OOTD/Review: Boden Laid Back Dress.

Hey, everyone.  Guess what you get when a 5-year old's elbow knocks a cup of coffee onto a laptop?  You guessed it...a dead laptop.  (SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOB!)  Anyhow, I have been trying to save it but it looks kaput, so my brother (who works at a computer store, phew) will take the hard drive and put all its contents onto whatever laptop we buy next.  Until  then I have a jangly, many years old desktop computer to work on instead, but I find doing anything on it so slow and tedious that it may be unlikely that I am back completely until the new laptop is ours.

I will still do my best to update as I can, and will for sure keep the Facebook page updated.  But there will probably be lots of information in each post so I don't have to publish a new post with every new bit of info out there.

For instance today I would have had three posts--this one on the ootd/review and two others on two separate Boden related items.  But instead I will put those two items in this post to save me sanity and not get me to the point where I want to throw the jangly old pc out the window.  :-P

So, before the ootd/review starts, here are the two big items from Boden today.

1. They started a 40% off 40 items sale today.  This is a four day event and a lot of the items included are really nice pieces.  I would encourage you all to take a look around as some of the items will not be at 40% off during the clearance time.  Amazingly, all items in the sale are reduced in all the colors, which rarely happens, so even if an item's color is fairly popular, it is at the same price as the less popular colors, which does not normally happen. 

At the end of the post I will go over the items I personally recommend and can link to reviews.

2. Boden rolled out their Winter Preview for 2014!  We saw some of the images for winter during the press days (which I wrote about here) but now we can actually order them.  There are some very pretty items for sale.  I definitely will be doing a picks post on these items. (I will also probably do a formal blog post on the rollout happening tomorrow just in case I have readers who only come here for Boden preview stuff--there are a lot of those, actually!)  Anyhow, use the code X7V8 for 20% off with free ship and returns.  That code expires on my birthday.  ;-)  *That would be July 1.*

Okay, onto the ootd/review.

Day: Wednesday, June 18, 2014.

Where: Rex's Swim Practice and Winesday.

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Thank goodness for a loose linen shift dress on a ridiculously humid, hot, and ugly muggy day.  I don't sweat often, but by the end of walking Rex to swim practice (it's not far, but it does require around a 1/5 mile walk to get to it), I was definitely overheated and feeling the perspiration. 

I wore a linen costume when I was pregnant with CW and working as a volunteer historical interpreter at the Jamestown site.  They said that a full linen costume would be cooler than I expected it to be and they were right.  Since then, and even though it wrinkles like cray cray, I happily keep all the pieces in my wardrobe since DC doesn't know a cool summer.

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Tropical prints are in, as is a relaxed, chill silhouette, so I did well here.

Anecdote from the Day:  Angus came with us to Winesday and was so frustrated with us that he put his head down on the buggy and pretended to be asleep.  Eventually I coaxed him into sipping the watermelon soup and it was literally like watching a hungry flower bloom after a rain storm.  That's all he needed, it turned out.  The watermelon soup was pretty amazing, and made me feel pretty good too.

Laid Back Dress (here).  Size 8 L.  I was so nervous that the 8 L would be too big in the bodice while fitting my hips that I would be frustrated with it enough to send it back.  Happily Anna (in this post) made me less worried and upon receiving it I found that sizing to the 8 L was the right call.  It fits a bit loose overall, even in the hips, and while the length isn't super long, it is more than fine for summer casual outings.

The fabric is a lighter linen, but is not so lightweight that it required a lining.  The pattern is really great, too, and you had better believe that if I was going to someplace tropical this summer (besides DC, lol), I would be packing this one with me.

Side view.  The shaping you see there at my upper back may be because linen's fibers stretch as need be, and since I am thinnest through my waist, it is possible that the fibers stayed most constricted there.  (You can also see this in the fact that the place where there is the most wrinkling is at my hips, the very place where I am widest.)

Back view.  I like that I don't look too wide here.  I find if something looks good from the back then the garment is pretty decent.  There have been a lot of items I have returned because they look just awful from behind and I would never want to torture anyone with that view of me.  Ha.


Laid Back Dress.  Sold out in a lot of colors and sizes, but the sizes do popback from time to time.  This dress is not part of the 40% off 40 promo, but you can use the sidebar coupon or the one at the bottom of this post to receive the current 25% off everything promotion.


40% Off 40 Items Promo:
Selina Dress.  Review here (use link in BWRR).  I have since received the size up and while it fits better, it is just not right enough for me to keep.  I have some photos of the new size and will get those up ASAP.  I think if you love this dress and want to try this style, 40% off is good, especially if you buy it in a popular color that will not be at 40% off during clearance.

Flowershow Dress.  Review link to Monica's blog here at this BWRR.  Looked really nice on her.  :-)

Nancy Dress.  Review here.  Also worn here.

Casual Jersey Dress.  Review here.  HIGHLY recommended.  :-) 

Lovely Linen Dress.  Review here.  Also a love on my part, but I could see it being the wrong shape for some women.

Ariette Dress.  The original that came to me was reviewed here (use link in BWRR).  The dress must have been mislabeled a 6L since it was massive on me.  I returned it for a 4L, just in case, but the 4L only fit well in the bust and waist.  The hips were too tight to be comfortable.  I will get photos of that one up at the same time as I get up the Selina dress photos.  I could exchange again for the 6L, but ugh, I don't want to deal with this again. I hope that someone at Boden reads this and sees that only so much tolerance should be expected on our parts regarding their down slide in quality control.  Anyhow, it is a very pretty print and a cool fabric for summer heat, but be aware of the possibility of bad sizing.

Emily Skirt.  Review of it here.  Wore it again here. 

There are other items included in the sale that I am sure are great, but need feedback on to make sure they are great.  :-)  If you have a review that you can share of any of the 40% Off 40 Items, would you mind commenting here at this post?

Okay that's all for now.  Be back soon, wish me luck with the new laptop!