get the long because it was shorter on me in the regular length than it appears on the model and I wanted to wear it to work. If I didn't need a longer skirt for work, I would have kept the regular. I got it in the brown.

Wrap Jersey Top. Louise (of the very fab blog Running on Anthro--which is on a hiatus) has this to say about this top: The Wrap Jersey Top in Olive Dizzy Spot is my favourite item of everything received. The colours depicted on the website are spot on and the viscose/elastane mix fabric is pleasingly thick for an autumn top. Obviously I tried it on over my bump but even so it reached the waist band of my (low rise) shorts so anyone long in the body or looking for a longer top rather than a tunic would be onto a winner with this one. The neckline is quite low as you can see from the website but a simple cami or even a stitch would prevent any inadvertant flashes of underwear. I can't wait to wear this one once the cooler weather arrives later this year and at £28 on preview promotion I would highly recommend it! Normal size UK8 (US 4).

Uplifting Tee. Louise also reviewed this tee for which she says: The Uplifting Tee in Peppermint Spot is very pretty for £20, it's essentially the same shape as last autumns Pretty Ruffle Tee but slightly narrower through the waist (I have both in a UK8, US 4 and held them up to one another for size comparison) and not as "slubby" in texture. It's a smidge darker IRL than I was expecting from the website image and the dots are a creamy colour. There's a 2 week wait on nearly all sizes in Peppermint, Grey & Pewter on the UK site so it looks like this'll be a popular choice for the pretty colours and twisted neckline detail plus the "low" price point (for Boden!). I did notice in my catalogue that the Pewter colour option has mustard coloured dots not white/cream so be sure to check the zoom as I hadn't noticed this on the website. A solid if not spectacular choice, one up from the much more plain essential tees.

Ravello Top. Louise may not have been able to try the top on (yay, baby!), but this review is still very informative! I didn't try the Flamingo feather Ravello top on properly as it wouldn't stretch over my bump but it is very pretty IRL, I think the flamingo and navy feather colourways will be the most popular. I did feel that for the discounted price (£39) the silk/viscose mix material was very thin and almost fragile as if it would be prone to snagging. IMO not worth the preview price but on a really great COTD (Catch of the Day) code combining deal it would be a lovely option for the office with a pencil skirt.

Drapey Jersey Top. I KNEW Anita Brikman (my girl crush from WUSA 9) was wearing Boden the other day, but since I didn't 100% recognize this top, I didn't take a photo of the screenshot. She looked great, it fit her exactly right, and the ruby showed up as very pretty cherry red on my HD screen. If I can find a screengrab from the internet, I will absolutely post the pic. :) And you had better believe if she wears it again, you all will see it! (She often re-wears her Boden, you go, Anita!)

Printed Cardigan (OT--Doesn't Vanessa look SO PRETTY in this pic?). Louise has this to say: The Printed Cardigan in Scarlet Animal and very thin for that price. 100% extra fine merino wool but machine washable at least. The colours are stunning and true to the website. I was torn between the taupe and scarlet options but picked the right one! The pink & red animal print really pops against the navy background and will look great with jeans or belted with dresses. It won't keep you warm (it was a touch itchy but it is summer after all) so in the deep winter will be a good one for layering over stripy tops or shirts. As with all my Boden knitwear I went up a size to a UK10 (US 6).

Also, I was asked to help a fellow Boden babe/JCA, Jruby18, out with styling the Show Stopping tunic. Of course I was super-flattered, and decided that I needed to give her two looks! :) One is more dressy and probably great for a date or party, while the other is more casual and outdoor friendly. I hope that this helps!

Showstopping Tunic. Jruby18 has this to say about this gorgeous tunic (it is on my wishlist, btw): I got the Showstopping Tunic in the olive/plum floral pattern. I *think* you posted pics of it in a post you did on Boden fall previews a little while back. (I did!!!) It fits so beautifully! My first Boden purchase and I'm pretty pleased.

So, here is how I would style it dressy:
Start with a nice thick pair of tights (not leggings so the look is more streamlined) in a hue of black or if you have them, an olive shade, like in the tunic (Casual).

Rosette Coat in Purple. Then add this coat for a touch of drama and elegance. Since all of Boden's coats are lined in fab fabric, taking the coat off will be part of the allure. :)

Favourite Boots in Olive. Not only are flat boots "in," they are sleek and practical. Obviously you will get more wear out of them than just in a dressy outfit, but I really like how the patent/suede combo kicks these boots up a notch.

Rosette and Chain Necklace in Damson. This necklace will not get lost against the print of the tunic, the rosettes and little crystal embellishments will simply enhance the lovely fabric of the tunic.

And here is how I would style it casual:

Skinny Belt in Olive Leopard. Do not fear the mixing of patterns. These hues are spot on to the shades in the tunic, and the patterns are of similar sizing so one does not overwhelm the other. Plus the texture of the silk against the calf hair will add a visual interest.

Skinny Cords in Fig. I personally wear a lot of tunics with skinny pants or leggings, but for any cooler day, cords are certainly an option to keep open! :) I would NOT roll them, just make sure to buy the correct length for your inseam (I usually wear Boden's longs in pants). This dark purple is a wonderful match to the tunic and can almost act like a neutral with other colors, so they should prove to be versatile, too.

Wedge Loafers in Fig. I wanted to lengthen the leg in this look, so I chose a matching shoe to the pants with a high heel to ensure the leg looks as long as possible. This is a casual look so I chose a wedge (which are far more comfy) to a traditional spike.

Favourite Satchel in Olive. This is a wonderful tote to have when running errands, visiting friends, etc. The patent leather also means it cleans up well. Plus the shade works nicely with the rest of the look.

I hope that helped. Be on the lookout for the polyvore set, all!

LINKS TO THE ABOVE LOOKS: