I don’t think of myself who wears a lot of prints, certainly not in the cooler months. but going through my summer wardrobe I see that I actually have lots of printed tops and, strangely, most of them appear to be fruit-themed. I have a batwing top with peaches on from Apricot Clothing, a dress with lemons on from Coast, cherry print PJs from Marks and Spencer and now I have a lovely strawberry shirt from Boden.

After my disastrous attempts at trying to buy some new trousers that actually suit me (see my post Wide Leg Woes ) I decided to refresh my wardrobe by treating myself to some new tops, all purchased online. The first one I bought was from a brand called Pieces, available from ASOS, a pink and white candy-striped formal style shirt with a strawberry design for £36. I bought my daughter a few things from this brand when she was doing her work placement in a London office and the quality is fantastic, especially given the reasonable price point. The cotton on this shirt is beautifully satiny but my youngest son (yes, I made the mistake of asking the opinion of my family again) said it looks like a pyjama top and it is also far too wide. I wish brands would stick to proper sizing and take the guess work out of XS, S, M, L etc. I also ordered from ASOS a strawberry print cardigan from Miss Selfridge for £27 but the quality of this isn’t so good and it doesn’t fasten at all which I know would find annoying so both these things go back.

I then take a look at what Boden have to offer. I used to buy a lot of their clothes, especially their cotton shirts and winter coats but then it got to the point where I seemed to have seen all their designs a hundred times before. Their clothing isn’t inexpensive but it lasts forever, I still have a navy blue wool coat with an applique design around the hem which I must have bought almost twenty years ago. I also used to love their children’s clothes, especially what they used to call their lamby-fleeces and the pretty halter-neck dresses that I bought for my daughter when she was tiny. Come to think of it, she also had a pair of strawberry print trousers edged in gingham from Boden. For myself, I decided to order their “Strawberry Pop” Sienna shirt. It was £55 but with the discount code I paid £49.50. It has arrived and it is so cheerful without being too much of a statement – I love it! The print is the header for this blog post. I am five feet eight inches tall and the sleeves are the perfect length which is unusual. I plan to wear it with my new Zara chinos.

After the cold, gloomy and very long winter, it is nice to have something bright to wear . Even my sons liked my new shirt and that is really saying something!

From left to right, Pieces shirt from ASOS, Miss Selfridge cardigan from ASOS and Sienna shirt from Boden

Thank you for reading

Samantha