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Original poster

TOAST - a man's view

25 replies

echt · 17/10/2010 07:58

Just been looking at the online a/w iii catalogue.

DH was aghast, said he didn't want an "easy cardigan", but a fucking difficult one.

Also said the male models looked like sweaty tramps.

Men, eh?

OP posts:
purplepeony · 17/10/2010 09:44

I just don't "get" Toast.
It is incredibly expensive and like other labels seems to want to sell us a lifstyle which is far removed from the usual shopping at Tesco/Sainsburys in your average High Street.

Even when they have sales and there's 50-70% not much tempts me.

higgle · 17/10/2010 12:38

My DH laughed out loud when he saw the male models in the catalogue - I send a copy to someone I know in his 60's to cheer him up during his late mid ife crisis!

independiente · 17/10/2010 12:50

Thank god for catalogues like Toast. If you can afford to buy, then it seems you get good-quality stuff, fair trade and often organic, that looks different. Modelled by people that aren't afraid to look their age, but still wear interesting stuff.
If you can't afford to buy from it, it's a breath of fresh air to indulge in looking through a catalogue which is far removed from the usual shopping at Tesco/Sainsburys in your average High Street. Unless you crave the vision of shopping on the average high street as you soak in the bath - in which case, I can see why you wouldn't like Toast...

Frrrrightattendant · 17/10/2010 13:02

Toast is a big rip off! IMHO of course.

Lovely, lovely stuff (well some of it) but who can take those prices seriously?

The quality is not much better than anywhere else - seriously it's not.

It's good, on the whole, but not brilliant.
And they cadge some of their stuff from other places that sell it for far less.

I got my hunter wellies for £29, the same ones as in the catalogue for 50-odd..

DirtyMartini · 17/10/2010 13:08

ooh fright where did you get your Hunter wellies for that price? Are they the short ones (the only ones I don't have a Fat Calves Issue with)?

My main problem with the Toast catalogue is the way it smells. It really is horrid. Oh, and the drippy miserable-looking models they use...

dexter73 · 17/10/2010 13:22

I agree with you about the smell DirtyMartini - mine goes straight in the recycling bin as the smell makes me feel slightly sick. I have tried getting them to stop sending me a catalogue but they still do.

Frrrrightattendant · 17/10/2010 15:07

I got mine from ebay - they're not the short argyll but the normal length ones. I think you can get the short ones in Scats and they often have special offers on stuff like that.

I never noticed the smell but one of the mal models looks almost exactly like the bloke I am sort of seeing...scary!

Jellykat · 17/10/2010 15:38

Yep catalogue definitely smells!

Theres' no way i'd pay those prices,the quality isn't good enough- bought a jersey dress from them once,(cheap in one of their 'secret sales') and the seams started to turn around and hem dropped at sides,after one handwash, because it wasn't cut properly.If i'd paid full price i'd of been well pissed off!

reptile · 17/10/2010 16:27

Check out this . Love the hat - reminds me of Dr Seuss books.

Maryqueenofchocs · 17/10/2010 16:27

You know I don't buy their clothes, as I agree with purplepeony I just don't get it.

However as a company trying to offer something different than the high street tat I applaud them. I read an article a few weeks ago about them in sunday style mag, they are run by a couple who started in their back room in wales the day Lady Di died, and they now have numerous shops and turnover £13m pa. They are launching into menswear this season hence the article..

I just saw two individuals who had worked their backsides off and built a brand from scratch, and I think they need congratulating rather than pulling apart.

dexter73 · 17/10/2010 16:43

They are part of French Connection!

Maryqueenofchocs · 17/10/2010 16:45

Only recently though....

dexter73 · 17/10/2010 16:46

What I mean is that they aren't run by a couple but are part of the French Connection Group.

dexter73 · 17/10/2010 16:47

Yes sorry it was only 10 years ago they bought it Hmm!

FGM · 17/10/2010 16:48

I actually like the beardy weirdy/ foppish classics student look of the models. More realistic than wall to wall vacant himbos. And captain grey-beard makes me think that if I wore their clothes I too could be married to a twice-Global Challenge winner (OBE). Aspirational?- oh yes, but I do find a diamond of a garment there.

But I'd still rather live in Brora-land Wink

Maryqueenofchocs · 17/10/2010 16:53

Dexter I stand corrected then on the dates, didn't retain the finer details of the article.

Still a good business though imo.

purplepeony · 17/10/2010 16:54

independente Thank god for catalogues like Toast. If you can afford to buy, then it seems you get good-quality stuff, fair trade and often organic, that looks different. Modelled by people that aren't afraid to look their age, but still wear interesting stuff.
If you can't afford to buy from it, it's a breath of fresh air to indulge in looking through a catalogue which is far removed from the usual shopping at Tesco/Sainsburys in your average High Street. Unless you crave the vision of shopping on the average high street as you soak in the bath - in which case, I can see why you wouldn't like Toast...

Please take your tongue out of your cheek!

I do not buy any clothes at Sains or Tesco and I only ever shop at Waitrose- or Fortnums of course.

My wardrone is an eclectic ( love that word) mix of items from Jigsaw, Kew and Uniqlo.

I still think Toast is a rip off aimed at aspiring country welly types who have more money than sense.

For £300 you can buy beautiful designer coats, and much more flattering pieces than they have.

The fact that they discount by 70% shows how much they are marking up.

Meow75 · 17/10/2010 17:00

£345 FOR A ROLL NECK JUMPER!!!!

*Meow75 ambles off for a lie down in a darkened room to recover from the shock at something so patently ridiculous.

I bought a ball gown 3 weeks ago, and it didn't cost that much!!!!!

perfumedlife · 17/10/2010 18:04

Overpriced but beautifully shot.

A fool and his money are easily parted Grin

I find hours of pleasure leafing through the Graham & Greene catalouge but I wouldn't dream of paying their prices. I get the trade name of an item I like, google it and buy direct from the manufacture.

Vulgar · 17/10/2010 18:35

How do you get the trade name perfumed life?

MarshaBrady · 17/10/2010 18:37

It's a brand but not design. That's why I wouldn't buy it.

DirtyMartiniOfDoom · 17/10/2010 19:56

"But I'd still rather live in Brora-land Wink"

Oh god, me too. I go all hopeless and crap when their children and babies catalogue comes through the door. I know it's pathetic, but it just seems to get past my defences. And I have quite a lot of pairs of their wristwarmers and a pair of bedsocks. (disclaimer: I live in a draughty Scottish flat)

Now, though, it turns out we're probably moving to an equatorial zone, so I am madly using all of it in an attempt to squeeeeeze out all the value

Original poster
echt · 18/10/2010 07:59

Having started all this, I must say that I like Toast stuff, though I think it's not quite as good as it was. And still v. expensive.

DH gets all silly about expensive clothes - you should hear him on Brora. :)

OP posts:
vintage4 · 18/10/2010 16:32

Brora and Toast are beautifully shot but honestly if you stayed in a house in real life with all that manky peeling paint etc you would not feel so airy fairy (though tbh i did feel like i was in a toast video tody kicking through huge piles of leaves walking round the loch)

mizu · 18/10/2010 16:54

I love Toast but would never be able to afford to buy anything from there full price.

Bought a lovely green jacket in there at the end of summer, £150 down to £39, now that is a bargain.

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