Ding Dong

Don't you just love the sound of the doorbell which says the postman has arrived with presents! 

Me and the postman are like that.  Thick as thieves.  Not really.  My postman is really quite grumpy and doesn't smile much.  I don't actually think he even likes me. When I open the door to him, I put on my biggest smile and say in my cheeriest voice "Good morning!" and he always looks a little taken back and then returns the greeting most begrudgingly.  Whatever happened to the old adage about smiling and the whole world smiles with you?  Not in the case of my postman.  I have to say he's getting a little better because he knows I will grin manically at him till he grimaces back at me.  I do it also because I'm a bit that way out.  It has taken four years to get this far in our relationship.  Grump Meister says I should leave him be.

Anyway, ding dong, forced smiling and and the handing over of a parcel happens.  Now this is a strange parcel today - it's a Boden parcel. 

I have never ordered anything from Boden before till now.  Why?  Err .... just haven't. Maybe because I've always regarded Boden as being the fashion equivalent of a Volvo Estate?  Loads of people are probably up in arms right now but just remember - there's a lot of fashion out there and what is right for one is not right for another.  Anyway you can't hate me - I now have some Boden items of clothing in my possession!

It started with me seeing a lovely grey jumper on a blogger and finding out it was from Boden.  Jaw drop.  The blogger is cool and hip and wearing a Boden jumper.  I had to check it out.  Besides I love grey jumpers.  The jumper looked nice and looked even better with a discount of 20% off and free delivery.

It's a really nice jumper - I'm keeping it.  It's not exciting and it's not high fashion - it's just a good jumper.  You know when you just know something is right.  The fit is perfect. It's a nice summer weight.  Doesn't cling over the bagel belly and doesn't look like it will pill like a crazy thing.  It has some nice but not naff button detailing.  And I love the pistachio contrast colour details.  Boden named it most appropriately as the "must have" jumper.

Plain, simple, versatile and wearable.  What more do you want?

Boden Must Have Jumper

Pistachio Ribbon Trim

Grey & Pistachio Margaret Howell Striped Jumper

Reminded me of a Margaret Howell striped jumper I already own with grey and pistachio tones.  After all I am a creature of habits.  Oh and I should get loads of wear out of this - it's grey after all.  My favourite colour.

And because I was browsing the Boden site, I had a look in the Johnnie B section for teeny boppers and this Breton dress caught my eye.  Being a titch means I can raid the children's section every now and then.  There has to be some benefits to being vertically challenged (VAT free clothes springs to mind).

Boden Teen Girls Regatta Dress.

I'd been eyeing up a couple of similar dresses in Whistles but the fit was a little bit off for me and if you are paying in the region of £80 for a jersey summer dress - you want it to be right.  I ordered this Johnnie B dress in a size large (for reference, I'm a size 10) and I don't think it's too bad for overall fit and length though this is one of those dresses where I have to remember to curtsey rather than bend over.  The dress is £21 which is pretty good value.  Thinking of holiday abroad, shopping along cobbled streets, straw trilby, basket tote, donkey braying in the background?  Oh yes and I think I can even live with the little embroidered dog emblem on the hem - he's almost cute.

At least he's not pink.

I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised by Boden - they really are on the ball with their customer service and constant promotions.  In my parcel, they included a welcome card with an extra 15% off the next purchase as a thank you.  How canny is that?  So I ordered the navy colour way of the dress too.  Now I can't decide!  The navy stripe is very traditional and classic but the ivory and blue is fun and summery.  Which way should I go?  I have a year to make up my mind - now that is some return policy!!

Decisions, decisions!

So what does this mean?  Am I a Boden convert?  Not yet.  My choices this time are quite basic and do not scream Boden all over them.  I hear they are upping their game for Autumn/Winter 2012 and getting a little more "edgey".  This remains to be seen.  However, my first time shopping with Boden has not been unpleasant.  We may cross paths again some day.  What I have learnt though is that sometimes we get stuck in a mindset about certain brands.  In my case I just needed to take the blinkers off and look beyond all the prints and the oh so happy clappy models because sometimes, just sometimes .....there might just be the odd little gem in there waiting to be found.