Boden: Further Reductions on Sale Items! (Yay Second Cuts!)

It turns out that if you wait long enough before doing your picks post, the folks at Boden will further reduce items so that your picks post will have even better prices.  LOL.

Anyhow, I am about to get on a plane to New Orleans to spend the holidays with Mr. Dina's family (we usually go there for Thanksgiving but you know--reunion!).  Since I have about three nanoseconds before my dad gets here to take us to the airport, I can't go into much detail, but it appears that there are some good deals to be had on many items.  So have a look 'round, maybe there is something you had your eye on, but only at the *very best* price possible.  ;-)

Also, it appears there was a restock of items, so there are many popbacks at the site this morning, so if you had your eye on something and it had sold out, it may be back today.

Okay, have a great day, and I will be back to talk soon!

The below link says up to 50% off, but I promise, there are items at 60% off!

Boden Weekly Review Roundup: Tulip Party Edition.

Hi, all!  As most of you know, the *big* end of season sale started on Saturday.  I wrote a bit more on it here, but have not yet done a picks post.  I will be writing up a picks post for Wednesday, so if you have any favorites, go ahead and comment either here or at that post to let us know what you are really loving from the clearance.

So in today's post, I am highlighting one of the very few items that was a better deal last week than this week.  As Boden has done for a few years now, if an item is an especially good seller, or can be carried over to the next season, the item will only be reduced by a tiny amount in clearance.  Last week the Tulip Party Dress could be had for 25% off, this week it is only 20% off.

(If it makes you feel better, I got mine for 20% off during the preview, so I wasn't even able to get it for the awesome 25% off, either.)

It has been so popular (which I get, btw) that it comes and pops back and doesn't stay that way for very long, so if it is something that would get a lot of wear in your life, the retail price minus 15% off is worth it.

Regular Boden (now in clearance, technically):

Tulip Party Dress.  Size 8 Regular.

Some of you may already know this, but I originally purchased this in a size 6 long since the measurements seemed to work for my larger bottom half/smaller upper body.  But as evidenced below in the last few photos, the 6 long was most definitely not the best choice for me.

The 8 regular is a bit shorter, but since it is a party dress, I figure a couple inches above the knee is no big deal, what really mattered is the fact that I knew I could sit in this without hurting my lower hips!

It has pockets that are lovely and deep.  I actually put my phone in there for a few moments on the night I wore it (for more on that occasion, go to this post).

Side view.  The skirt is not making me poof out like that, it is the way I naturally stand, so don't blame the skirt for my poor posture/natural swayback.

It has a back zip which means I could step into the dress rather than pulling it over my head.  SO glad they made that call, nothing worse than having a face full of makeup smear the inside of a dress.

The back zip made me (foolishly) think I could get away with a smaller size, too, since it would require less of a struggle to get it on...learn from my mistake, go with the larger of your sizes.

My natural waist and the dress's waist is where my hand is, in other words, this dress has a fairly high waist...be aware of that, too, especially you all who have longer torsos.

Size 6 Long.  From here, it almost appears like the dress looks okay.  The length gives it a bit more class, and the fit of the bodice is *spot* on, but wait for it...

Best caption for this look in the comments will be placed here forever once a winner has been chosen!

Hahahahahahaha.  Look at that poof above my bottom...yeah, that's attractive.

I should have learned my lesson from this tulip-shaped skirt I purchased last fall.  Why don't I ever learn???

Back view also is deceiving!

The jacquard is very substantial, well woven, and beautiful in real life.  The dress is also made in the UNITED KINGDOM.  It has been YEARS since I have had an item from Boden made in the UK.  I don't know if there are plans to keep this up, but I am thrilled that this was made there, and don't regret the amount I spent on it.

FWIW, I am bringing this dress with me to Mississippi for Christmas and plan to wear it with a pair of black tights, a black turtleneck, and more sedate heels for Christmas service at the church down there.  So this dress is a very versatile party dress, too.


Tulip Party Dress.  Popbacks come and go, but watch for them...they will appear.  The green dotted version is more popular than the grey dotted version.


Ingrid Coat.  I wore this out as part of my church outfit on a very cold day (bottom of the post).  I also wore it today to a school play, again because it is so flipping cold.  :-)



Honeycomb Stitch Sweater and Ponte Roma Trousers.  Lou wore these as part of a very pretty weekend outfit here in this post. 


 
Canonbury Clutch and Knit Spot Slipper.  Lou has quickie reviews of these at the bottom of this post.

Lou also rounded up some of her reviews from this season here at this post and at this post.  (I have links to those reviews in my past BWRRs, but it is nice to have them all in place!)

Reviews from Boden Reviews Tab:

Equestrian Boot (use name to access page).  Nicole writes of these darling boots:

I ordered the Equestrian Boot in black, succumbing to the awesome deal that Boden had for Cyber Monday. 50% off and free shipping? Yes, please! My shoe size is an awkward 10.5 post-baby, which is a size that no one seems to make. Actually, half sizes seem to stop at 9.5. Where's the love for us gals with big feet? Some of us are half sizes too! 

Anyhow, the lovely boots came this week. They're the perfect casual/dressy boot, but sadly they have to go back. I ordered the 42, which looked to be a 10.5 per their sizing chart. The width across the widest part of my foot is perfect, even with a wool sock. The heel and ankle are too big, though. I feel the heel slip every time I walk, and the ankles just don't feel right with all that extra space/leather. I was able to zip them up over my corduroys, but it was a little tight at first. I typically wear extended calf styles, but my calf size has changed and now I can actually tuck pants into my boots. The description on the web states that you can adjust the strap, which is true of the top one with the buckle, but not the other one. Adjustments would be limited by that second strap. The other issue I had with these was the height of the boot shaft. These are taller than my old J Crew boots, and I found when sitting, the top of the boot was jamming itself into the back of my knee. Not pleasant. I'm 5'8, so not a shortie. I would think this would be a problem for shorter ladies with big feet. Oddly, there is no measurement listed on the web for the height of the size 42. 

I really wish these had worked because my old boots aren't big enough/comfortable. There are a lot of positive reviews for them and they have a 4/5 start rating. Maybe it's just me and my giant feet. :)

I wish they had worked for you, too, Nicole!  :-(

 
Off Duty Merino Sweater.  LizzyT received hers in grey and has this to say of her purchase:

I just received the off duty merino sweater in the light gray and it is absolute love! It's a bit swingy and big but perfect for casual weekend days with skinny jeans and boots. The wool is soft and cozy, the color is the perfect light gray, and the shape is cool casual. I adore this sweater and am stalking the cashmere version for pop backs. Highly recommend!

Glad to read that the sweater works for you--best of luck on grabbing the cashmere as a popback!

Thanks to all my blog friends for their reviews!

mini Boden:


 
Fun Jersey Dress, Pointelle Marl T-Shirt, Twin Pack Long Johns (click on name to get to page), and Festive Applique T-Shirt.  Lou wrote up some quick reviews of these here at this post.

Okay, that's it for now.  I hope everyone is having a lovely Monday, and we'll talk soon!

Link to sale below:

Boden: Sale Time is Here!

Well, the big sale is on...it started a day earlier than I was expecting, but I won't take issue with that.

As per usual, I have only had the most cursory glance 'round, but I will say that the items that are deeply discounted are discounted very nicely, and you can find some great prices on some very lovely items.  That said, and we have experienced this before with Boden, many of the items many of us have been hankering for are only barely reduced...in fact had we purchased the items last week when the *everything is at least 25% off*, we would have saved more.  Le sigh.

UPDATE (9:55 am): I looked and saw that you can receive free shipping if you spend more than $50.  Thank you, Boden, for listening to your customers.  We have been begging for this for years!!!  Cheers!

But I won't focus on that, instead I will attempt to get all my ducks in a row and finally publish a long overdue Boden Weekly Review Roundup this weekend, so those of you hunting for these deals have a last set of reviews to reference when purchasing.

(Until then, you can have a gander at ones that have been published already--there were a lot of fab reviews this season, so it is likely something you like was reviewed.)

Do you have any picks from the sale you would like to mention?  I am also setting up to do a picks post for mid-week next week and would love to include yours!

Have a lovely Saturday and happy (sale) shopping!

OOTE/Made by Me Files: Halloween. Glinda. Witch. Bad Pig. Blue Bird. And a Lone Fox.

Hey, all.  I am feeling mildly uninspired lately.  I 100% know it has to do with pain and feeling like the bottom is going to drop out if I don't get things done *right* now.  Because I am super crazy (obviously), I decided that I would handmake 70% of my gifts this Christmas, all the while knowing full well I would be recovering from wisdom teeth extraction.

So the actual wisdom teeth procedure went fine, as I have told you all already, but unfortunately some "tooth bits" were left in my upper left wisdom tooth cavity (this happens often enough that it isn't a big deal) and they have to. work. themselves. out.  WORK. THEMSELVES. OUT.  Read that as:

"Oh my God, it feels like a dagger is attacking my gumline and my cheek." 

Followed by:

"Why aren't there more painkillers over the counter?"

Followed by:

"Just leave me alone."

Followed by:

"Fine, Mr. Dina, call the doctor."

And of course she did what she needed to and now I feel marginally better, but I am irritated at myself for not calling her two days ago.  Sigh.  Stupid stubborn streak.

Anyhow, because I have zero energy, but figure I should let you all know that...

Onto a secret, and I really hope Boden fans are reading this, 'cause this is good...

Boden has allowed some of us to pre-order from the Boden clearance sale this weekend.  I noticed that the Boden Preview site was down for maintenance yesterday and thought, "hmm, that's odd."  Turns out they have the sale section there, with the great prices ready to go, and you can preorder.  At least I could.  Now, I received an e-mail that stated it was for my eyes only, but it seems that we should all be able to do it, so long as we have a Boden account, right?  Would one of you who did not get the e-mail try it and let me know so we can officially confirm that we can do this? 

UPDATE (10:13 pm): Stephanie has confirmed that only us with the official e-mail are able to access the early sale.  She says:

it wouldn't let me on the preview sale site, i randomly found it earlier today and when i tried to log in it said i wasn't on the list to get it :( very sad.

Thanks for letting us know, Stephanie.  Agreed.  :-(

Anyhow, if you go over there you can see many items that are very greatly reduced as well as many items that are MUCH greater reduced right now.  So basically if you like something that won't be greatly reduced at the clearance time, I definitely encourage you to grab it before the "officially" starts on Sunday.

About the above, I commented this back to Stephanie: 

I certainly can't go over the whole list of items, but I will say that if you like something that is popular, it appears that it is only reduced between 10% to 20% off. If the item is unpopular, there a whole lot of 40% to 60% off items. :)

Maybe this can help you all a little bit?

I decided to throw this info in here because I don't really know if I am allowed to tell you all, and would hate to find out I screwed up.  Heck, I might get in some trouble, but the percocet is making me all sorts of wild and daring.  ;-)

Okay, onto Halloween.  Right, Halloween.  Forgive me, month of December.

I had spent most of that day creating CW's Glinda costume.  I was spent by the time trick or treating came.  I figured the orange sweater, shoes, and pumpkin earrings was definitely festive enough.

I could have gone as Glinda my own self, but eh, maybe next year.  ;-)

So this Glinda costume basically exacted the same amount of time and energy as CW's Rapunzel costume did.  In other words, WAY too long.  And then of course I jumped into the Vogue Paris Original dress right after that, so I guess I should just accept I like a challenge.  My stepmom thinks now that I have made three insane outfits, I should attempt a jacket or coat.  And of course I was all, "yeah, let's do that."  Let me sleep straight for three months first, though.

(The Christmas presents I am making are far easier than any of these dresses, a bunch of pretty infinity scarves, some tote bags, a few stuffed animals, a few *simple* dresses and jackets, and a pillowcase.)

This dress is made from Simplicity 4139 ( here) and is a pretty close replication of what Glinda looks like in the movie.  (The original movie, not the most recent one.)  My daughter isn't an exact Billie Burke, but there is absolutely no mistaking who she is.  So mission accomplished, two ginormous "it looks like it can eat CW's head" puffy sleeves and all.

Most of the dress gave me little challenge.  In fact, this material is a plastic nylon fabric of some sort, probably meant for rain jackets, that I got at G Street fabrics at one of their "$2.97" tables.  It wasn't terrible to sew, it made a funny sucking kind of sound as I sewed it, but I loved that I didn't have to finish off the seams to prevent fraying fabric (plastic doesn't fray, hey!).

What ended up getting to me was the stinking sleeves since although they look fully puffy and definitely "good witch,' they are not evenly placed in the armhole and that irritates me.  No one else probably even notices, but after watching "Breaking the Faith" on TLC and seeing all the FLDS and their perfectly formed puffy sleeves, I just know I could have done better.  I did puff out her sleeves with the help of poly-fill.  That stuff is really great for more than just stuffing stuffed animals. 

I also hated the princess seams (they are covered by the silver rick rack to make up for the horrible job I did on sewing them).  Apparently you are supposed to ease the seam before you sew it (basically cutting it to fit the curve on the other piece).  I didn't know that and desperately wondered how I was supposed to fit them together.  By the back, I had figured it out, but the front was a mess.  So yay silver rick rack, I appreciate your hiding powers.

I did like that I chose to use a very sheer sparkly tulle over the puffy sleeves and collar, and a very light application of silver fabric spray on the skirt.  She literally shined as she moved.  It's pretty darn magical.

I think the back looks way better than the front. 

I also made the crown from posterboard, also sprayed with the silver fabric spray.  The crown is destroyed now, though, sigh.  Kids!  ;-)

My dad and my son's Angry Birds costumes also needed some polyfill.  Good thing I had some, just hanging out, huh?

My stepmom wanted to match CW, so she dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West.  CW was sad to hear that the wicked witch was not supposed to be her friend.  She almost cried, in fact.  We changed the story just a touch to make her feel better.

And there is our lone fox.  I bought that for Tiny at Carters in September, and he has actually worn it as a coat a handful of times since then.  He gets a lot of smiles, and yep, a lot of "what does the fox say?"  Ha.  He says "yip yip yip yip yip yip yip," of course.  (We have a few foxes in our forest behind the house, and I assure you foxes sound weird and deranged.  Turns out that angry zebras do, too.  Yeah, that's right, I have heard an angry zebra!)

Rex saw that and was all, "I want a fox coat, Momma!"  So guess what one of the coats for Christmas will be?  Yep, McCall's 6828 (here).  I am such a freaking pushover.

Okay, that's it for now.  Remember to try the Boden preview site (sign into your account first!) and let me know if you can access the sale.  Also, if you see something that goes UP in price at the clearance time, definitely better to buy now.

The coupon link below says it's expired, even though the affiliate program says it is good until tonight.  The link barely matters since the prices are all around 25% off, and lolcatgirl has let us know that you can use the code Z2H4 for free shipping.  If I get a new promo, I will update this post and my sidebar!

OOTEs: Dots and Sequins. 90s and 80s.

Happy Monday, everyone!

I am still in a major state of recovery after having all my wisdom teeth extracted on Friday, so I only have a few minutes before I go back down for *another* rest and eventually more baby food (yum!), but I thought looking at pictures of me before the oral surgery in really pretty clothing would make me feel a tiny bit better.

Anyhow, without further talky-talk...dots and sequins!

Day: Saturday, November 30, 2013.

Where: My high school reunion.  If you follow this blog with any regularity, you know which one, but I am not gonna actually write which one it is, 'cause ouch.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear) You take away those darn glitter Mona heels (as fab as they look), and this would easily have scored a 4.5.  The Tulip Party Dress in the right size (8 regular) made all the difference in the world.  (I had originally purchased the 6 long and when I do the review in the next Boden Weekly Review Roundup, you'll see that it was really smart for me to buy the next size up).

It was chilly that night, but the Lady Day coat was more than adequate for keeping me warm.  Bonus points for nearly matching the jacquard dots on the dress.

Cool Factor: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) Aw, hell, if I can't give myself a 5 out of 5 after putting as much effort into this look as I did, then when can I?

Anecdote from the Day:  Aren't reunions weird?  I found that I really just didn't want to talk to some people, even though it had been *** years and I should be over the fact that these people didn't like me in high school because I wasn't cool enough.  I did talk to some people that I barely even saw in high school, and one girl and I commiserated over having three young kids and being utterly spent most days.  That was really nice to know that one of the cool girls is just like me, you know, normal, and not sprinkled with fairy dust, like I always assumed the cool ones were.

I also decided that since I am getting older, I might as well embrace my inner hog and cut it up on the dance floor, even if I really am not very good at dancing.  But with the assistance of a lot of wine, my friend Michelle, her "friend," and my other friend Leyla, I "jumped" just like Kris Kross told me to.  LOL.

Day: Friday, November 22, 2013.

Where: Went to see the "Legwarmers" perform at the State Theater in Falls Church.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear)  Dang it, J. Crew.  Your stinking ruffled silk blouse felt weird on the bottom half.  Eventually I cut out a tag I had never noticed before and cut off part of the lower zipper (it doesn't affect the zip since the zip's stopper was above where I cut).  It helped, but the stupid top still fits awkwardly.  I may just have to give this one up to the consignment gods, as much as I like the way it looks.

Amazingly, the showstopping knitted jacket held up really well.  You go, Boden!  Years after purchasing it, the pretty sequined cardigan still looks pretty and brand spanking new. 

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest--for both outfits.) I thought I was doing a good version of the 80s, but then I arrived at the theater with my friend, S., and we discovered there were a whole lot of twenty-somethings wearing honest-to-God vintage 80s clothing.  I *knew* I should have gone in the attic and found some of my 80s clothes.  Ha.  :-)  I mean they had it all...Members Only Jackets, scrunchies, weird jumpsuits, neon sweatshirts, etc., etc. 

My husband said I barely looked 80s, but I told him that at my age, I should dress as "inspired" by the 80s versus actual 80s since I could fall into "mutton dressed as lamb" real fast if I am not careful.

I still think the next time I go I am grabbing something from my vintage closet and going with it, my mutton status be damned. 

Anecdote from the Day:  Apparently I had some guy ask me if I wanted him to buy me a drink.  I didn't actually see or hear this exchange (it was LOUD in there), but S. swears up and down that it happened.  I will call it my own personal Brigadoon...did he really appear?

Okay, that's all for now.  Based on my own wussiness, I can't say I will be back with anything here for a day or two, but maybe I will miraculously feel better and I can get my normal schedule back on track!