Tag Archives: Boden

Harem trousers – I love ’em.

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Now we’ve discussed before how harem trousers are a love ’em or loathe ’em item but I really do love ’em.  I’ve decided it all hails back to when I met MM in 1991.  He was/is a non-conformist and when I met him he had long curly hair and more jewelry than me.  He always wore loud shirts with harem trousers and his red Converse hi-tops, which incidentally, he has on his feet today – not the same pair mind you.  MM was fortunate that all his harem trousers were hand made in Turkey.  As a PhD student in Byzantine history he was lucky enough to have regular trips to Turkey where he could indulge in Efes pilsener, Roman ruins and fine tailoring.  I must dig out the photo of the first University Ball he took me to – he wore black harem trousers, a tailcoat, black shirt with white polka dots, a white bow tie and the omnipresent red converse – he’s such a wall flower…

Anyhow I am now the flag bearer in the family when it comes to harem trousers.  Today I have on the Zara grey trousers (they’re labeled as khaki on the site but they are definitely grey) which are super soft and comfortable.  I try to wear them with a more fitted top so I don’t look too overwhelmed.  Today I have my Boden blackberry Must Have jumper layered over a black Zara t-shirt.  The scarf is H&M and the boots are the Isabel Marant Dickers.  So thoughts please would you, do you do harem trousers?

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Here’s my outfit from yesterday – black Gap skinny jeans, a black Gap t-shirt and the AllSaints Plume cardigan from the sale back in June, all finished off with the mocha Acne Pistols.  We happened to be doing some work on the IKEA Pax last night, and without the cardi and boots MM said I bore a keen resemblance to the IKEA ninja in the instructions…he can mock when he can beat my time for drawer assembly…

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I also got to try on my new Boden Fairisle jumper.  I’m so glad I sized up in this – this is a US 10 but fits far better than the 8 – I can’t abide tight knitwear and this now falls really well.  Not my usual style but I really like it for winter and it complements my Pistols perfectly!  There aren’t many left in stock after all the promotions recently, but worth stalking.

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Roll necks and camouflage.

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My black Boden Off Duty jumper has finally arrived – I’m still waiting for the grey to be delivered and I’m now tempted to order the mole melange color too.  Boden’s Off Duty jumper is bloody brilliant.  It’s a beautiful square cut jumper with skinny, ribbed arms – not dissimilar in cut and style to an All Saints jumper I have, though Boden’s version has a fabulous roll neck that is just perfect – not too tight and not too loose – just right in fact.  It’s mainly cotton so hangs beautifully and has a touch of cashmere in it for a lovely softness.  Granted it’s only now that it is cold enough to wear a roll neck – but I can’t believe it took me so long to order this beauty.  Once again Boden have done us proud.

Today I’ve paired it with my Zara camouflage jeans and Isabel Marant Dicker boots in black (glad I got these this season – looks like they are going up in price for 2013).  I layered the jumper over an H&M long, grey vest as you might feel a bit of a draft without anything under it.  MM just told me I look very Gallic – I’ll take that as a complement – it’s the closest I’ll get to one sitting here in the office:)

Q753 will get you 25% off with Free Shipping at www.BodenUSA.com.

 

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The Roaring 20’s.

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School, very kindly, has given us our first ‘project’ to complete.  First grade and we’re already doing project work – which basically means Mom and Dad are doing project work.  It’s for social studies and we’ve been asked to pick a decade in history to research the differences between now and then.  Poppy (read Mom and Dad) has to learn how to Google for information, collect images, make a poster, and then dress as a character from that time in order to present her findings next week.  Using my noggin I picked the decade based on the easiest costume to locate on Amazon.com – I’m not stitching one together that’s for certain – so the ‘Roaring 20’s’ it is.  Poppy is thrilled with her bright pink flapper dress and feather head dress – and I’m thrilled as that’s my contribution complete, though I thought I’d rent ‘Bugsy Malone‘ and ‘Throroughly Modern Millie‘ so we can learn some moves:)  Having a Doctor of history in the house means that I have delegated all research to MM.  He claims it’s not his period, but tough.  I was advised to keep the poster for Hugh when he enters first grade – apparently all families recycle their projects…not sure how he will feel about the pink flapper dress – but he’ll only have to wear it for one day.

I wasn’t sure about the dress I’m wearing today when I first bought it, but I really like it now.  The sleeves are a great length and it has a lovely deep V neckline at the back – just deep enough to show some flesh but not too deep so your bra strap shows.  I really like the geometric print and the colors are just me – pinks and greys.  It’s from H&M but their US website isn’t showing it right now – I can’t wait for them to start their online store!  The leggings are Boden grey marl and the flats are Tory Burch Eddies – yes it’s still warm enough for ballet flats here – and they have some sizes on sale right now.  The necklace is from Macy’s.

 

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2 dresses in 2 days.

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I’m trying to find my running mojo again.  After a couple of months off, due to injury, getting back into the swing of things is tough.  My motivation seems to have buggered off.  After picking the Christmas tree out this morning I headed home with the intention of doing not much at all.  On my way back though I saw several runners and walkers out and about enjoying the cool air.  Suddenly I was attacked by a pang of guilt and no matter what I did I couldn’t shake it – I had to go out for a run.  So I did.  It was hard work but I did it and enjoyed it a bit.  Now I need to climb that hill back to where I enjoy it a lot – fingers crossed the stamina returns quickly.  Billy Joel helped me find my rhythm this morning – I really need to play him more.

Without a doubt connected to the lack of running, my choice of clothing has been driven more and more by comfort recently.  Another reason to get the running shoes back on otherwise half my closet won’t fit anymore.  I don’t wear dresses/tunics nearly as often in the winter as I do in the summer – not sure why as with a pair of tights and boots a knitted dress can actually be warmer than wearing trousers.  Yesterday I wore the Boden smocked tunic dress with M&S cable knit tights (mailed by Mum last winter!) and my Frye Phillip studded harness boots.  Now admittedly the tunic may not be the most flattering item of clothing I own, but I still like it a lot.  It is incredibly soft and really easy to wear.  Unfortunately most of the smaller sizes are currently sold out here – but definitely worth stalking – I’d suggest going down a size too if you are between sizes as it is generous.  On another note Boden have 35% off party pieces until midnight on Sunday – worth a look if you have some fun festive parties approaching!

Now yesterday I made quite a commitment to Poppy – I promised her we would make our own salt dough ornaments.  Yes my first foray into crafting – clearly I am losing my mind.  Once again I am all talk and no action – we’ve baked 6 so far…not enough to decorate more than 2 branches on my 8ft tree.  I’m trying to relax and not get too involved – but aaargh how difficult can it be to roll some dough out evenly…?  Step away from the children and leave them to it!

Anyway in my eagerness to be well prepared and collect salt, flour, acrylic paints etc. etc. I headed off to Target.  Fatal.  It took me 45 minutes to get past the clothing section.  Somehow this incredible beauty jumped into my cart – in both colorways too.  Now forgive me if I am wrong but it is incredibly similar in style (if not a complete copy) to the AllSaints solstice dress that retailed at a fair bit more than this Converse number at $30!  Rather happy with it it has to be said:)

I teamed it with H&M leggings, Newbury boots and then an old H&M scarf and my Zara quilted leather jacket.  I feel polished but comfortable…perfect!

I also walked out with my festive t-shirt for Christmas day!

Will have some exhibits regarding the tree and homemade ornaments soon hopefully! x

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Embracing routine.

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I always know that I’ve had a great break when I wake up wide eyed, bushy tailed and ready to get back into a daily routine.  I’m not denying that it was tough getting out of bed at 5.45am this morning but after a strong cup of java I was ready to rock and roll.  Now can someone just explain to me why children sleep in when they need to get up and yet get up with the birds when they can stay in bed?  My two had to be well and truly peeled off their beds this morning but I’m always thankful when there is no grouchiness – adults and children were all smiles this morning…it won’t last.

I’ve already had a very exciting morning – I’ve just bought tickets for myself – yes just me, myself and I – to head back to the UK in February.  The first quarter of the year is always a great time to plan a trip as it is normally quite an uneventful time of year after all the frivolity of the Christmas period.  I’ll be spending my time with family and friends and traveling between the North West and London – I cannot wait!  There is something so freeing traveling alone.  I love my family vacations, but traveling under my own steam, and doing what I want and when I want is very indulgent.  Oh and there might be some shopping to do too!  Yay!:)  It’s going to take me till then to decide what to pack too as I’ll be meeting up with a bunch of very stylish ladies – more on that at a later date I promise!

On Saturday night MM and I had a lovely date night – well it started out lovely.  We went to see Skyfall which I have to say was amazing – Mr. Craig with a bit of stubble was quite luuurvely and Javier Bardem was the best baddy ever!  We then had plans for dinner – unfortunately a flat tire made it a tad more stressful than anticipated so my appetite had dwindled by the time we sat down to eat.  The pinot noir and sticky toffee pudding made everything better though.  Oh and the new Isabel Marant Dickers put a spring in my step too.  I wore them with some Gap camouflage jeans bought a few years ago – but I love them as the camo print is really dark and very subtle.  The sparkly jumper is the Skye jumper from Boden – perfect for a bit of snuggly bling and a night at the movies, and I layered it over an H&M t-shirt dress for warmth.  The scarf is also an oldish H&M purchase.  Boden, by the way, have 30% off till tonight!

Today ’tis freezing again so I opted for my coated skinny jeans, black knitted tunic dress and scarf all from H&M (and none of which I can find on the rubbish US site), with my Rag & Bone Newbury boots – yes my feet are very happy with me right now – though my pocket book not so much.  Better do some work and earn some money before that trip to the UK:)

I’ve had some great emails for Cyber Monday but as I clearly don’t need any new clothes or boots I have not indulged.  Have you treated yourself yet?

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Santa at the Zoo.

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It’s been a whirlwind couple of days what with the Thanksgiving festivities.  Now the children are getting older I have to say it is getting more and more enjoyable.  It was fun watching Poppy hooked on the Thanksgiving Day parade while I was getting the turkey ready to go in the oven.  We were all very organized and sat down to eat early at 1.30 – at the request of MM so that he could justify eating leftovers later in the day.  In the evening we cracked open the box set of The West Wing – my those first episodes look dated now – but it was thoroughly enjoyable accompanied by a bottle of Barolo.

Yesterday we headed to some friends for their annual post Thanksgiving party that includes BBQ and a fun jam band.  The kids had a blast and let off some steam and I talked and talked all afternoon.

This morning we were up at the crack of dawn for a visit with Santa at the Zoo.  Now I know Santa is a busy guy at this time of year – but come on 8.30am??!  At least we had cookies and hot chocolate to warm us – it is freezing here today!  I’m now enjoying some alone time while everyone else is at the park riding their bikes.  It’s bliss – I’ve got the coffee pot on and Radio 2 playing and I may go and hold the sofa down for a minute or two:)

Poppy was very excited to select her perfect outfit for Santa this morning:

Hugh joining in the fun, somewhat under duress:

The all important lists which were an exercise in patience for Mom:

Hugh explaining to Santa that he is just going to stand next to him – under no circumstances is he sitting on his lap – smart boy:

Me wrapped up for the first winter day in Atlanta – my new Boden Iona coat which I love, over my Boden Must have jumper in blackberry, layered over a Hampton t-shirt (mine is a 2011 version), my Hudson skinnies, Frye Phillip studded harness, and snood/infinity scarf what ever you call them and wrist warmers are from H&M.  The bag is my ever loyal and trusty YSL Roady (couldn’t find a link to mine with the sting ray handle).

Believe it or not I didn’t buy anything on Black Friday – even though I had lots of fabulous offers arrive in my inbox – some of Net-a-Porter’s were very tempting – but I resisted.  Did you get anything?

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The Fourth Doctor.

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The thing about blogging is that when you have so many stylish friends in the blogging community, almost every day, in someone’s new post, I see an item that I want too!  The other week it was Avril at SchoolGateStyle.com.  I have rediscovered my passion for scarves since knowing Avril – and not only does she have a great selection but she wears them well.  My Nana taught me how to knit when I was little – I wouldn’t know where to start now – but I distinctly remember knitting a ‘Dr Who’ scarf – I was the Tom Baker generation and a big fan of the 4th Doctor…Anyway before I digress into complete geekdom the point is Avril was wearing this fabulous 8GBP scarf from Matalan here the other week.  A quick email to my Mum and Bob’s your Uncle – a week or 2 later I have one too!  Thanks Mum:)

The colors are perfect – this year’s burgundy with navy, blush, yellow and grey – and it is SO long!  I wore it the other day to the park with my AllSaints sweater, from a couple of years ago, layered over my Boden velvet henley in rose that I just love – it’s really soft and fits great.  The jeans are my Hudson Collin skinnies and the boots are the Frye Jenna studded.  The specs are my lovely Oliver People Wacks in matte blue havana.  A great outfit for a cold day – only problem was that as we stood cheering Poppy on, successfully riding her bike with no training wheels (UK – stabilisers), the sun was beating down and the temperatures rose to 70 degrees – no one else, oddly enough, was in their Dr Who scarf:)

Have been studying other ways to pose in front of the camera – as you can see my current favorite is ‘Looking at your feet’.

I’ve just released the turkey from an amazing smelling bag of brine and herbs.  It’ll be going in the oven in an hour or so and then I can open a bottle of bubbly:)  HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y’ALL!

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Green and tan.

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I’m loving having nothing to do.  Right now I’m sitting drinking a delicious coffee while the kids are sweeping out the garage – and they’re giggling while they do it!  Perfect!  Radio 2 is blasting out Maroon 5, the sun is out and we’re off to the park shortly to practice riding bikes without training wheels – let’s hope that doesn’t start any tears of frustration from the children or the grown ups!

I have a lot of khaki in my closet and I’m really enjoying wearing my fatigues:)  These are the Zara skinny cargo pants that are lovely and soft and really comfortable.  I’ve layered a Zara khaki t-shirt under an H&M square cut grey sweater.  The camouflage scarf is also Zara and it is so soft and snuggly – my local store resembles an army supply store right now!  The jacket is the Boden leather jacket, from a Spring 2011 I think – I love this color and the leather is so soft – it also coordinates perfectly with my Ash Bowie sneakers.

Zara may have a lot of khaki right now but they are now starting to get their new items in store and online.  I’ve got my eye on this tartan suit – and yes I would wear it as a suit, with my new black Dickers – more on those later:)

This coat is also on my radar – I love it.

Look out for their color blocking too – especially in black and white – it’s stunning – really eye catching.

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It’s Holiday Time!

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Yay my Thanksgiving break starts today!  I will no doubt be doing bits of work from home over the next week but it’s lovely knowing the children will be home and we are schedule free for a week!

Today I have to plan my shopping for Thanksgiving dinner.  There’s only four of us admittedly but we all have different ‘favorites’ that we want with our Turkey, whether it be roasted beetroots and shallots (MM), roasted parsnip (me) or carrots (the kids!).  We always make too much but somehow it all gets used in the following days as turkey butties or turkey curry!  As fairly new Americans we are enjoying creating our own family Thanksgiving traditions and that includes cheesecake for dessert:)  Fortunately we always head out for a long walk on the Friday to work it off.

I was in Target the other day buying craft supplies for Hugh’s Thanksgiving Turkey project (yes – I know – I do not craft – but I am now armed with glitter, pom poms and felt).  I happened to wander through the clothing section as you do.  For a split second I removed the blinders (blinkers – for the UK readers) and spied this beauty.  OK I didn’t just spy it I bought it.

It’s a gorgeous blush pink, fake fur jacket – and looks lovely on.  It certainly looks more than the $49.99 I paid for it – but don’t stand near any naked flames in it.  I have some blush pink jeans and with taupe boots it will work a treat.  Even with regular blue denim skinnies and a white t-shirt it will add that little something different.  They also have it in cream but I love the blush color and it will go with lots in my closet – justification done.

Today I’m wearing comfy clothes for a day of pottering around town and running errands.  I love the H&M knitted dress – the stripes are great colors and it is really quite warm.  I’ve worn it with my Boden brown leggings and Zara burgundy scarf.  Today’s boots are last year’s Steve Madden Carlsen taupe boots.

What are your novel Thanksgiving traditions?

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Why I love Boden.

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I’ve been wearing Boden since summer of 2009 and was, like many, introduced to their women’s line when I started buying Mini Boden for the children.  Their fabulous patterns and easy to wear cuts were what first appealed to me, and all my initial purchases were tunics, perfect as summer dresses here in the summer heat.  I have to say I was completely oblivious to any of the negative connotations that tend to be associated with the brand in the UK.  Some adjectives I’ve heard used are a long the lines of ‘frumpy’ and ‘mumsy’ – we all know the stereotype.  In my opinion though – and I am as guilty of this as anyone else – any item of clothing can be worn badly, or in an unflattering manner.  The art to dressing and keeping clothes stylish is in choosing the right shapes for your body and then styling them so they represent you.

I’m not convinced I’ve articulated myself well, but let me use myself as an example.  I am definitely not what I would consider ‘frumpy’ or ‘mumsy’ (feel free to shatter my illusions) but I wear A LOT of Boden.  Sometimes I wear all Boden, sometimes just an essential t-shirt layered under another brand’s sweater.  I pick items that I know can be styled and worn in what I consider to be a more ‘on trend’ fashion (in danger of disappearing up my backside here but bear with me).  Other times however, I want to look a little more conformist and will intentionally dress a little more staid, a prime example is for a PTA meeting when I want to ‘blend in’ (though I am feeling less and less like conforming for these events, and being more and more the ‘eccentric English bird’ that I am).  Boden works for all scenarios.

When I select an outfit I tend to pick one key piece that I want to wear then build the outfit around that item.  Today I wanted to wear my lovely Boden stripy jumper.  I had no idea that the entire ensemble would end up being Boden – in fact come to think of it brand plays little or no part in whether an item is picked from the closet that day.  The grey jumper led me immediately to look for some colorful trousers – of which I have many – but I picked out the Boden cyclamen skinny jeans (SS 2012) today, because randomly I had already applied a purpley pink lipstick!  The grey chic biker jacket (SS 2012 – sold out online) seemed like a no brainer with these two items.  The only non-Boden items are the H&M vest dress layered under the jumper for warmth, the Guess Cardio boots and the scarf which I was a Christmas present from my sister-in-law a few years ago.  Together I think this is a really fun outfit and a great way to take summer jeans into winter.  I feel anything but frumpy.

So again Boden I thank you for providing great quality, stylish, classic items that can be worn by women of any age and in her own style.  Your prices aren’t too bad either with a discount code;)  I’ll always have a soft spot for you – I just hope to see more tunics appear for SS 2013!

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