Boden

[Cappuccino33]

I would love to hear your opinions on Boden. I’m in my early thirties and have recently bought some clothes from Boden for the first time, trousers, summer dress and T-shirt. I’m petite and find their petite sizing excellent, maybe even the best range I’ve found sizing wise. I find the quality great for the price point and I’m in love with my jersey dress in particular, it’s incredibly comfortable. I don’t consider myself to be fashionable but I try my best to look stylish (mainly because I work in a trendy industry and don’t want to look like I’m clueless) so I tend to buy from shops which I know are popular. Perhaps it’s my age, but I had never heard of the brand Boden until recently. I usually shop at Zara, massimo dutti, maje, Mango for example and my concern is with the many reviews I’ve found online, calling Boden frumpy, mumsy, boring, middle England etc. is this the general consensus of Boden?

I’m sure lots of people love it, but i’m in my mid 30s and:

-None of my friends my age wear Boden. The only women I know who where it are 40s +

-This may be partly because it’s out of our price range (eg none of us spend £120 on a casual dress).

-Absolutely none of my friends have that style, and I would honestly associate it with being a lot older.

Like all shops it’s dependent upon what you buy and how you wear it. Boden do some great plain basics and their ballet flats are really comfy. I also got an amazing long velvet coat from them. I wouldn’t personally wear the prints but that just means not for me. I don’t subscribe to everything from this brand is frumpy just as I don’t to everything from another is fashionable. It’s how you mix things and style them that count.

I spent a lot with them up to 6/7 years back. The Phoebe dresses and (longer length for taller women) Ravello silky tops were fab. I still have all these, they are timeless pieces and like new, quality fabrics and beautifully made, even the cotton dresses have not faded at all.

Was never keen on their garishly patterned grown-up-toddler style pieces.

My more recent purchases did not fare well. Fewer 100% cotton dresses and mixed fibres which pilled unacceptably quickly. I think they targeted the younger US market and lost their way at one point.

I still look at their website, in hope rather than expectation, but not been tempted for a few years now. I am very old though.

I'm in my 50s. I used to buy a lot of Boden in my 40s. Their Richmond trousers were amazing. They also did some great cotton basic t shirts.

However, the quality has changed over the last few years, and not for the better. I haven't bought from.there for 5 years or so.

They have some nice things in at the moment that I would wear (early 40s). But they are pricey!

Used to but mmm my for my kids, quality was very good. If you like it who cares!

I agree with @EmmaGrundyForPM I used to buy loads but the quality is very mixed. Their Breton tops used to be really thick. Very thin now. I had to send a bad bag because it was so cheap looking and poorly made.

Agree with other posters, used to buy a lot 5/6 years ago but ordered a coupe of stripy
tops recently and they were very poor. I’m currently selling lots of my old Boden bits on Vinted as my style has moved on and it’s all in great condition. Still wear Richmond trousers though, they’re lovely.

i think wear what you like from whichever shop, all that matters is that you like it

About 20 years ago Boden was the default choice on Mumsnet.
I remember literally staying up till midnight on the Thursday night that the sale was going to kick in. Good quality, some unusual stuff, some solid basics.

Nowadays, the quality has plummeted.

They'll peel my old Hampshire trousers from my cold dead corpse, but they're almost see through after a good 8 years of constant wear. They still do Hampshires. Different fabric, different style, all thick and springy- I feel that in a wind wearing them I'd be catapulted into next week. Just weird.

T shirts and tops now are generally no better quality than the lowest priced H&M, Primark etc. And lots of synthetics.

I have a few Boden dresses; like you I need petite clothes and find the Boden sizing spot on.

I love the fact they do a tall range. Unfortunately the quality has gone downhill.

Jonny wrote to his mailing list recently saying they’ve had it wrong for the last few years and are going back to what they did best, I do think the cotton tops I’ve recently bought are decent quality.

I'm in my 30's and I like their basics - t shirts and cardigans - they're great quality. I have a black cardigan from them which fits really well and I've been wearing it to work for about 5 years, it's still as black as the day I got it and not bobbling.

I think some of their dresses and prints do have more middle-aged/ middle-class vibes (which is fine if that's you and they have some lovely stuff in that category!) but I'm not quite there yet 😄

The disclaimer for me is that I haven't bought anything from them for 2 years (I don't buy clothes all that often) - so I don't know if people saying the quality has plummeted are correct - that is a shame if so.

I’m 48 and Boden has always had a sensible but jaunty vibe to me that I’ve never taken to. I actually like colour but it always seems to be bright, cold colours, not the more muted, gentle tones that suit me. It’s kind of like the kids line, just bigger. Never say never though.

maybe I'll take another look. I did buy a lot of their cotton tops before the quality went downhill.

I bought loads of stuff from there in my early - mid 30s. Recently not so much, but that's also because of 2 x pregnancy + breastfeeding and i find their stuff doesnt work as well for this stage of my life. I always loved the plain colourways although like pp, not so keen on the prints. I never bought anything full price though - you can nearly always find 20% off codes floating around the internet.

Love the kids clothes for my toddler.

I used to buy Boden twenty years ago but as others have said, the quality has gone downhill, and my tastes have changed too. I also associate them with people a bit older than me and I'm 57.

I like their petite jeans.

It's ages since I bought anything but their colours are usually bang on for me. I also dress less formally these days.

I used to buy kids clothes and work clothes from there. DC1 just turned 18 so Mini Biden days are long gone and I work somewhere less formal now which has basically been dress down since Covid so no need. I was looking for a long sleeved T shirt on the website a few months ago as one I bought years ago was really good but I couldn’t see a basic style without puffed sleeves.

Yeah, looked again. There is a v necked top I’d buy if it was crew necked. I don’t want boat neck, a Breton or the puff sleeved crew neck.

They are constantly reducing clothes so obviously not selling at original price. It’s a brand that expanded and reduced quality to do so. However the headline prices didn’t come down to match the reduced quality.

Sizing for me is problematic with them. Some shirts are fine but my latest linen one is smaller. No obvious difference in description.

My DD1 is early 30s and she knows Boden exist because I bought children’s clothes from Boden for her. She would never ever buy Boden now. I rarely buy anything and I’m over 65. If I do it’s wool trousers or cotton or linen shirts. Nothing else.

I meant to add: DD earns well and spends a lot on clothes. DD2 is a bit younger and definitely would swerve Boden. She’s definitely Zara but saves up for design labels.

I find that they are very popular and worn very obviously as 'outfits' by a certain sort of person where I live. They all have the same cars, prams, Boden outfits etc. It puts me off even thou I do like some of the jumpers.

Interesting, could you elaborate on the 'certain type of person', I'm so curious. Thank you