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?

I feel the same, I used to love their clothes. I'm occasionally able to find something I like but it's sadly getting rarer! I've not yet found a replacement I like either. I can't work out who they're trying to appeal to now.

I also think the quality is worse.

I dug out some old teen Boden kids clothes from the attic for my youngest- the quality and thickness of cotton is much better than the stuff they are selling now.

Boden has started showing up in my local TK Maxx, which happened with Frugi a few months before they went into administration.
The items I saw were £30/35 dresses that apparently had RRP around £100, for mainly polyester dresses.

I’ve got Boden dresses bought from charity shop and the quality is good in my humble opinion. The cotton tops I bought new in lockdown were really thin and weren’t cheap!

I still like the kids stuff. Went off the adult stuff a while ago. I tend to get higher quality items from vinted these days, although partly because we’re on a tighter budget than we used to be.

Another one agreeing with you! Maybe we should send this thread to head office?!
I’ve sent back everything I’ve ordered for the last year. I’m not paying Boden prices for cheap looking material! I can get that in New Look (and actually I do - found a few nice bits for work in there recently).

Another Boden divorcee who uses Hobbs for workwear but in case they are monitoring, please Hobbs can we have deeper pockets in the trousers that don't jettison the contents every time you sit down!

Fantastic comparison @SummeryBells!

I've tarted around everywhere since JB dumped me. Took a lot of searching, but eventually got done excellent straight leg jeans from Weird Fish. Reasonable success with Crew Clothing. The odd gym from Thought. Superb sweatshirts from Land's End. I thought Jigsaw and I might be going places, but no, I appears that the navy linen skirt dress I bought in Lockdown Spring was a one off.

I keep looking at Community Clothing too.

Have you looked at baujken? There's a lot of nice basic stuff, and if you keep an eye out for sales can make it more affordable. It is a b corp company though so ethically made which explains the prices

Try Vinted for second hand boden if you want to go back 10 years.
I’ve bought quite a bit on there (not boden, but similar companies who have gone downhill). The quality of older clothes is noticeably better.

Hello! Another Boden-divorcee here. It makes me so sad to se a great brand reduced to its current state. Cheap-looking tat, man-made fibres in drab colours modelled by bitchy-looking models and sold at inflated prices. No thanks! I dread the day eBay runs out of old-school Boden dresses.

I'm basically only still with them for work trousers. Their Hampshire 7/8 trousers really work for my shape. Have them in 2 colours.

But yes, generally speaking the love affair is over...

They used to be good, so much so that you couldn't wear them out if you tried.
Now, I think Boden is scratching about trying to please people while spending not much on manufacturing: that's why they are appearing to have a midlife crisis whilst on less than H&M quality.
Nothing wrong with H&M, but you pay more for better.

I have shopped in Boden for years. There was a time when I would need to cull my basket before checking out because no way could I afford everything I wanted but now I can only find the odd thing I like. The quality has, like so many places, declined noticeably - I used to buy workhorses from Boden but I don't think I could now. I still love their kids stuff but mine are too old now so I'm not even buying that.

Another here agreeing with you. I now go to seasalt (although that’s hit and miss), fat face and Benetton online. They have lost the plot and are overpriced. As are white stuff who are following in their footsteps.

I've just ironed a cotton/linen Boden shirt that must be at least fifteen years old, possible more. It's now got that lovely worn-in linen softness that you only get when you start with decent quality fabric. In the same washing basket was a t-shirt I got DH a couple of year ago: twisted seams, dishcloth texture. I bought a couple of summer skirts a few years ago that were just so thin and clingy that I never felt comfortable wearing them.

You can only justify the current prices if the clothes are wardrobe favourites but Boden seem to be in that Gap spiral where everyone knows a massive sale is just around the corner, so why would you pay full price?

I've been a loyal Lands End customer for twenty years but can't remember the last thing I bought. Horrible colours, artificial fibres, and about a gazillion varieties of T-shirt. The men's stuff is better, especially the waterproof jackets, nicer colours, less overwhelming choice. Yawned my way through the sale catalogue. I have bought a few things from Seasalt but there are too many floral dresses and too many new collections, almost one a month. I have given up reading the promotional emails from them both.

Also contemplating Boden divorce...the classic shirts and pencil skirts were always worth it, but sadly no more.

I’m scared they’ll go under because they’re the only place I can reliably get trousers to fit. But that said I no longer have the impulse/urge/interest to browse the website for dresses/coats/shoes/bags/etc and now only go on when I definitely need a new pair of trousers so it’s clearly a marriage of convenience for me…

Agree. I loved Boden for years when my dc younger and I even loved the captions. The little booklets. The fun and charming prints. Weekend and holiday clothes but also a lot suitable for in the week. Now the prints have gone garish and unappealing. The models have gone from smiling in the sunshine or a wonderfully drizzly foggy day to somber or hostile catwalk expressions. Johnnie has lost his originality that made Boden great. It went downhill when he listened to the media and ditched the captions and then the rest.

Totally agree

Used to love them in the 00s, stuff was fab quality

Oh yes! The polyester! They’ve really gone downhill with everything artificial. They completely ditched the cotton, I don’t like that at all.

Johnny and I still have the occasional flirt. I confess I did buy a polyester dress in the sale that I’d initially dismissed at full price because of the fabric but ordered it when it was down to £40 (originally around £100) I must admit that as polyester dresses go it’s actually quite nice. There’s a lot of heavy fabric which is cut and sits beautifully. That said, it’s a nice dress at £40 (especially once I realised I had some credit left at Boden so it was even less) but there’s no way I’d have paid more for it. personally I also think their kids range has completely gone off the boil. It’s now aimed at preschool/infant school only and very little suitable for children 7+. Johnny isn’t even sending me catalogues anymore 😔

I feel the same... I used to be mad on it and now it would be hard fill a basket.

Snap,a loyal customer since the kids were born 20 plus years ago. Used to buy everything for me and the kids there. Now the quality and prices are vile. The Uber expensive jumpers are just nylon. Their footwear is badly made and eye wateringly expensive. It's very sad for such a well loved brand to go to shit. I wonder if Johnnie even owns it anymore.

For alternatives I've found baukjen to be really good quality and I also like albray or alabray.