I always enjoy attending press days for a sneaky peek at what we’ll be drooling over next season – even if the pieces we preview aren’t personally my style it’s fun to get a hands-on look and of course bump into other bloggers while I’m there.
Every so often, though, I get to go to a press day so up my street it’s like the designer(s) climbed inside my head and turned my fashion dreams into reality.
Enter Boden AW12.
Taking inspiration from the 1950s and 60s, the collection features exquisite shift dresses (my pick being the Audrey in conifer) and truly sublime pea coats and trenches.
Shoes are timelessly-ladylike Mary Janes, almond toe flat patent pumps, and butter-soft knee-high boots.
This a simple collection but with details that make all the difference. Think faux-tortoiseshell buttons, super-soft fabrics, sequin embellishment, and cute prints.
The event was held at the Rook & Raven gallery and the Boden team had decorated the showrooms thoughtfully. There was an alcove dominated by a wall of books, other walls featured framed prints of lookbook images, colour palettes, and quirky quotes (“Growing up is overrated” and “Everything looks better in a circle”).
One thing I can’t get out of my head is the Westminster print that ran through the collection; I spotted it on a tunic, wellies, the lookbook and even on walls. I did ask one of the PRs if they plan to sell it as a wallpaper and was told that they aren’t but that I wasn’t the first to ask – please make it Boden!
Hand-on-heart, I adored this collection – thanks so much to Boden for having me (particularly Hayley for inviting me)!
