Tag: Boden

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Fruity Fashion & Strawberry Shirts

On By samanthaIn SHOPPINGLeave a comment

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

Wide-Leg Woes

On By samanthaIn SHOPPING1 Comment

I am in my mid-fifties. When should I start dressing like an older woman? What does that even mean? Beige polyester slacks and an anorak, those shoes that do up with velcro? I have been dressing the same way for the past decade at least. Most days it is skinny jeans, sweater and boots in the winter and skinny jeans with a linen top in the spring/summer. I rarely wear dresses or skirts during the day, I buy them but it has to be really hot for me to abandon my usual uniform. Am I too old to wear jeans? I hope not but I would like to smarten up a little bit.

I have several pairs of jeans, mostly from Mint Velvet, but they all look identical. I desperately need a style refresh. My daughter tells me no-one wears skinny jeans anymore. So, I take the plunge and order some wide leg navy blue trousers from Boden, a company which I used to shop with all the time but I can’t remember when I last placed an order. The style is called Westbourne. They are £80 but Boden always have a discount code and I pay £60. The trousers arrive and are such good quality, the fabric drapes beautifully. It feels very strange to have so much fabric swirling around my legs. I go downstairs to show my husband who makes the helpful remark “why are you wearing Lionel Blairs?” Of course Lionel Blairs is Cockney rhyming slang for flares. I immediately package up the trousers, ready for return.

Boden “Westbourne” Trousers

Back to the drawing board, I order a cream denim oversized jacket from Mango for £35 and some flowy but straight leg jersey trousers. I also order two pairs of tailored chinos from Zara, one full length and one three-quarter length. Annoyingly the Zara trousers aren’t properly sized, so I have to guess at a size small. I also add a couple of their basic T shirts to my basket, £8.99 each. When the Mango trousers arrive I try them on and really like them. I show my oldest son and ask what he thinks. He looks concerned, as if it is a trick question. “Fine” he mutters but my husband has appeared and they share a little sideways glance. My son then says I shouldn’t wear trousers that are five times wider than my (skinny) legs. Great, thanks a lot. I suppose I did ask! I don’t ask anyone else’s opinion when I try on the chinos and decide to keep the navy pair even though I don’t love them, they will do. The cream jacket, which looked so good on the model, just looks scruffy on me so that goes in the returns pile too.

Mango “Flowy, Straight-Fit” trousers

So, after all that effort I have a couple of cheap T Shirts and a pair of OKish chinos. If I were wealthier perhaps I could go and see a personal shopper but I think that is rather beyond my budget and I would probably end up buying a lot of clothes I don’t actually like, just to be polite. I need to go through my wardrobe, donate about seventy five percent of the contents to the charity shop and see if I can start to wear the rest, especially the summer dresses.

Thank you for reading,

Samantha

Header Photo by Harper Sunday on Unsplash