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