Boden: Winter 2014 Preview Picks!

Hi!  Good Monday to you all.  :-)

Both computers in my house died, you all knew about the first one, but this second one took us by surprise.  Sigh.  We do have a new computer on its way to us, but won't be with us till tomorrow (happy birthday present, I suppose!), so I am typing away on my best friend's computer.  She is in town visiting, and thankfully she is willing to let me use hers for a few moments to get this post published.  I definitely wanted to spend more time on the preview picks, but given the limits on time and all the hardware issues we are having, I think this will be the best I can do.

My blog friend Monica already did her picks, so definitely check hers out when you grab a moment!

So this 20% off preview code X7V8 is ending so early this time.  We just got news of the preview a couple of weeks ago (at this post here) and here it is, only one day left to enjoy the code.  Hmm.  I remember a time not that long ago that you had nearly a month to make decisions.

The big Boden clearance sale hasn't started for spring/summer 2014 yet, and I have never seen them start the sale on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, so maybe we'll see the big sale start this Friday?  Anyhow ALL of my coupon links have expired, and I haven't heard from the affiliate program on any new coupons, so if any of you all have a code you can share on current spring/summer items (just in case you wanted to buy something before the sale), would you mind sharing with us in the comments?  :-)  Thank you!

Okay onto the picks!  I am linking to them tonight but won't be able to add any commentary other than a link to a review of me wearing it (if I own it from last season).  During the day tomorrow I will add a few bits here and there about each piece when I get a few moments to sit down and write!  :-)

Amelia Coat. 

Claudia Coat. 

Ingrid Coat.  Link to the review from last year.  Here it is in a more casual outfit. 

Charlbury Dress. 

Chic Tweed Shift Dress.  Review here.  Second outing here.

Hartland Dress. 

Milano Dress. 

Sequin Shimmer Party Dress. 

British Tweed Mini.

Millie Skirt. 

Everyday Sweater. 

Festive Fun Sweater. 

Sequin Cardigan.  I own the original of this from way back when the Boden Limited Edition line started.  This current price is STEEP.  WOW!

 Multi Stripe Tee. 

Perfect Party Top. 

Textured Silk Blouse. 

Wool Blend Cowl Neck Top.

Bistro Crop Trousers.  Have these in a similar check from last season.

Jewelled Flats.

Printed Scarf. 

One Piece Sports Swimsuit. 

Okay that's it for my picks!  Did you all see anything else that you would like to add to the mix?  Talk with you all tomorrow!

OOTDs: Silky Vintage and a Colorful Maxi.

Quick Reminder: Today is the last day you can save 30% off everything at Boden.  (It ends midnight tonight.)  I wrote more on it here at this post.  Hopefully this means the big clearance sale will start soon.  :-)

Day: Saturday, June 21, 2014.

Where: Rex's end of season baseball party and birthday dinner (mine!!!) with a friend.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I got frustrated with the shorts because they fit but they get wrinkly so fast. (They are a cotton stretch sateen that is lightweight, so they wrinkle when you breathe on them.)  The lighter color shows the wrinkles, so even though they feel great on, I am acutely aware of the wrinkles and my OCD goes into overdrive.  LOL.  I really need to get over it.

The Silky Vintage top (here at Boden, review of the green floral version here) is fab, though, so comfortable and easy to wear.  After realizing that the Selina dress in the same color was not going to work for me (latest review on that one here), I decided two Silky Vintage tops would work instead.  Probably better for my lifestyle, too, honestly.

Cool Factor: (3.75 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I received a lot of compliments on my outfit, especially the combo of the Silky Vintage top in the party floral and its matching sister bag, the Chelsea Clutch (here).  Of course I live in the land where Lilly Pulitzer pink and green flamingo dresses are a very good thing, so take all that with a grain of salt, especially if you are not very preppy. ;-)

Anecdote from the Day:  The house we went to for Rex's end of season baseball party had this insanely pretty pool.  It was finished with these deep grey slate tiles and the color of the water was this gorgeous teal blue.  Since I am used to the bright sky blue you see in regular neighborhood pools, it was a nice change of pace.  I immediately wished we could have a pool like that.  (In our millionaire dreams, of course.) 

Day: Sunday, June 22, 2014.

Where: CW's friend's birthday party.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Hi, pretty Boden jersey maxi dress!  It is nice to bring you out again for another year!  :-)  You are still as comfortable as I remember you being in years past, and as usual, the brightly colored graphic was an instant mood lifter.

(BTW, I wore another one today to Angus's Little Gym class--this green and purple one--and a friend confessed wanting a Boden maxi dress in her cart--I assume this one--and I told her to go for it.  Of course I enabled her...I really think she needs to be in on the secret of the "almost as comfortable as pjs" dress.)

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Simple colorful summer easy dressing.  Pretty cool for me. 

Anecdote from the Day:  Rex acted up at the lunch we all went to, so we had to take his opportunity to go to the movie with his dad away, so while CW and I played at her friend's party, Rex had to sit around with his daddy and brother doing nada instead.  What made it worse for him is that we were already on our way to the movie/party at lunch (I was going to go to the party while they were at the movie), so he couldn't even do nada at home, instead he had to do nada at the local Wal-Mart.  Sigh.  But I bet he won't do that again.  Let's hope, anyhow.

Okay, that's it for now.  I hope everyone is set to have a wonderful weekend!

Link to sale...remember the 30% off ends tonight at midnight:
30% Off EVERYTHING plus Free Shipping

Boden: Four Days Only! 30% Off Everything!

Well, folks, it appears with this latest promo we are now in the stretch towards the end of season clearance sale time at Boden.  I have seen years where this end of season sale has been as high as 40% off, but based on the amount of out of stock/low stock items over at Boden, they can be a little less "giving" with their last big sale of the spring/summer lines.  Still 30% is nothing to sniff at, and besides last week's 40% off 40 items promo (ended last night), this is the best reduction I have seen all season.

Basically my advice is the same as it has been in years past...do not purchase items that have languished and have had the blue "full stock" box the entire season.  Those will be reduced greater than 30% (likely--don't brand me with a hot iron if I am wrong) during the clearance sale.  This 30% off everything sale is best for those items that are close to selling out or have sold out and you see that they have popped back in your size and/or color choice.  You can go ahead and buy an item in your size and color if it is fully stocked but other sizes and colors are sold out since that usually is enough proof to Boden that the item is selling well.  (For instance, I bought the casual jersey dress--review here, btw--last night in my size in the navy, with the 40% off, even though all the smaller sizes are fully stocked.  The bigger sizes were all sold out and I figured that the 40% would be the best price I would see on that color, even in the clearance sale.)

The IRL reviews of many of the pieces from this season can be found in all the BWRRs here.  Since the last BWRR, I have published two separate review posts that are here and here, just in case you were interested in any of those items (Selina Dress, Ariette Dress, Anna Dress--Johnnie b., and the Laid Back Dress).

If you have any questions, I will be around all day, so there is a good chance I should be able to answer them quickly. 

Enjoy (sale) shopping!

Direct Link to the Sale:
30% Off EVERYTHING plus Free Shipping

Boden: The "Duds" Reviews.

Hey, everyone!

Okay, so as a reminder, the Boden 40% off 40 Items ends tonight.  I definitely am going to grab one dress from this promotion since this price is decent *and* it appears a lot of women chose to purchase items during this promo, which means that Boden will be unlikely to reduce certain colors of certain items more than 40% during the clearance since the better price proved all that is necessary to sell many of these items out.  (That said, there are a lot of items, including two of the dresses in this review, that are not close to selling out at this 40% off price, so you could take your chances and hope that they reduce these colors at a greater reduction during clearance.)

Also, and I am mentioning this again just in case some of you missed this post, Boden rolled out their winter 2014 preview on Friday (use X7V8 for 20% off with free ship and returns).  Picks post will be upcoming.

Okay, so these duds are duds in the negative version of the word, versus "hey, look at my fancy duds!"  LOL.  Just wanted to be clear.  Having said that, I do recognize that these duds may even appear okay on the face value level of observation on me, but to me these dresses fail spectacularly.  I think these three dresses could look and feel amazing on the right woman, but she is not me.  So here they are, three dresses I will happily be returning to Boden in favor of something that will suit me far more.

Selina Dress.  Size 8 Long.  I tried this in a size 6 Long way back when (see these facebook photos of them for the reviews--view one, view two, view three, view four, and view five).

The dress does fit better in the 8 long, and if the lining was perfect, you had best believe I would be keeping this one. I mean it does look rather nice on my frame, I know that. BUT--at the price they are charging (and I bought it at), I would expect that they would have a full skirt lining rather than a pencil skirt lining. It is ridiculous to have a dress with a skirt this full and have a very slim skirt on the lining.  A lot of pear shaped ladies look for this style dress so we can size for our bodice and not have to worry about the skirt fitting.  Agh! 

Anyway, rant over. I just feel like it needs to be addressed and I really hope someone over at design for Boden will bear this in mind for future Selina incarnations.

Pretty pretty dress with full skirt.  While the skirt's lining does fit me, it doesn't feel awesome, so I can't keep it when there are so many other dresses from them that would work for me.

I will say that if this does go down to $50, I would buy it.  Doubtful that will happen, so life will go on without this one being in my closet.

The fabric wrinkles very easily, btw.  Those wrinkles are from being re-packed by me (and I was fairly careful, too).  I would say the dress is going to require a lot from you to keep it pristine if you choose to buy it.  I would probably just dry clean it.

Side view. The bodice bit is very full, so if you are especially busty, I would probably think this may not be the best silhouette.  The waist is high, too, so again, something to bear in mind.

Back view.  I was so meh on this dress by the time I took these pics I didn't even bother to do up the two buttons I noticed that I had left unbuttoned on the back so I could take more photos.  Ha.

I am going to say that if this will work for your body, slimmer lining and all, it is a BEAUTIFUL item.  But remember, even at 40% off, it is pricey.


Selina Dress.  Stocks are very low in some of the colors.  This color is not selling well at all.  Maybe the $50 price will be in my future?  :-)  Until then, I have been enjoying the Silky Vintage Top instead in this color.

Ariette Dress.  Size 4 Long.  After trying the 6 Long from Boden which was GINORMOUS on me (view one, view two, view three), I thought, "dang, well, it's probably mislabeled, but I am going to try the 4 L just in case."  And here it is, the 4 L.  And it does look like it fits and it seems to look okay from the front.  It is all an illusion, people.

Side View.  HAHAHAHAHAHA.  Look at the little bit of fabric I have snuggling up above my booty.  What is up with Boden and adding tucks above the butt?  I mean really.  LOL.  I know now that the 6 L would have probably been the right size for me, but too bad on you, Boden, for allowing your quality control to slide on down the hill to the point where my 6 L was more than likely a 12 or 14 L instead.

I guess I would have kept a size 6 L had I been sent the right size.  I mean it is a cute dress and I love the print, but eh, I am beyond it now.  At $20 I may be swayed to try again.  ;-)

Back View.  The fabric wrinkles a lot, just like the Selina dress, but at least this fabric is a bit more casual and can be easily washed and dried in your home machines.


Ariette Dress.  Not even close to selling out, except in the blue shade.  You should be fine waiting on this.

Anna Dress.  Size 15-16.  Oof, what a short short dress.  I fell in love with the fabric, but at 35.5 inches it is three inches too short to work for my frame.  I can usually do some Johnnie b. dresses, but not all.  This is clearly not one of them.  If you are smaller, say 5'5" or shorter, you should be able to get away with this one.  Of course this color is all sold out in the 15-16 size.

If there had been a two inch hem on the dress, I could have conceivably let down the hem, ironed it, added a facing, and had a longer dress that way, but the hem is a mere half-inch long.  Sigh.

Side view.  So short.  I couldn't have even worn this at age 14.  I was almost this tall at that age.  My dad would have immediately sent it back as it wasn't modest enough.

Back View.  Even with all the shortness of the skirt, the bodice is still too long as evidenced by the wrinkling above the belt.  What a bummer.  I really wish that they had made a top from this fabric.  It is a really cute print.


Anna Dress.  This is selling well and I think I could see it being beyond adorable on the right lady (or teen).

Okay, that's it.  I will be back tomorrow with a more!

40% Off 40 Items