BODEN- I am so over them after 30 years.

[SummeryBells]

If I was married to them I'd be filing for divorce.

I loved them thirty years ago when I bought a poacher's jacket.
There was the honeymoon years when I couldn't get enough of them. Lovely knitwear, basic trousers, nice plain-ish smart dresses, great wool coat still going strong after 10 years.

And now I can't bear the sight of them.

The colours are garish, patterns headache-inducing, dresses nothing that appeals, prices- well, don't get me started on those - £80 for a pair of basic jeans? T-shirts close to £30. I could afford all of this but refuse to be ripped off.

I wonder if they will exist in a few more years?

100% agree. Plus their sleeves were always too short and they seem to have given up on Tall fits.

So as a fellow Boden divorcee, where are you buying from now? I am currently in Lucy and yak jeans and a seasalt coat but can't seem to find quite what I am looking for...

I'm just the same - loved Johnnie way back when it was Susannah (loves skiing; hates olives) and Olly (loves Jack Russells; hates Mondays) in velvet jeans and rugby shirts.

Now I feel as if he's been having an affair with a much, much younger woman behind my back. Sob.

I’m sadly with you too.

I would buy plain cashmere jumpers, jersey dresses for the summer, loads of tops.

But they have complete lost their way.

I used to love flicking through the catalogue; I can’t remember how many times I did it when feeding the kids when they were little. But I noticed that the wheels came off a few years ago.

There was the one where they obviously hadn’t booked a hair stylist, then there was the one where they put the plus size model in the most unflattering clothes.

I almost miss the little captions about “Clarissa loves walking on the beach by moonlight.”
if you can get me a nice cashmere roll neck I’ll put up with Clarissa’s witterings.

The divorcee club....

I am now flirting a bit with John Lewis! Not in any big way and I am shocked at my behaviour.

I have very vanilla tastes.

I work from home so my clothes are a variation on jeans/ smarter trousers and a variety of nice jumpers and tops. I don't need a lot of clothes. I have a bit of a thing about jumpers (nice ones.)

I've built up a collection of cashmere jumpers / nice knitwear from a few years ago (Boden and J Lewis) and some more 'dressy' blouses/tops. I admit that almost all my dresses are Boden- knitted dresses for winter and a few non-scary midi dresses/ jersey dresses for summer.

But these were bought when Johnnie and I were in love pre-pandemic.

John Lewis- picked up some nice jeans, a jumper (that everyone loved), a midi skirt (And/Or range).

I like The White Company for knits and tops but they are also £££ now and I'd have to love something.

I like Whistles but their midi dresses are maxi on me.

I have a bit of a flirt with Hush but have yet to commit to buying anything other than some nice joggers!

I have some Mint Velvet- capri type trousers and some jumpers.

Can’t be arsed with them either, got some stuff in the sale for the first time in years and everything went back. One thing though, they always were known (and ridiculed) for their “fun” patterns. Big difference for me was I used to be able to find good discount codes for when I wanted to buy then I couldn’t and started to look elsewhere. I can afford to pay for good quality but I’ve moved on to Finisterre and Brora, I like the look of Wrap London and trousers in the Poetry catalogue. I don’t think I’ll be back to Boden.

I want a shop that has good quality clothes in natural fabrics. I am soooooooo fed up of polyester and viscose.

Most of my warderobe used to be Boden and Hush, but both are filled with the scratchy flammables now.

@OneGoodThing
He is having an affair with millions of younger women with different tastes, body shapes and colouring to you, they're all in the US.
The market there is huge and important, if meeting their needs means leaving their original audience behind, well that's just life ........
So many analogies with a cheating spouse!
Do you think we could get a court order to make him keep us in clothing of an equivalent standard to what he used to provide when we were together?

I gave up on Boden years ago.

I think it was their in person sell off events that pushed me over the edge. It represented nothing so much as a jumble sale, with a vast array of unpleasant polyester that was still expensive for what it was. Plus I got fatter, and for a company that must have a middle aged middle sized clientele, they don't cater well for those of us with big boobs and hips.

I buy clothes from here thisisunfolded.com/collections/collection-06 - ethical as well, so get to feel good about myself. Not all natural materials but a fair amount, and www.kettlewell.co.uk but have to stick to the cotton items as everything else is too clingy.

The rest I get in M&S or little boutiques that every town usually has, which have clothes more suitable for those of us not in first bloom.

Unfortunately John Lewis is on the naughty step in our house as they closed the local store about a year ago with no warning, decimating our city centre. Nearest one is over an hours drive now. I have been dabbling in higher quality second hand stuff from eBay like brora cashmere and am pretty happy with that so far.

I used to love John Lewis, but they redid their shop and increased the ranges and stock. Before they used to have a small curated collection of clothing that seemed suitable for me, now its acres of concessions again with the jumble sale feel and god forbid they ever have a 12 or 14 in stock.

Unfolded looks good. Thanks for the recommendation

There's another long ongoing thread about the decline of Boden although i can't seem to find it now. Apparently there is a new head of design or something and they are actively pursuing a different "younger" (ie below 35) customer. Well, i am 35 and i wouldn't be seen dead in most of the designs at the minute, and i certainly wouldn't pay £80-120 for tops made of polyester / artificial fibres. So sadly i can't see this ending well!

I’ve fallen out with them too. Bring back the classic cotton summer dresses in plain colours!

@Geneticsbunny I may or may not be one of the customer models for the current unfolded collection . I'm not on commission honest - they've got a nice community feel on facebook and you get to pick your favourite prints and designs for their collections.

Having tried (and ordered ) most of the current collection, I can vouch that it's pretty much all true to size apart from black dress which I went down a size for and the trousers which I found too long. They are on Dragons Den this Thursday.

I've not noticed that.

I shop at the Cambridge store which is lovely, and sometimes Oxford St.

I also tend to shop online from them as my nearest ones are between 40mins and an hour away.

I love the look of unfolded, thank you @rookiemere

Me too. I have some nice work dresses (ottoman and ponte) and skirts from years ago. Nice colours, no pattern. Nearly everything is flimsy jersey and busy patterns now. And it costs a lot for what it is.
It's a shame.
I used to love the kids stuff too but DD is too old for it now.

Interesting about Unfolded - I've been drawn into their website via some good IG ads. Will take a leap!

Oh yes, me too. Our relationship started to go downhill when they sent me a catalogue a few years ago with a sort of glossy "premium" pull out section in the middle , full of ultra garish prints on dresses that were in the region of £300 for purest polyester. First of many hints that Johnny was taking me for a fool.

Urghhh. I've even gone as far as to unsubscribe from emails and social media.

Liking a lot of Mint Velvet, still love Hobbs for work and am reigniting a relationship with M&S.

I agree

Seasalt (I know - can they not make a couple of their frocks in plain navy or black!)
Whistles
Me & Em
Poetry or is it Poem
Cos
Local shops
Max Mara for the occasional smart frock
Kettlewell for tops (colours are good)
Bombshell for posh frocks

Hobbs and Jigsaw for work clothes
Finding myself pleasantly surprised with online M&S (not so much their in store offering)
Have more or less abandoned John Lewis except in the sales
Disappointed with seasalt lately - makes me look 10 years older than I am
And generally still struggling to get decent jeans

Totally agree. Even the kids clothes have really gone off the boil, for the same reasons. Quality has gone downhill; there were previously such lovely classic things for kids with lovely florals etc and now it’s all just naff.

Used to get cashmere jumpers, shoes, swimwear & linen from them and can’t find anything I’d buy now.

I’ve moved to Arket, Uniqlo, John Lewis & Whistles.

What I'd like is a colourful version of Mint Velvet. I like feminine clothes. I've had to resort to making my own because there's no clothes retailer on the high street that I like any more.