Boden Weekly Review Roundup: Pewter Low Heeled Loafer Times Two Outfits.

Okay, hope all is well for everyone out there!  :-)  As you know by now, Boden started their "diminishing" discount sale on Sunday, which this season is for 20% off (which will start after you have more than $50 in your basket, though) for four days, followed by the current/normal 15% off on Thursday.  So, basically, buy now, lol.  I wrote more on the sale here at this blog post.

Some of you all are probably curious as to what I made up for the first challenge of the Fabric Mart Fashion Challenge, and while I am not ready to write up the full blog post, I am ready to show off what I made as part of the outfits that include the low heeled loafers, which are my "main" review this review roundup.  So I guess this is a sneak peek.

Alrighty, let's get onto the roundup!

Regular Boden:

Low Heeled Loafer.  Size 41.  I was so sure (especially with my bad luck with Boden shoe sizing) that I would have to send this back for the size 40.  But after receiving them and trying them on, I found that although they were a touch wide and long, the size 40 would have been too short on my foot, so I was pleased that the sizing gods had smiled down upon me with this purchase.

I have already written up one review of these, back here at this roundup, but you haven't seen them in action yet, of course.

I was thrilled that they worked so nicely with my "outfits" for the Fashion Challenge sewing competition that I photographed yesterday.  I needed something dressy, but not *too* dressy, something closed toe, and whose heel was low enough to work with leggings.  Yeah!  These are exactly right!  The "tee" in the above photo is actually a tunic made from a pattern that all of us competitors received and were expected to alter, embellish, and change to suit our needs, but also be something unexpected.  Nothing about the above is earth-shattering, but it is a tunic tucked into a skirt, so it ends up looking like a tee.  :)  There's more below in the next photos.

Back view.  You can see here that the shoes are not high at all, maybe 1.5" in total.  Very comfortable.  Since the construction is all leather (barring a manmade bit on the sole for traction), they feel lovely on the feet.  Boden's all leather shoes have done me in...now I don't even bother with anything but leather, now that I know the difference.  I wish I had known more what to wear on my feet when I was younger!

The back view of the tunic is the biggest surprise of the changed "tee."  I added a working henley button placket to the back of the tunic for visual interest on a very solid looking back.  The fabric on the back is actually a pinstripe but reads light grey from far away, so the visual interest helps break it up.  The sleeves are also from the front fabric for the same reason.  I could have just made a faux placket, but I wanted to learn how to do the henley placket, so I just gave myself some extra caffeine, and got on with making the real deal.

The pewter color of the shoes are exactly the right amount of shine for me.  Too shiny and I won't wear it, but a bit burnished-looking and I will.  The color of this on-line is not very accurate.  It only looks that bright and shiny in direct bright light and with a bright white background.  It reminds me more of this kind of pewter used in drinking vessels of the 18th-century in colonial Virginia.

The Grainline scout "tee" pattern was a lot of fun to work on over the past few days (and I used all the time I had to make it work exactly right for me and for the competition), and voting on it starts tomorrow over here at the Fabric Mart blog.  I will make sure to write up the process in a special "made by me" blog post tomorrow, so if this sort of thing interests you, make sure to check it out.  And hey, the tunic does look very "Boden," right?  :-D


Low Heeled Loafer.  Lots of women are feeling the love for these shoes.  Many sizes are on deep backorder.  20% off is a decent price for what you receive.  Like always, every loafer purchase I have made from them has been perfect, and they are all still in my closet, worn often throughout the year.


Must Have Tunic.  In addition to announcing the Diminishing Discount sale on Sunday, I made sure to include a quickie written review (and one photo) of this tunic there.


Cambridge Skirt.  Lou reviewed this lovely skirt for us here.  She also wore it as part of a really cute dressy casual outfit here.


Breton Top.  Avril wears hers under the most fabulous coral coat.  Yum, love that coat!!!  But, yes, the Breton is lovely, too, lol.  ;-)  *The photo link goes to the summer version.  I can't find the winter version at the affiliate program.  Grr.*

Hartland Dress.  Though this is not yet available (it is a winter item--set to roll out the end of this month), Anna wrote up a review of the one she received.  (I received my Sophia dress early, too, so this is not unprecedented, just kinda weird, lol.)

My Hartland Dress arrived. I love it, or rather I will after some minor revisions. I'm 5'5 and ordered it in long since so many dresses were running too short for my taste last year, but it ended up being too long just below the knee looking a bit dowdy, so I may end up exchanging or just shortening it myself. Overall the dress runs a bit large, though I'm very much in between sizes right now so maybe that's the issue. I ordered my usual size and will keep it, but a size smaller may have worked too. Finally, I may exchange for a different color, I got "green" which is khaki with brown and yellow details, very nice in general and would be cute for fall with browns and blacks, but I haven't decided if I like it on me or not. Unfortunately I can't find any pictures of the dress online anymore, it was part of the winter preview and seems gone from the internet. If anybody knows where to find stock pictures of this dress in different colors please let me know! But overall I really like it, it has a figure skimming relaxed fit, nice patch pockets, is made of soft mid-weight corduroy with lining, and the squirrels are so fun. I'll longingly wait for Boden to re-release this dress on their website so I can decide whether to exchange for a different color, a shorter version, or just hang on to the one I have and just shorten it myself. This dress makes me look forward to fall!

Clearance Boden:

Lovely Linen Dress.  Wore this out to church a while ago, and included it in a blog post here.


Santorini Sundress.  Wore this out with my daughter to get our haircuts.  Blog post is here.


Summer Sandals.  Keilexandra wrote up a review for us at the Boden Reviews tab:

I ordered the Summer Sandals (Johnnie B) because I loved the color and they came in my size (Boden, why no women's shoes in size 35?!). The color was as described, but unfortunately the fit was very narrow (I often have trouble with Euro size 35 fitting too wide, but this felt like a narrow-ish US size 5) and the sole was completely flat. I also didn't have much confidence in the very thin suede back strap holding up to repeated use, since there's no buckle and you just have to stretch it.

Thanks, as always, to my awesome blog friends for their great reviews!

Okay, all, that's it for today.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday.  Happy (sale) shopping!