How Boden got me out of my comfort zone — AD

How Boden got me out of my comfort zone

Black.

Black is my comfort zone.   I like black.  I wear it alot.  Am comfortable in it.   And don’t have to worry about it.  I can blend in to the background and not really stand out in a crowd at the bar.

Not only is it pretty forgiving, you don’t need to have to worry too much about what goes with it.   Everything goes with black.    Even varying shades of black go with black.  You can’t say the same for red.   Or green.   But you can about black.   So generally speaking I am in black.   Sometimes I might throw a bit more colour into the mix with a scarf or maybe bright red poppies as I did with my dress for Britmums earlier this year, but it is rare.

When I saw that Boden were offering some MADs finalists a dress to wear to the event I was quick to fire off an email saying “ooh yes please”.   But then quickly realised that I already have about six black dresses, plus the above mentioned poppy dress.  Did I really need another black dress?  No.   Clearly not.   So why not have a bright pink one?

Boden

It arrived and Mr B made me close the kitchen door to save the teens blushes, whip off my clothes and put on the Boden dress.   I hated it.  It wasn’t black

It was pink.

It was a beautifully made wool dress

In pink

It clung to me in places I would rather gloss over.

It was pink

I only have black shoes.

Mr B told me he liked it.

It was still pink.

I hung it on a hanger and stared at it for a week, debating what I would do.   On the one hand Sally at the TOTS100 (organiser of the MADs) had been generous in sharing the opportunity to have a free dress worth close to £140.    Boden had been incredibly kind in making the offer in the first place.

It was still pink.

Other people had applied for the opportunity to be one of the five people to get a Boden dress and had been too late.  If I didn’t wear it, it wasn’t fair on them.

On the other hand.  It was pink.

Then I found some Spanx that tuck up under your bra and come down to your knees.  I am not kidding.  A skin coloured wet suit.  That pulled bits in a bit more and made the dress look a bit less like stretched sausage casing.   The Spanx were doing that.   It might be okay as long as I didn’t bend over or cross my legs to reveal Spanx on my knees.

The dress became a bit less pink.

Then in the back of my wardrobe I found a pair of shoes I don’t even remember buying that were purple patent leather heels.

The dress got a bit less pink.

So I bit the bullet and decided to go with the pink and the world still turned.   Okay I could barely move on account of the Spanx doing their thing but the pink was okay.  And I even got compliments from people who didn’t seem to be completely hammered and therefore wearing beer goggles.

For which I can only say “thank you Boden”.

The person that mentioned “pretty in pink” on Instagram though was clearly hammered 🙂

But thank you to you too

This is the line up we found ourselves in on Friday night when all the finalists in the Outstanding category were called to the stage   What an incredible bunch of women.   And I feel so proud to be a part of such an amazing group.

OutstandingLineup

And I wish my only thoughts at that point hadn’t been “shit I hope my Spanx have not now come further down below my knees and been splashed all over Instagram”.

Maybe I should just go back to wearing black.

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  • You looked gorgeous Mummy B! Absolutely blummin’ gorgeous! Promise that this will be start of lots more pink and much less black for you? x

  • I refuse to wear anything that means I have to wear Spanxx! I can’t bear to be uncomfortable! That said, just looking at that picture you look YOUNGER in a colour. It’s great on you! I too favour black but maybe colour CAN be a girls best friend? Maybe Spanxx can be too?! *heads to bottom drawer

  • Aww! I think you looked fabulous….Well done for being brave enough to wear pink 😀

  • Well done on going through with the change, it was worth it because you look fantastic.

    I didn’t think I wore a lot of black, but when I had my “colours done” a few years ago they told me I shouldn’t wear black and suddenly I didn’t have a lot left in my wardrobe. It has taken some time, but now I love wearing colour – especially shoes. Today I’m wearing a green dress and navy patent heals (my favourite that are almost worn out).