If i like Toast and Margaret Howell........(with pics)

[Musicforsnorks]

.....where else could i shop?

I find they run a tad large for me, and i cant afford to shop in either more that once or twice per year.

For reference, i dont like jeans or pants. I love long skirts and short ones. Im 5’4 and small so really suit that fluid, loose, Japanese kind of styles.
Im 45.

Shops i really DON’T like include Arket, Kin, Mint Velvet, Boden, Jigsaw, and most regular high street. I dont like colourful, bold prints or anything too ‘fashiony’, hence why i dislike Arket.

Shops i DO like include COS, some Joules, white company, poetry.
But none of these are comparable to Toast and MH for me.

Here are some pics of My kind of style for winter.....

Yeah I can see that. It's partly why I stay off Instagram - you just end up comparing yourself unfavourably with photoshopped images. Funnily enough I don't mind so much it with Toast (although I could do without the dreadful poetry and faux spiritualism). That might well be because I've been suckered but I think it's also because they're not particularly pretending the clothes are flattering in the traditional sense of making you look thinner or younger. I get more pissed off with, say, Baukjen when they dress their models in bodycon then disappear all the bulges and make them a foot taller.

Sorry op more cross posting!

I used to be TK Maxx's biggest fan but I've had it with them now - our local branch has gone down the toilet and I can't be bothered with their website because the sizing on all the different brands is too random.

I know exactly what you mean @Floisme.

@Musicforsnorks try ASOS White and Topshop Boutique too. Nice fabrics, definitely 21st century cuts.

TK Maxx have got Comptoir in at the mo for £40 or so for a jacket. You will note my encylopedic knowledge: it rained hard the other day so I was stuck in there for an hour :)

My YMC stuff fell to bits, but not the shoes which are fab.

The KIN and modern rarity ranges at John Lewis are also worth a look

TKs can be very hit and miss and their stock offer and pricing has been hit or miss since Brexit affected the pound. They are a US owned company so the bulk of their procurement is done in $ so with a weak pound they get a better return elsewhere for dirt cheap pricing, that’s why the last 2 years have been strange in there. I’m a guy and I remember buying Rick Owens leather jackets for 150-300 before the pound fell, now they’re 400-500 minimum on the rare occasion they have them. As for the sizing, if you can, always buy 2 online.

Wehttam Sadly with TK Maxx I think it depends on the branch, the brand selections seem very arbitrary store to store. There is a large store here, and its a very cool, fashion forward city with a lot of money (lots of advertising, web, design type occupations), yet the "designer" section is tiny and only seems to stock really blingy brands like Versace or Moschino, which is completely at odds with the population. There was a huge Boden drop the other day I noticed in the main fashion section, which is also way off the market.

Although the fact they don't stock YMC, Comptoir etc is good for my purse and my self imposed rules about sticking to certain shops!

Agreed it depends where you are, my hometown TKs has the worst selection imaginable, the good stuff only finds it way there if someone returns it from another store lol

My local one now is one of the biggest in the country so we’re fortunate to get the good stuff whenever it’s in the supply chain.

I like Toast too, though as the dresses are so huge an long I tend to stick to the tops and knitwear. Chie Mihara shoes and boots are lovely. DH bought me a pair of the block heeled lace up ankle boots last Christmas and I'll be wearing those for years. I will be getting a pair of Fairfax and Favor boots, though I want the navy ones with a heel as I Itry to emb body a little bit of sassiness in my look, especially for work.
After a gap of 40 years I have tried sewing again this year, joined an excellent clas and I'm just starting out on dressmaking again. The quality of the fabric is so much better than shop bought clothes, so you can have Erdem quality for high street prices.

Higgy, i love the solovair boots but cant justify them when i have a similar pair of docs. Toast rarely stock uk3 though so it will save me some cash.

I actually rate joules, fatface, white stuff for basics like tees (plain colours if possible) and rainwear. Joules especially have always surprised me with their durability.

But i do wish i had learned to knit, not only sew. I’d be working on an ivory coloured guernsey as we speak!

And returning to the sizing issue, at Margaret Howell, the size chart suggests a 27 inch waist to fit her size 6 clothes.
As far as i am aware, mine is 26 inches, and this is supposed to make me a uk 10.
i wouldnt risk purchasing that way, especially since i cannot try them on, nor afford to test 2 different sizes.

What the hell size are the models wearing?

No shoes below uk4 a MH either.
How is this stuff popular in Japan?

This is when buying online becomes a pain in the arse, unless you can afford to tie up your credit card with multiple sizes.

I normally buy Margaret Howell second hand, in whatever size I find it, and get it altered. But I bought trousers in the January sales that are a 10 and they're roomy enough to make me wonder if I'd have got away with an 8. I'm about a 27" waist. So I would say it's generously sized.

It kind of pushes me towards cheaper items, which seem to run smaller. Although i know many people are of the opinion that the higher end something is, the tinier you have to be. I disagree.

Most of my favourite shops run large for me, or dont have stores :(

Cant imagine how you’d alter a pleated skirt with a zipper though, but im no seamstress. It is all so much faff and i can see why people just sod it and wear skinny jeans.