Is there a consensus on Toast?

[Hassled]

And do I need crazy hair like this to wear the stuff?

OK for a 45 year old? Worth the money? Is this dress nice or have I lost the plot?
Thank you!

[Pootles2010]

Ermm.... Can't say I LOVE the dress. And it's certainly not £150 quid's worth, imho.

Must say i'm always bit underwhelmed by Toast. All seems bit shapeless and unflattering.

[SheCutOffTheirTails]

I like their stuff when I see it in catalogues, or on my friends, but I've never bought anything from them because it seems very dear for what it is.

The women I know who wear it are 40s & 50s and do not have crazy hair. And are quite stylish.

[SheCutOffTheirTails]

I quite like that dress.

[MadameWooOOoovary]

It is aspirational guff for pretentious twats. Really, I like the stuff but it is marketed in a spectacularly annoying way and i'm pissed off that I am too short and stumpy to look good in it. Not to mention too poor to afford it

[thousandDenier]

I wear it (when I can afford something from their archive sales) and I'm 36 with only marginally crazy hair. The fabric and cut of their garments is a proper notch above the likes of Boden, Reiss etc and because their style is a little quirky it's never really either in or out of fashion.

[macsaid]

in my opinion they have lost the plot. The catalogue actually gave me the creeps and I dumped it and I'm now routinely throwing additional copies/updates in the bin on the way back from collecting the post.

There are so many lovely catalogues out there...see wrap, isabella oliver, pure, me&em

[GHAHSTLYGHOULYpants]

I really like Toast but can only really buy in the sale.

I think it is quite timeless and never "trendy" so will just be something that suits your shape or not.

[madammecholet]

I think its shapeless and everything looks box like. Not good for a curvy girl like moi. However, a skinny tall friend loves them and she says the quality is good...

[Yama]

That dress looks like a sack on the model.

[Abra1d]

It always looks a little on the grungey side.

Though I have had some good long-sleeve t-shirts from them.

[MissBeehiving]

I like occasional bits from there. But that dress Hassled, I'm afraid, is not one of them.

[snowgal]

I like it, I'm a size 12 and some of the stuff really suits me and some of the boxier stuff doesn't - it's a bit of a luck of the draw. However the quality is really good and much better than other online stockists I have bought from, so I think the price is worth it. I'm 33 and I like the fact it's not particularly "trendy" but doesn't go out of fashion either. I always get lots of nice comments about my toast items. Really don't like the crazy hair and generally insane looking models in the catalogues this season though - frankly terrifying!

[Hassled]

Many thanks all - will continue the hunt. I like the dress, but not 159 quid's worth of like really. I feel the need for something a bit more mature, a bit more expensive without going crazy - I suspect I spend too much of my time in cheap shite that's too young for me. But "a bit more mature" is usually code for dowdy.

[niminypiminy]

Well, I really love that woman's hair and I think it's a bold move to have a grey-haired real woman in the catalogue. I'd far rather look at her than the identikit long blonde hair models in "wrap, isabella oliver, pure, me&em". (In fact Isabella Oliver is top of my list of most over-rated clothes web sites. It's great if what you want is to look 100% boring and conventional.)

I've got quite a lot of things from Toast, though I would say I buy very carefully and selectively (no military style jackets, which are one of their things) for me. But it is well made, lovely fabrics, and lasts. It's not for everyone, though, and that's fine by me -- I'd rather not look like everyone else.

[levantine]

I agree with niminypiminy I quite like that they have used someone close to their target market.

I've had some nice things from the Toast sale but the sizing is totally wierd ime.

[WowOoo]

I think Toast sells nice, classic and lovely stuff. I'd buy loads more if i had more money.
My friend gave me loads of work clothes and a lovely dress from Toast before she emigrated and it has lasted for years.
I like the fact that the models are a bit different and I love the wild grey hair. So nice to actually see a model with grey hair.

[BorderBinLiner]

I like the models this year, a couple of years back they went through a super skinny period.

The quality has been a hit and miss over the years, they were bought by a big chain (French Connection or Whistles group maybe) awhile ago and the quality, but not the prices, dropped.

I was quite tempted by a few bits this year anyone bought/returned much recently?

[Parasaurolophus]

I want Toast to look good on me but it is too drapey. I have big boobs and big hips and a small waist. Toast clothes make me look like I'm wearing a tent.

Their trouser sizing is crazy inconsistent.

[moondog]

Want to wear a seed sack and boots made from old tyres before wrapping yoursaelf moodily arpound a rusting piece of farm equipm,ent in a derelict abbatoir?

That'll be £380 please.

[echt]

I would gag for hair like the model's.

Would love to buy, but their postage to Oz is outrageous.

[BatmanLovesRobin]

The only pair of trousers that fits me nicely are Toast ones (from the British Heart Foundation ). I wandered into the actual Toast to get another pair (as my waist is 2 sizes smaller than my hips and my thighs are stupid), then wandered back out again after making this face at the prices.

I have sensible hair, if that helps.

[Mwahahahahahahahouseface]

moondog, brilliant.

[ujjayi]

Agree that: this season's catalogue is beyond bonkers (although I am fine with grey-haired models, tis the twig halos that I found a little...erm....off beat and the younger woman looks a tad mentally unstable. They have always done a bit of this though with their catalogues: all Tilda Swinton-esque models walking through dilapidated houses and farmyards in dry clean only clothes.

Also agree that whilst I love the look of the trousers, I have yet to find a pair that fits.

However, their tunics, dresses, tops, jackets & shoes are beautiful both in design and quality of manufacturing & fabrics. The shapes do tend to be boxy and therefore flatter those of us not blessed with an hour-glass shape. However, I am sure that some of their fitted, 50s style and wrap dresses would look fab.

I like the fact that it is not seen on every other mother where I live and it appeals to my inner bohemian who floats through life in a fragrant cloud of silk velvet :o

[FrancesFarmer]

I love the catalogues but you really have to pick carefully - some of their pieces are oversized or cut weirdly and can look very frumpy.

Their shoes are excellent quality and I've got some great bargains in the sales before now.

[Hassled]

Rest assured it's not the greyness that's the issue. Greyness = good. It's the fact it needs a damn good brush taken to it . Someone in the catalogue has a necklace made of twigs and spit - it does distract somewhat from the clothes.

Actually I think I'd love to be the person who decides this stuff. I think I'd go for the industrial wasteland look - that would sell clothes, surely? Or maybe there's an edgy landfill site out there somewhere.