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Original poster

Boden sale - there's literally nothing I'd wear

106 replies

MandyFl0ss · 02/08/2023 11:23

There's 70% off on the website and I also have £10 off voucher they've sent me. I've gone through every single item and haven't found a single thing I'd buy. The few semi-decent items are so short on the body, and I say this as a short person myself. But who over the age of 19 can wear such cropped items?? And now you have to spend a min of £50 to get free delivery.

Has anyone ordered knitwear from the new collection and if so, is it as short on the body as previously?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
PurposefulBear · 02/08/2023 23:31

I present you…

https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/chunky-embroidered-jumper-strawberry-tart-red/sty-k0721-red like Christmas jumper meets 80s smelly doll toy

https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/cropped-fringe-crochet-t-shirt-navy/sty-k0800-nav just what the fashion conscious middle aged mum needs

https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/printed-pull-on-trousers-meadow-green-falling-dot/sty-r0417-grn meadow…. Meadow??

thegirlwithemousyhair · 02/08/2023 23:34

Boden has now got that old BHS look -hideous floral prints and frump galore. Its getting so bad you wonder if someone isn't deliberately trying to tank it a la Laura Ashley and Debenhams both of which were suffering from the BHS look prior to going bust.

thegirlwithemousyhair · 02/08/2023 23:38

PurposefulBear · 02/08/2023 23:31

"Pull on trousers" Are there any other kind? 😆

longtompot · 02/08/2023 23:51

Thanks to this thread I found a nice dress in the sale, but by the time I went to buy it had sold out sobs

Roundthebend45 · 03/08/2023 07:41

Like many people on this thread I used to spend a lot in Boden. Great classic clothes for work and kids clothes.

I wondered if they lost their way when his daughters reached adulthood and he started catering for a younger demographic with the cropped tops, shirt dresses and cutouts? It’s definitely not something that I could (or would) wear at 43 with a slightly thicker waist than I used to have!

Either way, I have to look very hard to find anything I like these days, even in the kids section…. It’s a shame as I love my old Boden clothes and wish I could find similar updated items made from good quality fabric.

Roundthebend45 · 03/08/2023 07:42

*short dresses not shirt dresses! The shirt dresses are usually still quite nice…. !

immergeradeaus · 03/08/2023 08:10

Goodness, I’d forgotten Boden. I used to spend perhaps £600 a year. All the kids clothes used to be lovely, no silly slogans and nice soft fabric. I used to get quite a few things for myself too, but the fabric went thin and the shapes went weird. I think they were trying to avoid being seen as a go to choice for middle-aged women because ‘ewww, middle-aged women’. Now my kids are older it must be pre-pandemic I last ordered from them. I like Hobbs, Jigsaw, Joules sometimes, and smaller French brands. Designed for women-shaped-women, and unashamed to sell things which will look good on us.

Maray1967 · 03/08/2023 09:00

LabbyDabbyDoohDah · 02/08/2023 13:40

I used to buy so much from Boden. In about 2014 with 2 small kids I looked like I’d run blindfolded through the Boden stockroom most mornings, whether at home or at work. I used to so look forward to those parcels arriving. And the kids’ clothes were just gorgeous. I remember even in 2020 spending £500 on some great dresses and shoes in the Christmas sale.

Something has gone seriously wrong since then. The clothes are utterly unwearable, either for home or work. At home, no one wants frills all over their (acrylic) sweaters, at work no one wants to see their doctor on a ward round with strategic cut outs in an otherwise normal dress.

For work, I mostly now stick to Hobbs. Not very exciting but very well made and classic. Casual clothes are trickier, but between them Hush, Next, John Lewis, The Loft (when I’m in the US), Brora and Hobbs now do the job.

I don’t even bother checking Boden’s website any more, there’s no point.

I wholeheartedly agree. The last things I bought (2 years ago) that are good are the scoop necked t shirts 96 cotton/4 elastane - nothing else has lasted or would remotely suit me.

I go for Hobbs for workwear and some casual and keep an eye on eBay for their jackets. Their fitted work jackets fit me perfectly as do their straight legged trousers.

BreakfastOfWaffles · 03/08/2023 09:08

I truly miss the days when the catalogue would arrive, full of gorgeous stuff. I would turn down the pages and then have to cull down to what I could actually afford. Their kids stuff is still lovely but mine are too old for it now. I still buy their swimwear and Richmond trousers, but sadly there's nothing like as much as there was.

GCAcademic · 03/08/2023 09:29

The problem is that everyone is going to Hobbs for workwear as there's now so few choices for that kind of attire. There's been two occasions this year where someone else at work has been wearing the same dress as me.

AlfietheSchnauzer · 03/08/2023 09:54

I've lost faith since the gorgeous leggings I bought my child, faded like mad after ONE wash in sensitive non bio at 20° Confused

Plexie · 03/08/2023 10:35

It's an 'Archive Sale' - meaning all the unpopular stuff leftover from previous years that they couldn't sell during earlier sales.

PerspiringElizabeth · 03/08/2023 12:35

That’s why there’s 70% probably tbh. No one is buying it.

Enriquetta · 03/08/2023 13:36

I used to buy a fair amount from Boden, it helped that the catalogue showed me how items could be styled and made me envisage a fantasy life full of labradors and friends called Tiggy, I know Johnnie didn't like catalogues because they were £££ but they were a powerful marketing tool. Now, I don't even bother looking at the website despite the £10 they continually send me. It's gone so Per Una. Weird and sad to see what was a good British brand lose it so dramatically

Hayliebells · 03/08/2023 16:18

This sparked my curiosity as I haven't bought anything from Boden in years and years, so had a quick look. You are so right OP, I was just scrolling through hideous outfit after hideous outfit. Half of it looks hideous on their models, so lord knows what it looks like on normal people! What on earth has happened in their design department?

NatashaDancing · 03/08/2023 17:23

Monster80 · 03/08/2023 09:52

It's in the if all my clothes were destroyed in a fire and the insurers only gave me Boden vouchers I could live with this but wouldn't choose it in any other circumstances" category

madremia1 · 03/08/2023 17:24

Yes, let's hope someone senior at Boden reads this as I totally agree, clothes have gone steadily downhill the last few years. Started shopping at Boden probably 15 years ago. They used to have such great, stretchy/flattering fabrics and cuts to dresses, not to mention the prints. They were different from everywhere else and the colours popped and there were always lots of dresses I would buy. Not so any longer. It's like they've lost their identify and the dresses are now often shapeless and in weird fabrics.

Please return Boden of the past!

WittynotPretty · 03/08/2023 17:25

I bought Boden for my DS for years. Fantastic quality. Sadly I never got to reuse any of it, and there was no one in my friendship group I could pass it on to then. Fast forward, I've just given the lot to my DN for her LO, and she's delighted. Apparently, RetroBoden is now a thing. She's posted pics on her social accounts and has people asking where she got the clothes and wanting to buy from her. I've told her to sell whatever she wants and start a baby ISA.

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 03/08/2023 17:30

I still have a skirt from their early years.

The finishing is incredible. Bias bound seams, beautiful facings, the hem is a work of art. Not anymore.

And they stopped selling the plain cropped cashmere cardigans. And I couldn’t find the wool Richmond trousers.

triggers34 · 03/08/2023 17:31

Boden is the reason I joined Mumsnet.
Many years ago I was invited to host a Boden clothes party, I googled and found the funniest thread.
Like others I used to buy a lot of Boden for myself and dds . I still buy but on Vinted , I found a velvet coat for a bargain last year and am hunting for a tweed jacket this year.

schooloflostsocks · 03/08/2023 17:37

Another who used to buy lots of Boden. No idea where to buy workwear now- I am a teacher and Hobbs is a bit too smart and too much polyester. I need nice good quality fit and flare knee length cotton jersey dresses with sensible but not too high necklines. And cashmere cardigans- used to get these from Brora (can’t now afford) or Boden (shapes and colours are now awful)

whistlestunelessly · 03/08/2023 17:51

Honestly, I should be on commission with Vinted as I recommend it so much, all the good old Boden stuff is there, sometimes still with the tags on - cropped cardis, work dresses, coats, Richmond trousers etc. A cashmere cardi is winging it's way to me right now. Just set up a saved search and keeping checking it.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 03/08/2023 17:51

Ive just looked at that sale. I don’t think cut out tea dresses are vintage. And horrible scabby jersey mini skirts like school skirts.

Skater dress? Worn by teens about 7 years ago?

doglover90 · 03/08/2023 18:00

I bought all of these and love them:

This blouse is lovely although needs something underneath
This skirt is very short but fine with dark tights
This top is super soft and flattering