Boden catalogue - a feminist critique

Do they ask the men anything?>

Am boggled. I have no idea what Boden is, or didn;t until I read the thread. Is it boring middle class clothes like Gap and the rest?
(wardrobe consists of stuff that's anything up to 15 years old, charity shop finds, street market stuff and a bit of Primark.)

Greythorne - sorry no offence to cupcake bakers intended. I love a cupcake! I think the term I am looking for is 'Stepford'. Some women I know try to adhere to an unfair and unrealistic fantasy of what 'wife' and 'mother' should be. Boden plays its own part in this fantasy. And the realisation that Stepford = man made is pertinent.

yeah but admit it, they have feminist symbols piped onto them, and little teeny edible models of Andrea Dworkin and Mary Wollstonecraft made in royal icing, don't they Greythorne?

mamara
oooh, i am a feminist but bake the most beautiful fairy cakes
(wounded emoticon)

rofl GardenPath!

I was given a gift card once, a type of credit card that only seemed to work on the internet, not in the shops.
Anyway, excuses over...

I ordered some stuff from Boden, (kids clothes are cute) and a couple of tops. I was shocked at how crappy the material was compared to the price of the things.

Just looked up Toast - thought you meant the type you have with Marmite and a cup of tea after a night of sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll, too much alcohol. I am so out of it - too much alcohol, obviously. My GP wears Boden.
Me: That's a nice dress.
(Subtext: I need a sick note.)
GP: 'Thanks, it's Boden'

Me: It's really your colour, too.
GP: (thinks: What's your angle - bet you need a sick note) - 'What can I do for you'?

Me: I need a sick note, I've got a bad back.
GP: 'Do you like jumping in puddles?'

Me: It's ok.
GP: 'You don't need a sick note, then. Get back to work you malingering scrounger'.

Me: Does your wife know you wear her dresses?
(Subtext: you wanker)
GP: (thinks: yes, she does, but not while I'm working, and I promised not to wear the Boden). 'GET OUT'!

Me: You wanker! That colours so last year.

that's me f^ed then.

Ha ha. But Jonny says you can only have denial and numbness if you remember to look pretty whilst you do it.

LOL at "that's what women want- denial and numbness"

Actually, in a massive percentage of cases, i think that's very true and very understandable. I want it myself sometimes.

Oo good OP!

I live in Bodenland. In my village all the mums wear Boden/Joules, bake cupcakes to bring to playgroup and have a lingering look of smug about them. I fear I may be the only feminist for miles.

The catalogue cracks me up though - I try to imagine the brand talk. 'Write the answers as if you were talking to a 1950s housewife with 50% less self awareness and 70% more anxiety'. Then let's pop something medicinal in their tea so we can photograph them while they frolic about on the beach in a £70 dress with a vapid smile on their face. That's what women want - denial and numbness.

I may possibly be too harsh. But then I am wearing baggy jeans, DMs and no make up. So am falling quite short of the fantasy.

The questions didn't used to be that bad! They should at least be asking the men the same questions - 'what gets your knickers in a twist?', all the MIL questions, and 'what single thing confuses you most about women?'. Can't imagine these things being on men's radars but we are constantly told we should be agonising over them!!

Too annoying - in the bin.

Good Christ, yes, the latest catalogue is particularly bad! I also detect a certain sarcasm in some of the models' replies but far from all of them.

Luckily I am in total slattern new mum mode and not buying any new clothes at present! I just wear my cheapo Gap combats that I bought in a size too large for maternity wear and wore under the bump with a belt - they have lovely big pockets and I can fit phone, wallet, keys, etc in them and go out sans bag. Ah, that is one slightly good thing about Boden skirts and trousers - they do actually have pockets, unlike many women's clothes.

I think they have a token black model from time to time but I have never seen an Asian one.

Punkyfish stuff is good for the stuck in the eighties look, which is the one I tend to favour.

I had a look on the Boden website after joining MN to see what all the fuss was about. No black models I noted at the time. White white white. I decided not to browse further.

By using 30-40 something male models and teen-20 something females?

Didn't Johnnie say something erudite like "there isn't much more vulgar than middle aged mums looking sexual"?

Classy.

We are not really Boden's target market - wasn't there a Johnnie Boden interview last year where he talked about how so many mothers lose their confidence? He spotted a niche in the market, and has exploited it.

The brochure is aimed at stoking insecurities. Make women feel the need to buy that tat to make themselves feel better.

Madwoman, I hope you were at your manager when he/she said that. Most odd!

I ordered some men's clothes from Boden a while ago. Thought I'd give it a go. I ordered medium (I normally take medium or sometimes large as I'm quite tall), but everything was enormous! Their target demographic must be proper fat fuckers for that to fit!

i have a boden top from ten years ago. i didn't know it was ten years old until my manager pointed out that i had worn it when i first worked in said workplace (and i was gone for 7 years in the interim before i fetched back up).

but actually, i'm more aghast that my manager remembered what i wore to work ten f'ing years ago. freak. (or as it's mn, should say 'fraek'? )

i appear to have been removed from the boden mailing list. this appears to be a Good Thing as i genuinely thought those questions in the op were made up.

johnny, johnny. tsk tsk.

will try to work out right-on clothing choice.