What is this Boden of which you speak?

[breakingHead]

I know it's a website that sells clothes and things, but how do all of mumsnet know about it?

It seems like everyone on here apart from me owns something from there. I'd never, ever heard of it before I joined mumsnet. What's the big secret?

Also a lot of people seem to shop at Fat Face and The White Stuff. I know those only because I've seen them but I didn't think people actually shopped there.

What is this? I thought everyone shopped at normal high street shops (Primark, River Island, Top Shop, New Look), or a supermarkets or at department stores? Is it a class thing? Is this because I was brought up in East London? What's the mystery?

Am aware my post is borderline hysterical.

[BiancaDelRio]

It's a shop that sells (imo) super frumpy mum-wear in "fun" prints.

And no it's not obligatory. I've been on MN for 7 years without succumbing to it's questionable charms .

[Only1scoop]

Baby Boden and mini Boden is fab. Quality great and washes a treat.

As for grown ups stuff it ain't really by bag.

[HerRoyalNotness]

I like their clothes for the DC. Quality is good and they have good colours for boys.

I, too, had never heard of it until MN. I have for myself 4 t-shirts, 2 pairs of shorts and 1 dress from there. That's over the last 8yrs of knowing about them.

[Only1scoop]

'My'

[pommedeterre]

I too had never heard of it until mn!

I did buy lots from mini boden but I personally think that's good off the boil recently.

I have four dresses from them that I wear for work. Far from super stylish but plain and very easy for tired am dressing decisions!

[breakingHead]

How did the people who didn't hear about boden on mn find out about it? (I'm sure there's one person out there spreading the word).

[Rosa]

Once ordered ( IMO quality has gone doen the pan) you will be inundated with 'witty' e mails ..

[breakingHead]

I'm fairly certain if I were to ask people I know if they've heard of boden, they'll say no. Two people who might know it are my sister's in law.

I'm not ready to find out what joules is but I think it might be another boden.

[polyhymnia]

They do have some good basic stuff for adult women but you have to look carefully and avoid their garish prints which I certainly don't recommend. Having said that, I've bought quite a few things from them over the years - always when they have a 15% or 20% off and free p and p promotion, which they frequently do.

[OneLittleLady]

i have one boden skirt which i bought in a charity shop and I think i have a merino jumper as well, also from a charity shop. I think it's a bit too expensive for what it is tbh and i find a lot of the prints on the women's stuff quite garish so generally avoid

[ActionManEyes]

I had heard of it as part of the cliched "middle-class" image. Then I bought a magazine and it had a promotional flyer in it offering a free bag with purchase, so I ordered a coat to get the free bag. Both were really really nice in a way I wasn't used to (I shopped on the high street or in charity shops). They just had a sort of everyday niceness to them.

I don't like the loud prints, but I have quite a lot of the plainer items - I like that I can buy cotton tops and (mostly) wool jumpers and jackets. I have loads of their "pull-ons" and wear a pair most evenings / nights.

It is overpriced so I buy in the sales.

I haven't liked their recent offerings nearly so much, though.

[HerRoyalNotness]

YY to waiting for a discount code. 20% off is more realistic pricing.

I just got the spring catalogue and saw quite a few bits I'd like

[AmeliaPeabody]

It used to be super quality, breakinghead. Not so much nowadays, and prices inflated in order for them to be able to give the perpetual 'discounts' always available.
Some clothes are fine, stick to classics and if you take care to avoid anything with a label of 'fun' or 'funky' which usually refers to some abominably lurid, unwearable print.

MiniB similar in drop in quality. Plus they're everywhere and easy to spot when out and about.

[Only1scoop]

Agree years ago the quality was more assured....I always look at the customer ratings....especially for fit. Some of the mini can be quite short and wide. I normally size up.

[BreeVDKamp]

My mum used to dress my in Mini Boden so I've known about it forever! Not sure how she heard about it. But we used to have loads of catalogues: Freemans, La Redoute, Next, Littlewoods! Ah, I loved that as a kid. Gone are the days! :(

Yes Mini Boden (is it called Jonny Boden now? Or is that the men's bit?) is cute but the adult stuff is not very Me.

[yazzy85]

Their kids fleece lined coats are great, womens printed items don't suit me so never really paid attention to their adult range.

[BelindaAllWorkedOut]

I have a pair of their shoes (leopard print heels), and so have the DDs (the metallic ballet flats), and I want the Alice heels in the navy / amethyst. Some of the workwear looks great, as do the Off Duty jumpers, but that's where it ends for me. The prints usually grind my gears, but that's a personal taste thing.

[stripytees]

I heard about it because I got a catalogue with my Ocado order. So it probably is a class thing...

I haven't shopped in "normal" high street shops since I was about 25 (I'm now 32) and started working in a proper job with a smart casual dress code. I go to M&S and H&M sometimes but in general I find the quality of clothes from shops like Boden, Seasalt and White Stuff better and the items are much more timeless in style so I end up wearing them for years; that was never the case when I shopped at Dorothy Perkins or Primark. I liked Boden much more about 5 years ago, though, they've got a bit too trendy for my liking with their super short hemlines and weird bright prints.

[brakespeare]

And no, imo joules is different. Think Lots of joules logo on the outside and rugby shirts and blazers. . . For tiny children. Joules even more frump than the Boden frump. I actually like some of the faux vintage boden but only buy in the sale.

[JaniceJoplin]

I actually like a few things in the new catalogue, but that's mainly as I have always liked floral and there's quite a bit of that in there.

I was so gutted with some of their basic tops though. I bought boat neck, 3/4 length sleeve tops in grey, white and navy. Horrible quality cotton, not consistent material, thicker in places than others, white one was quite see-though in parts, the tops shrunk actually were too short to start with and I am short already and went a bit wobbly, needing major ironing. Not deserving of the price at all.

[herecomesthsun]

I buy the absolute bargains in the sale, usually with 50-80 per cent off, good for kids and work basics for me, occasionally will buy in the preview, I like the detailed measurements and the returns policy and the quality and the customer service.

[herecomesthsun]

Joules very horsy county lady or wannabe in style, not so appealing

[TheComfortOfStrangers]

Until recently I worked in a situation where I was coming into contact with a lot of, erm, middle class mums. It was a veritable orgy of Boden.
Some of them would buy the whole page (dress, cardi, bag, shoes) and wear it together, as it was in the catalogue.
The whole flipping page!

[RingtheBells]

I usually head to the clearance section, especially a few weeks after the sale starts and returns start heading back and the prices drop and there is a free delivery and returns code. I rarely buy at the beginning of the sale and an item has to be very special for me to buy with just a small discount. I did manage to pick up a couple of things in the last couple of weeks for a reasonable price.