Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Boden Weekly Review Roundup: Darcey Dolled Up.

Before I start, I wanted to let you all know that I screwed up and said the 20% off selected Boden items sale was ending last night, because...and you all are going to love this...I thought last night *WAS WEDNESDAY NIGHT*.  I have serious doubts about my mental stability.  LOL.  Anyhow it is really Wednesday night tonight and the sale is ending tonight.  You can find all the goodies here.

If you have a desire to get something not in this current sale, you can use the sidebar coupon (or the one at the bottom of this post) to receive 15% off and free ship/returns on any purchases over $50.

In other Boden news, my good friend B. told me that she recently asked about the "pink" low stock box that appears when an item is popular and about to sell out/go on backorder.  She wanted to know exactly how many items would be left if it went into low stock and she made me guess first.  I told her 25-50, and she lol-ed.  No, in fact it is FIVE.  FIVE ITEMS, people. FIVE.  It may be even less by the time you see the low stock.  So now guess what I do if I see an item in the pink box and really want/need said item?  Yep, I get it.

Onto the reviews!

Regular Boden:
Darcey Dress. Size 6 L.  Many of you saw this on me at my FB page, and here it is all dressed up and ready for Winesday.  Since it was a touch cool that night, but so spring-y out, I really really wanted to wear this dress.  I decided that even though it looks cool on its own with sandals, it could be worn with a jacket without it looking ridiculous (the way some sundresses look when you wear them with a jacket or coat).  It may have been a bit nicer looking with a belt, but the waistband features a knot when not covered up, so a belt would not have worked.

As I mentioned in the FB review, it hugs my curves (it is a stretchy jersey) but not so much that I felt like I was all on display.  With the jacket covering me up, I even felt more than fine.  I did wear a seamless undergarment over my underwear since I didn't want any lines showing, but not of the Spanx "suck it all in" variety.  You could try this pair from Freshpair ( Jockey Skimmies Slipshort), I have those and find they do a great job of keeping the lines at bay (although you could wear them on their own, as well).

The long is really quite long, if you are shorter than 5'7", I recommend ordering the regular length.  Sometimes the longs are great for women above 5'5", but this dress is made for really tall ladies.  (I am a right on the edge of thinking it may be a bit too long on me, but I know the regular would probably be the wrong length I am looking for in a dress like this.)

The colors are a mint green, a deep purple that almost looks brown, a mid-copper/orange, and a cream.  They work together, which sort of seems impossible.

Darcey Dress
Darcey Dress.  Not selling out, but some of the sizes are in the low stock zone already.  This color is popular, but not as popular as the pink/grey version.

Ariette Dress
Selina Dress
Abigail Dress
Bistro Short
Poppy Skirt
Ariette Dress, Selina Dress, Abigail Dress, Bistro Shorts, and Poppy Skirt.  I tried these all on when they arrived at my house a few weeks ago.  Although I received more than just these, these were all ones I had issues with, in fact one of them is a complete return, while three were exchanges for a new size, and one was a keeper with hopes of fixing it up on my sewing machine.  See the Ariette Dress here (four total photos, click on the photo to get to the next one), the Selina Dress here (five total photos, click on the photo to get to the next one), the Abigail Dress here (three total photos, click on the photo to get to the next one), the Bistro Shorts here (two photos, click on the photo to get to the next one), and the Poppy Skirt here (two photos, click on the photo to get to the next one). 

Below each photo is an explanation of any issues I had with the garment.

The Abigail Dress is also part of the 20% off promo. :-)

Amelie Dress
Amelie Dress.  The lovely Lisa was in fine outfit-making form when she posted this outfit featuring the Amelie dress recently.  She was so in good form that Boden's blog, "Bits and Blogs" featured her in one of their recent posts.

Serrana Sandal
Serrana Sandals.  Beth, of the blog Style Guile (one of my favorites from my "Blogs I Love" tab), recently wrote up a review of these darling sandals (she purchased the silver glitter version).


Lightweight V-Neck Tee.  Lou gave us a written review of this practical tee in the mint shade over at her blog.  She also has a few mini reviews at the same post, so definitely check it out if you have any "minis" in your life.  ;-)  *Use link in name since the affiliate program has no link to this shirt in their directory.*

From the Boden Reviews Tab:
Marilyn Dress
Marilyn Dress. pdxelizabeth, one of the blog friends, recently commented at a post about this dress.  She says:

My Marilyn dress showed up late last week (I ordered the blue and white, to replace a similarly patterned Boden dress from several summers ago that is now too big) and I love it. Ordered the 10L, and it's a great fit overall - a touch big in the chest, because I'm a pear, but nothing noticeable or causing me to think I should've sized down. It's swingy and swishy and I love it. It's a cotton sateen, so it does have an ever-so-slight sheen to it (this is fine by me), and I do wish the lining was cotton (that's a minor quibble - at least it's a full lining, not a pencil lining). Hope this helps someone out!

Jessica Dress
Summer Jersey Blazer
Pretty Eyelet Dress
Nancy Skirt
Chino Skirt
Silk Linen Wrap
Shell Top
Pointed Slingbacks
Jessica Dress, Summer Jersey Blazer, Pretty Eyelet Dress, Nancy Skirt, Chino Skirt, Silk Linen Wrap Sweater, Shell Top (also see photo IRL below), and Pointed Slingbacks.  Lizzyt wrote up reviews for all of these items.  Of these items she says:

Jessica dress in pink and navy: Beautiful jersey dress and I am keeping both colors. The top is done in a pretty see through, dotted fabric. Your bra strap shows but it is not very noticeable unless you are up close. I wore the dress with a blazer for the first time but if I wear it alone, I will probably wear a camisole. Length is just below the knee on my 5'10 frame (I always order long).

Summer jersey blazer in polka dot: I love this blazer and am keeping it because it is jersey but it is cut very small. What is up with Boden's new cuts on blazers and jackets! Not cool Boden! I belong to the insider community so I left a note there about the change in fit in blazers - hopefully next season it will be much better.

Pretty eyelet dress in cobalt: Beautiful dress, cut a little small on top but very short in length. Return for me :( If you don't mind dresses above your knee, this is a beautiful choice! I even checked the garment length and it was well within my normal preferable length so I'm not sure what is up with this one.

Nancy skirt in polka dot and Riveria: this skirt is an exaggerated A-line but I like it. I'm returning the Riveria print as I like the dress much better but am keeping the polka dot. The fabric is stiff so the part of the A-line sticks out at the bottom. I'm hoping it will soften up and not be so dramatic but if it stays that way, a quick trip to the tailor to take the sides in a bit will be an easy, cheap fix. The dots are black and the background is cream. It is stunning! I plan to style this in many, many ways.

Chino skirt in pink: I like this skirt too but it's cut a little small across the hips as compared to other skirts. Since it's chino I expect it to loosen up a bit with wear so I'm keeping it. I'm even going to order a few other colors.

Silk linen wrap sweater in yellow: beautiful sweater in a beautiful color. On the longer side but pairs nicely with dresses. Sheds a bit on the first wear. We'll see how it goes the second wear or after it gets laundered. Very good basic.

Shell top in pink: I very rarely order tops from Boden unless I know it will be on the longer side. I'm 5'10 and I find tops at Boden to run short. This top was too beautiful to pass up. It's actually a very good length and cut is slimming. It's not tight, but not baggy either. Perfect top in a beautiful color. Will order other colors. See picture below.

Pointed slingbacks: I've ordered these in quite a few colors and sizes and can't seem to get a good fit. I'm a standard US size 10 but first tried the 42, they are slightly too big. Then I tried the 41 and they are far to tight in the toes. I'm going to try the 41 1/2 but I'm not getting my hopes up. They just don't seem like a very comfortable pointed toe.

Thank you to both pdxelizabeth and LizzyT for their great written reviews!

Thanks to all my blog friends for their published reviews!

Okay that's all for tonight.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday!  See you back here later!