I’m not sure whether I should lead with the kids back-to-school clothes or mine, because I have to tell you— I made perhaps the most important clothing discovery in my 44 year-old life. I am KICKING myself for not discovering this earlier, because it really would have changed everything.
I am a size petite.
I know. People think I am tall if they only know me from pictures online, but they are forgetting that their frame of reference is two other exceptionally small people— aka, Mazzy and Harlow. Yes, of course, I look tall when I stand next to my two tiny children. Would it surprise you to know that along with Harlow, Mazzy is also the shortest kid in her class?
Now I am not THAT short, which is why I have never tried on petite clothing before. I am 5.4″. At Boden, they size their petite clothes for 5.3″ and under. Also, I never went the petite route because I associated petite with being small in general (likes Sizes 0-4), and not just short. I’m usually a Size 8. A couple of years ago, a fashion designer friend told me that I have a short shoulder to breast expanse, which is why I am always adjusting my bra straps to the shortest length possible and also explains why neck and waist lines are often too low for me, creating a very dumpy effect, particularly in dresses. My friend told me that I should be altering all my shoulder seams with a tailor. I nodded and said, “Oh yes, my clothes will look so much better that way!” Then, out of purely sheer laziness, I did absolutely nothing to change them.
When I was faced with today’s collaboration with Boden, in which Boden was kind to include me (the mom) in a back-to-school clothing haul with my kids, I gravitated to the pretty dresses as usual. Then I reminded myself— NO. YOU NEVER LOOK GOOD IN THOSE. Just select something safe.
But what’s the fun in new clothes, if it’s always the same boring colors and silhouettes? I wanted to try some stuff that was fun and feminine! Then I saw the petite option and thought— Hmmmm…I wonder if the petite clothes would look right on me?
It worked! I cannot even tell you how excited I was putting on the dresses and seeing the waist in the right place. So much more flattering! I also got the petite size in these awesome wide legged pants, which made wide legged pants work for the very first time too.
Look how I don’t even have to hem the pants! Also, I’ve decided this polka dot shirt is the new black. It looks good with everything.
But enough about me, let’s get to the main back-to-school clothing event— MY KIDS.
Mazzy and Harlow have very different styles, but they have both always had a sweet spot for Mini Boden clothes. They have been wearing their clothes since they were little and since the stuff is so durable, most of Mazzy’s stuff makes it to Harlow’s hand-me-downs. And to just take it one step further, most of Harlow’s stuff gets handed down to Neve or Arami. So, when we get a new shipment of Mini Boden clothes, everyone in our family is excited.
I let Mazzy and Harlow choose their own clothes, and as expected, Harlow gravitated more towards the pretty tutus and playful dresses, while Mazzy selected fun t-shirts and funky leggings.
BUT. There were also a whole bunch of surprises. Like the fact that Mazzy selected a yellow bohemian dress with no prompting whatsoever.
She completed the look with a pair of navy boots and the whole outfit looked ADORABLE on her.
She also was excited about a sequin hedgehog tee (Mazzy is all about obscure animals) and a top with a peekaboo tent filled with hidden forest creatures.
Harlow flipped for the floral skirts and butterfly dresses. But her favorite stand alone item was definitely the pettable panda shirt. She LOVES pandas and wore that top for the rest of the weekend. Did you know it goes with leggings, jeans and pink tiered tutus?
It also goes great with navy polka dot kicks.
Because we took these photos on a pretty hot day, some of my favorite selections didn’t make the shoot (like Harlow’s gorgeous cardigan with bird appliques on the shoulders, Mazzy’s new unicorn fall jacket and my black button down denim dress), but you should definitely look forward to seeing those in the fall. And probably for the next few years too, because Mini Boden clothes last and always get handed down.
Meanwhile, as long as I don’t grow, I’ll be wearing my new petite-sized clothes forever.
GIVEAWAY: $500 BODEN GIFT CARD
If you’d like to win a $500 Boden gift card to use on yourself or Mini Boden clothes for your kids…
1) You must be a subscriber to the Mommy Shorts newsletter. If you are not already a subscriber, you can subscribe here.
2) Then check out the Mini Boden site and leave a comment below telling me the one thing you or your kids must have for this school year.
Giveaway ends on September 25th at midnight. Winner will be notified via email.
Disclosure: US only. This giveaway is in not way affiliated with Instagram. Should you become the winner of the competition, we will ask for your personal details such as full name, postal address, telephone number and email address. This personal data will be supplied to Boden and used for the purposes of contacting you to facilitate in sending you your prize. Your personal details will not be used for any other purposes (marketing etc.) and your correspondence with Boden will be retained for 1 month after the correspondence has closed before being deleted. If you do not respond within 14-days of being contacted, another winner will be selected.
WINNER UPDATE:
Congratulations to Amanda Krieger! Please email allie@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize!
——————-
All photos by Alexis Rae Photography.
This is very generous! Thanks for the opportunity. My daughter has been saying she would like some dresses—the button through ones are awesome!
These are the greatest pictures! The colors are so vibrant!
For myself, I need NEED the Dart Detail Button Skirt. So cute and perfect for the office or brunch.
The green wide leg pants are my favorite!!
I would love the glow in the dark cat tunic for my daughter! How cute! Loved the apple tunic as well! Lots of really cute stuff!
My 7 y/o daughter has become quite particular in what she likes and doesn’t like when it comes to clothing. Gone are the days that I can shop for her. So, I had her look through the Mini Biden website. She likes all the dresses that twirl but her most favorite is the hooded sweatshirt dress that says “Good Vibes Only”.
The 7 pack sock box in woodland friends, because the only place my 10 year old always cute critters anymore is on her socks!
My daughter would love anything comfy, dresses, leggings! Animal print would go over good, she is just learning all of her animals.
Every Christmas I get each of my girls a sweater from Mini Boden. They are just so sweet and feel extra special. The dresses are of course adorable, too. Can’t beat unicorns and ladybugs!
My daughter would love the pink cat sweatshirt dress!
To many to decide… But love those rainbow shoes for my littles!! They love fun shoes.
OMG How can you pick just one? My daughter LOVES owls AND foxes, so those woodland animal applique shirts would make her so happy, as would the sequin hedgehog shirt. But I’m a size 8 or 10 petite and I’ve never splurged on boden for mama, so now you’ve got me thinking of trying it for ME. How crazy is that?!
My kids always need a new lunchbox with lots of space and easy to wipe away the crumbs. My daughter would tell you that she always needs new gel pens, fancy notepads, and of course sticky notes none of what she really needs for school.
Almost everything in the Harry Potter collection would be my daughter’s favorite new clothes, but I think the Hogwarts Crest sweatshirt would be worn every day. And I’d need one for my son too!
We’re all about mini Boden
And doxies in our house, so I’m
Dying to get my little one in the baby doxie animal appliqué set!
I love the Harry Potter stuff! And so would my daughter. But probably she’d pick all the stuff with animals on it, like the panda with headphones. 🙂
The cozy waterproof coat with the rainbow fur hood!! Chicago winters are brutal and my eldest specifically requested a rainbow winter coat!
I LOVE Mini Boden, they have the cutest stuff. I think my daughters would look super cute in the Chelsea Leather Boots, and they’d be perfect for spring!
All three of my girls need new coats, and there are so many adorable choices!
The novelty fox shirt is so cute!
I would love some of their Harry Potter stuff for my daughter!!
My son would love the glow in the darkness shirts! And I Ann loving the polka dot shoes Harlow has on!
I loooove the Carey top (for me). The Brooklyn drop off and pick up scene is legit and it would be awesome to have some New outfits. (For me and my 2 kids, of course :). My oldest just started kindergarten and would be great to let him pick out his favorites!
My daughter Lyla would love any of the Harry Potter Dresses or skirts.
Finnley & Conor want the drum set shirt and a dino snow jacket.
Piper is only a week old but could sure use a pair of knitted lady bug leggings.
And Mom the Alberta Jersey Shirt – Baltic, looks like it would be awesome to nurse in while dressed up too.
There are too many good options! My daughter needs one of the Hotchpotch dresses and the printed jersey dress with the “sausage dogs!”
Glow in the dark cat dress
Adding things to my Boden cart is a favorite pasttime of mine. I’d love to be able to click submit more!
We love the unicorn and animal print dresses
My daughter, like Mazzy, is phasing out dresses because “no one else wears them.” But why do we need to dress like everyone else?!?!😥 We love Boden’s bright colors and fun patterns. This year we are on the hunt for a new winter jacket. I love Boden’s, especially the ones that have the removable arms and fur around the hood. So versatile which means more bang for your buck!
The lined woven pull on pants are darling! I also love their warm coats with fur hoods!
I, TOO, just discovered that I need to get myself petite sizes, even though I wouldn’t consider myself a ‘petite’ size! Who knew?! I would DEFF use this prize to get myself some petite dresses that fit me properly! …and I guess a few things for the kids… 😉
The Charms Class dress. My new reader Potterhead would flipendo for certain!
Two reversible print coats for my twin girls- the same but different!
EASY. The Sweatshirt – Grey Marl, Floral Flock, but really I want all the shirts and dresses, so thank you for picking me as your big winner.
Any of their AMAZING Harry Potter collection (my 7 year old is obsessed). ❤️
The “Hanky Hem Midi Dress – Starboard Blue Daisy Vine” – love it for my younger daughter!
I really want a Harry Potter dress for my third grader. She is a reluctant reader but has gotten way into Harry Potter. Mommy Shorts- you are the reason we started shopping Mini Boden! Several years ago I fell in love with one of the rainbow dresses Mazzy was wearing! 😁
The Violette dress looks adorable! Oh, I’m sure I could find something for my daughter, too. 😉
My daughter would love the sweater dress and I would love any of the floral print dresses.
Love the shaggy lined zip up hoodie for boys in camo! Lots of cute stuff makes it hard to choose!
We buy Boden a lot- the quality is great! The longline parka in mustard is out of my price range but would love for my 4 year old!!!
The faux fur cheetah print vest😍 and the metallic rose gold puffy jacket 😍. Actually all of the outerwear is so cute😍.
Cosy Padded Jacket – Blue Enchanted Woods!
Anything from the Harry Potter collection, but the Hedwig dress has my heart.
I love the chunky-cord-frill-overalls.. they are so beautifully made and fashionable, it’s a perfect staple to a fall back to school wardrobe:
My daughter would love the spotty skater dress in red!
I always admire these clothes in the catalog but never have actually bought anything. And it’s silly because I’ll spend just as much money in store on other brands but for some reason I have a hard time pulling the trigger on catalog or online purchases. I think the one thing I should get though is the Cozy Waterproof Coat for my 6yo. She loves to play outside but hates to be cold.
I love the Harry Potter collaboration! The hedwig owl sweatshirt is high on our list. And my oldest loves the overalls with the rainbow appliqué. He old pair are officially too small and have been donated to the small one 🙃
The yellow panda for my panda obsessed Girls!
Oh my gosh! The Harry Potter line is amazing! Especially the hedging items – overalls, dress, shirt, leggings!! My oh my!!
My boys would love the joggers and glow in the dark everything, but I love the plaid parka print.
My oldest would LOVE the rainbow twirl dress and the unicorn shirt! My baby doesn’t have preferences yet but I would love the sweet pumpkin play set for her! So adorable!
All of the Harry Potter stuff! And the sequins hedgehog shirt for sure. Really anything with animals or soccer balls. #TooManyChoices
My daughter requested only cat shirts for school this year. If it doesn’t have a cat you better have a pretty convincing argument on why a non-cat shirt is good enough. She would absolutely LOVE the sweater cat dress and of course the shirt that says “Cat Person”. Cheetah print is also acceptable, so the hat with cheetah would be purrfect (get it??? lol) for winter.
We are dying for anything from the Harry Potter collection for our 7 year old son who is a Harry Potter lover. Just can’t quite bring myself to do it yet.
Oh, I LOVE Boden, especially for my daughter! She has to have that sequin hedgehog shirt (we called her hedgehog in utero, so that’s her thing!). <3
I love Bodens prints and styles! My daughter’s would love the unicorn dress and shirts!
It is hard to find cute girl stuff that isn’t full of glitter and pink pink pink! It is nice to see different colors and not stuff that will leave a trail of glitter everywhere. The cozy sweater dress with rainbow pockets and clouds would be adorable. My twin 3 year old girls would love most anything on the site. The unicorn blue jacket is something I want for the girls to live vicariously through them!
The Harry potter collection is perfect for my son and daughter! I LOVE the hogwarts crest sweatshirt! Perfect for either kid! This would be such a great prize, as both kids have birthdays coming up and an added surprise would be amazing!!
I love all of the aisle layering pieces and options to coordinate prints! I’m a sucker for so things stripes and polka dots!! I also love the sweater dresses.
I’m loving the Printed Applique dress in Navy Love Clouds Unicorns, the Apple tunic w/ leggings, and the Gold high tops for my girls!!
My daughter loves all things rainbows and flowers so pretty much all of boden’s collection fits the bill. But I know she would love to have the appliqué dress with the unicorn.
I love the Chelsea Leather Boots! I would love the $500 gift card! Fingers crossed
My girls will both need new coats this year and I have my eye on the Cosy Waterproof coat in pink!
Sequin 🦔 shirt 🤩
The Camille skirt in leopard is everything! Hi lus lots of dresses for my mini.
The silk shirt and pretty much everything else in that blue flower print!
Omg, so many gorgeous choices!! 😍. I think for me it’d be the two tone blue Mitford coat, for my younger daughter it’d be the blue unicorn appliqué shirt, and for my older daughter it’d be the pink fluffy sweatshirt! I’d love to win the gift card!
The first thing I melted over was the colorful fair isle hearts cardigan, I could see my toddler daughter wearing that all fall and winter. I’ve commented a couple of times but it didn’t work so hopefully this one will! 🙂
You all look so wonderful! Wow! It’s funny because I was just shopping the Boden Website this morning and I’m obsessed with the girls cardigans! So cute! Thank you for the chance to win!
I’d pick the novelty monster sweatshirt, because it looks like it would make the same noise my younger son makes all. the. time. haha!
It would be amazing to get the Kitted Duffel Jacket for my little one! It looks so warm yet comfortable!
We just love Boden clothing!!! My daughter would love one of the colour changing sequin dresses! It’s all so cute!
My oldest would love the glow-in-the-dark t-rex skeleton shirt!
I need the whole Harry Potter line ! It’s so adorable !
I love all of their dresses, but I’d probably end up grabbing new sweaters that I’ll need this fall!
I would love any of the dresses with belts – they are so cute and great for work!
My son (& I!) would be all over the ducky Wellingtons!
Wool Duffle Coat! Such a pretty pink!
Those Hedwig overalls! 😍 My youngest LOVES overalls and those are absolutely adorable!
I would love one of the cosy waterproof jackets that could be handed down between both my girls!
My nine year old would love all those adorable leggings!
I want all the sherpa-lined jackets!
My girls love animal prints! Those long-sleeved leopard print dresses would be their new faves.
I like the sherpa lined anorak jacket for my daughter fingers crossed🤞🤗❤
I think my granddaughter would like the Fun Jersey Farm Playset.
My little one will go nuts over the Harry Potter sweatshirt!💫🧙🏻♀️
We love Mini Boden! Their clothes are so bright and fun, even for boys, which can be hard to find. They are also amazing quality and last. My son would love to have the animal facts T-shirt with the rhinoceros beetle. He loves beetles!
My daughter would love the pink unicorn T-shirt.
My Jazz would love the skirts! Especially that pink tutu!!!!
My little guy has been wearing Mini Boden from the very beginning. They have THE BEST colors and graphics! For sure once the cooler weather rolls around we’re getting the chevron crew sweater. Any thing with yellow!
I have not got the brain like you say but maybe it will be more incredible than that