I recently attended a Boden Trunk Show at the home of a friend in the neighborhood. It was pretty cool because you could see almost of all Boden's fall catalog in person, try it on, etc... which is a huge advantage over the online guessing game I'm usually playing about colors, sizes, materials, quality, blah blah blah.
So, I took advantage of this trunk show, which was a great way to introduce my closet to a new brand:
"Closet, this is Boden. Boden, this is closet.""J.Crew, be nice to Boden. Boden, don't be intimidated by J.Crew, there are more of them, momma has enough love to go around, plus you might be higher quality and less expensive."
(am I the only one amused by this? probably... moving on....)
I ended up purchasing a couple of sweater dresses and a long sleeved tee (not pictured) and everything arrived at my door within a week! Yea! I wasn't going to get anything for myself, only my son, but I was a sucker for the 20% off you entire order and free shipping both ways. What can I say?
This is a merino tunic, which could also be paired with skinny jeans. The sleeves are longer, I just have them scrunched up in the picture! This dress is thin enough to wear indoors in the winter and not burn-up!
I just love the coloring of this dress. I plan on pairing it with my new gray suede mary jane heels and tights, or gray Cardi Uggs to dress it down! I found the waist band to be slimming and the length (just past my knees) to be very comfy for colder weather!
The biggest plus to these sweater dresses (the mod-print one is actually called a tunic, but at my height, what's the difference?) is that they are cut slim enough to not look frumpy, but they do not cling too much (aka: you can wear them on Thanksgiving without looking prego! Also, see question at the bottom of this post!)
Boden pieces tend to run a big long and have a lot of material in my opinion, making most of the clothing more suitable for a taller women, but these dresses fit very nicely and are long enough for me to be comfortable in the cooler fall and winter temps. (There is no petite option in Boden that I'm aware of, but I think some pants might come in lengths... that I would still need hemmed ;)
*Bottom Line: I really enjoyed the experience of shopping in a friend's home and seeing these clothes in person before buying! I will definitely keep an eye out for Boden items in the future. Remember, the sizes are European. I ordered a 10 (US 2/4) in both of these dresses, so I feel their sizes are pretty much right on!
Wow, how cool that you went to a Boden trunk show! I wish we had something like that around here! I love love love the 2nd dress. I actually have that page of my catalog turned down. It comes in such cute color options. Thanks for the irl pics...you look GREAT!
ReplyDeleteAppGal: Thanks for the compliments! You should look into how you could host a Boden show yourself. My friend just went online I believe and signed up to do it! There is a Boden rep that comes to your house and brings and sets up all the clothes. Seems pretty easy and fun!! (FYI - parents seem to love their kid clothing, too! so there is something for everyone at the shows!)
ReplyDeleteI would like to know the answer to the tights question too. Great new dresses!
ReplyDeleteKathy: I know!!! Keep checking back, maybe someone will post something life-changing (or at least I'm wishing for that! :)
ReplyDeleteThe dress is supercute (I have considered ordering it myself but I don't wear dresses that much in the cold months, even knit dresses. However I have ordered a bunch of stuff for my daughter and they are amazing).
ReplyDeleteRe. the tights, I think that it happens mostly because almost all the tights sold are high-waisted. In Italy we have at least a high-end brand that makes "hipster waist" tights, but I have no idea if this brand is sold in the USA. Check it out here:
http://www.philippematignon.it/eng/product-sheet.asp?c=42p281
Maybe you can find some US equivalent of these.
Sometimes I use the trick of "rolling down" the waistband of my tights to obtain the same result (but it dosn't work with every tight)
I own both the tunic and the sweaterdress. I am probably the #1 Boden fan in the DC area, so I must look into this trunk show thing (HeidiG. is probably calling me right now and saying, Girl get your ACT together). Heehee.
ReplyDeleteYou look great. I got the tunic in a ten (UK size) and the sweaterdress in a twelve (UK again).
Were there any Winter items? The two you are wearing are from the fall items!!! (But obviously meant for winter wear...which is why these lovelies sit in my closet still...too warm here yet.)
Visit my blog and you can tell my Boden obsession is very healthy or unhealthy (that is what my hubby thinks anyhow)...
:)
dina - yes, get your act together. of course, I'm reading this a week later, so how together am I? :)
ReplyDeleteRe: the tights question - I know, I hate that. I have a few solutions. 1 - drastic - Spanx makes tights called Higher Power, which go up to just under your bra. Smooths everything. 2 - like Ema said, try lower-waisted tights - they do exist. 3 - stay away from control top tights because the problem is worse. 4 - and I have done this often and wear it works - just cut off the tight waistband at the top; the rest of the tights are fitted enough that they will stay up. HTH!
Tunic & sweaterdress are way cute!!
I solve the tights tummy roll problem by wearing thigh-highs instead. Some come in thicker denier so it's almost like wearing tights. Also, there's a brand (Hue or DKNY maybe?) that makes tights with a wider waistband that also isn't too constricting. Can't recall which brand, since I cut off the tag long ago, but you'll be able to tell when you open the package.
ReplyDelete