If you fancy a laugh, check out Boden’s latest subtle, stylish nod to their British heritage…

[LaSourciereEfrontee]

Ten, even five years ago Boden sold beautiful tweed jackets and skirts made from pure British wool milled in Yorkshire.

In 2024, to celebrate their British heritage, we have been treated to these garish, made in China horrors…

https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/fitted-printed-blazer-union-jack/sty-u0266-mul

https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/lydia-cashmere-jumper-rich-emerald-green-union-jack/sty-k0905-cbs

https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/alba-check-maxi-dress-pink-and-red-check/sty-d1097-mul

https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/bow-kitten-heels-red-tartan/sty-a1836-red

I can only assume Johnny Boden has recently watched The Producers and is trying to get rich by producing a business-ending flop.

That’s all.

I agree with PP's. It's not the garish, tacky designs I object to as we can give those a miss. It's the abysmal quality of stuff that does arrive, even though the designs are okay. Dreadful fabrics, nothing lined.

Totally.

I really like the dress in green - might consider it for this years Christmas outfit.

I wouldn’t wear the shoes myself but they aren’t the worse I’ve seen.

whats wrong with check?

Very few things are lined nowdays. I buy things from Brora in the sales and a lot of their stuff isn’t lined either. I’ve had to invest in underskirts and trying to find cotton ones is a nightmare.

Nothing’s lined. I have a number of Toast dresses - no lining. To be honest I don’t remember dresses ever being lined and I’m 71.

Workwear was lined. Jaeger, Planet, Alexon, Austen Reed, Windsmoor, Paddy Campbell etc, etc even Laura Ashley did wool crepe or light wool gaberdine dresses and skirts which were always lined. Laura Ashley was the cheapest of those brands, but still not cheap. The others , apart from Paddy Campbell, were upper level high street- Paddy Campbell was pricey.

Posters go on about The Fold for workwear. Some of their dresses are lined; none of them are pure, or even mostly wool.

Some evening wear was lined. I had silk, non work day dresses from Laura Ashley which were lined and they also did lined non work silk skirts. Brora did lined silk dresses.

I used to wear Laura Ashley linen and wool suits in the 1990s and they were always lined both jacket and skirt. One of my last buys before they went under was a wool shift dress which is fully lined.

Depends where you shop
Lots of Hobbs, Phase 8, Jigsaw stuff is lined

My 'old' Boden skirts are all lined- both cotton and wool. In fact, I bought a gorgeous cotton shirt dress from Boden in 2020. Very full skirt with a cotton lining. Same shirt dress now more expensive and no lining.

I remember having lovely lined skirts from
Next in the nineties. But it's pretty rare now, even for smarter brands.

Bold move! Not for everyone clearly, but I love the Union Jack theme 😍 reminds of me of the New Romantics movement

God, I hate those '400 people are looking at this' popups. I don't care!

😂 That's cruelty against your fellow forum members. Fancy making people imagine that. Consider yourself told off. 🙂🙃😉

They are truly vile, I lol'd when I saw the new items.

I find their marketing odd - they are still sending me Mini Boden catalogues when my kids are late teens and not bought from them since they were around 10 - surely they’ll have worked out now I’m never buying Mini from them again?? But they still send me catalogues all the time that go straight into the recycling.

I used to LOVE boden about 10-15 years ago. I don’t know if it just suited my SAHM vibe more then and now it doesn’t, or whether their stuff has just changed (and as everyone else says, the quality definitely has) but now I prefer Arket, Stories etc which do much ‘cooler’ clothes but still age appropriate. Also a bit cheaper as Boden has got way too expensive - £140 for a summer dress is way too much.

It's giving Elmer energy

https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/lincoln-wool-check-coat-multi-check/sty-u0300-mul?cat=C1S22_G2

This Elmer-inspired suit popped up on my Facebook feed yesterday. I quite liked the Black Watch tartan dress (maybe if it is reduced by 50 or 60% in one of their sales) but this suit is eye-popping.

edited to say that I hadn't seen the post below, when I posted. Great minds and all that.

I love that, though I would probably wear the skirt and jacket separately, not as a suit.

What? From 3 sales to 6? 😉

Just leaving this here... https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/faux-feather-trim-short-dress-bright-pink-lotus-stamp/sty-d1110-pnk?cat=C1S22_G389

Those feathers will be even lovelier once they've been inadvertently dipped in gravy and brandy butter.

Not to mention the shape (or shapelessness). That is a deeply unflattering use of £155 @LaSourciereEfrontee

hmmm, reminds me of something....can't quite put my finger on it darlings

or possibly it's this that it reminds me of most

either way, both looks that I'm sure we all aspire to

I’ve been looking at Seasalt’s website this evening. If you pick & choose carefully there are a lot of solid Seasalt basics which could be dressed up for work or down for weekend casual. The fabrics are nice - natural fibres in a mix of bright, on trend colours and muted neutrals. It reminds me of how Boden used to be. What went wrong? 😕

I've also been forced to look further afield too and Woolovers has some really nice quality and well cut plain coloured cardigans and jumpers. (size down a bit though!)

I've been looking further afield this season too. I'm into deep colours and less tailored styles at the moment. There are some good options out there, although nothing is cheap.

I've just bought a pair a great wide legged cropped cords from Seasalt, two lightweight cashmere Eldon jumpers from Jigsaw and a softly tailored needle cord dress from Poetry. For jeans, I'm loving the Toast Annie cropped jeans which I wore in summer but are great dressed up with a jumper and chunky boots.