I just noticed that Boden USA has a petite collection. Has anyone shopped there? Is the quality worth the price?

I shop a lot at Boden, in both regular and petite size 2. Boden first started offering petite sizes last fall, but the selection was very limited. This spring most of the pants and many of the dresses are available in petite sizes, as well as a handful of coats and skirts, so perhaps it is working out for them.

Boden sizes run small, so if you want to order an item I would suggest going up at least 1 or perhaps 2 sizes (for really small clothes) from your regular US size. I am usually size 0 or 00 (5 ft 3 inches tall, 100 lbs 30B-24-32.5) but size 2 Boden clothes often fit me very well. It's a great alternative to BR and LOFT for people in this size range. The petite sizes stop at 10, so it should work for women who are 8P or below in US sizes. One of the best things about Boden is that they provide garment measurements for every item, and I would strongly recommend consulting them before buying. ( I weed out the larger size 2s this way).

Petite pants usually have a 29 inch inseam and are reliably mid-rise. All the size 2 pants I have bought have a rise between 8 and 9 inches (petite or regular). If you prefer a lower rise you're out of luck here. If your inseam is shorter, you might want to look at the cropped pants (which typically have a 27 inch inseam), and see if that will work for you. The petite dresses are a huge improvement, because even at 5 ft 3 inches many of the regular dresses are about 1 or 2 inches longer than I would want. All the petite dresses I have purchased have been above the knee, but not too far above to make me feel uncomfortable. Many of the dresses are appropriate for daytime wear and can be washed at home, which is fabulous.

The quality is generally very good - I haven't had any broken zippers or clothes which fall apart after being worn a couple of times. How you feel about the pricing might depend on the other options available to you! (I am sized out of many retailers). Boden's US discounting has improved recently, and it's not difficult to get 20 percent off these days. Also, they ship a fair amount of stuff from their US warehouse these days, so you can get the clothes fairly quickly. Any item that ships from the UK takes at least a week (to the East Coast anyway). If express shipping is available, that means it's coming from the US, if not, it's coming from the UK.

Hope this helps!

Margaret 5 ft 3 inches 100 lbs 30B-24-32.5 Shoes US 7.5 / Euro 38

Thanks Margaret! That's very helpful!

Whoa! I love the measurement information for each individual garment. More retailers should do this!

Margaret,

Thanks for the info - would love to see any pics of items that you kept and liked. I still haven't pulled the trigger on any purchases b/c I am afraid of fit issues but based on your stats it sounds like the petite items could potentially work.

Thanks