TOAST 2

[Countmeout]

New thread please delete if it’s a duplicate

Toast often have cardis for sale in their winter sales .. or there is always ebay, but you do have to be prepared to bid high .. its very popular!

Other wise John Lewis own brand cashmere , I find is very good and reasonably priced ( for cashmere )

Faustina I just use Dylon Machine dye. However polyester thread doesn't dye.. Its unlikely ( but I dont know ) that Toast use Pure cotton thread , as very few places do nowadays . So assuming that it is polyester . So your T will have red thread showing around the neck , wrists and hem .. ( it could look quite nice though!)
My linen trousers will be the same when I dye them black only with blue thread.. difference is that I can hem the trousers again, but a Tee is much more difficult to redo ).

...there is more Toast on JL website Atm!!

@faustina Dylon are the simplest dyes to use, though I tried some iDye on a pair of trousers recently with good results.

A couple of things to bear in mind: colour mixing tiles apply, so you might need to use Dylon pre-dye (which is very good on everything except indigo blues and greens) first or you risk ending up with a very red shade of grey. Also most dyes work best on natural fabrics, so cotton and linen best, followed by viscose. IDye do a range for polyester but I've not tried it.

Last point is that stitching doesn't take the dye as it's almost always synthetic (even Toast!), so you'll either have to live with "contrast" stitching or do what I do which is raid my DDs' extensive range of Sharpies for a good colour match! Takes ages to go over stitches and the results do fade a bit in the wash but gives a liveable result.

Ah Meryls best me to it! A grey tee with red stitching might look quite good though

@faustina I have bought the ivar jacket today. I am a 12 but bought the 10. Hoping I have got the right size. I was trying to decided if it would be neat on me. I am a 12 but order a 10 or small in toast. How is the fit?

Thanks both - very helpful! I don’t mind - in fact I quite like the idea of a red thread!

Ivar wouldn't suit me Faustina , I am too busty for double breasted high neck jacket . I am really happy with my blue workwear jacket though .. and paid 55 in JL

@Rosebath

Not only a toast newbie, but a Mumsnet newbie here - my first post I stumbled across this thread and those huge discounts inspired me to try out a few dresses. I’ve wafted into a couple of the toast shops before but the prices wafted me back out again.

I have some questions and I’m hoping someone might be able to give me some ideas...

I’ve got 3 dresses, and have basically fallen in love with all of them, even though they’re quite a different shape to what I’d usually wear - especially all the fabric in the skirts. But something weird happens when I put them on - I just feel like myself, in a comfortable, confident kind of way. It’s nice!

But what I’m wondering is - do you see these toast dresses as just for the summer? I’m trying to think of how to wear them in winter/cooler days, otherwise even at 70% off I definitely can’t justify keeping all three. I think they’d all work with thick tights and shoes/boots, but what about layers? None of my cardigans seem to work over the sleeves. I’m a size 8/10 and most of my clothes are a bit more fitted than this. Any ideas gratefully received!

It’s the Kala dress, the dark Chalkboard dress and the cotton voile asymmetric midi dress in navy.

I wear my Toast dresses with tights, trainers, boots, cardigans, chunky sweater over or fine knit sweater under. They cost so much, I need my money’s worth! I haven’t decided about whether to keep the Kala but I’m experimenting with it as a duster, with slim trousers and a linen shirt underneath.

Well my spending was supposed to be over but today I ordered the Ida dress (which I have already ordered and received from Toast) from JL as it’s £15 less and my size popped up this morning! So, more juggling with deliveries and returns! I have also just investigated the Anthropologie sale and have bought this kimono jacket and a pair of cropped wide leg denim trousers. Will be interesting to see what this is like in real life www.anthropologie.com/en-gb/shop/quilted-patchwork-kimono?utm_source=transact&utm_campaign=order_confirmation&utm_medium=email&utm_content=product-img&color=031&type=REGULAR&quantity=1

@Rosebath, welcome to the money pit! 😀 You have made some lovely choices, but, as you say, your dresses have to earn their keep otherwise they’re not affordable, even at JL 70 per cent off. I agree with ilovecherries, I layer under and over my dresses and wear them pretty much all year round.

I personally think that all three of your choices are not too summery and would definitely work with tights and trainers and boots etc into the autumn/early winter. Do you have any long-sleeve fine tees or something like a merino wool polo neck you could wear under the dresses to extend their seasonal shelf life? Or a simple denim jacket over?

What I would say is that I’m on a strict budget also but sometimes I leave my new Toast (sale) garments to hang in the wardrobe for me to acclimatise to them and then I start to slowly work out what goes with what. Or it may be that you could pick up a complementary cardigan or jacket in the next JL sale (they often have mid-season clear outs). I tend to find that Toast is almost timeless and I pair dresses that are three or four years old with jackets or jumpers that date back almost as old as my eldest child!

Its a very pretty shirt @cherries :)

What kind of socks do you all wear with Toast skirts and dresses? I’d love to get some tactile, good quality socks to wear with mine.

Which one is that, never - the gingham one? It’s still a maybe for me - hasn’t made its way to the wardrobe from the back of the door yet 😂.

Following on from what moomin said above. I often find myself buying smaller items FOR my Toast clothes. So rather than a random, say, white shirt, I will look at it and consider if it has the right sleeves or collar to do something interesting to an existing Toast item. I don’t tend to give that level of consideration to other things I own. So if I have a dress from Hush say - that’s exactly what it is. A Hush dress. I might love it, and wear it a lot, and really enjoy it for a while, but it never extends itself in any way. It is what it is. Because of that, I will tire of it eventually. Packing it away for a bit sometimes helps, but when I bring it back out, I often do still feel jaded about it because it’s just a pretty item that’s had it’s day a bit, whereas Toast items have the potential for extended life. Now, if that wasn’t a lot of pretentious twaddle on my part, I don’t know what is 🤣🤣🤣.

@ilovecherries My main challenge with Toast is that I often find the sleeves or shoulders are cut in a way that means a cardigan won’t go over them so I spend a lot of time searching for things to Wear with them in a different way... which is similar to your comment I think. It stops me being lazy and chucking a boring cardigan over my Toast dresses

I agree, Amethyst. With toast, I’m sure frenzy looking for things that will go under, rather than over.

Sure frenzy???? I mean often.

Cherries you should be a stylist, you know!!

Amethyst did you have another name when you were on the Hush thread?

I bought this jumper (bad picture) in the winter sale which goes over all my dresses, I have the palm print dress, the triangle one and the green long sleeve paisley one from the winter sale, it makes it look as though I am wearing a skirt. Although currently this jumper is washed and stored away as it’s quite weighty. With the Kado I’m wearing a thin orange Zara jumper over. The jumpers extend the life of the dresses. I also have a couple of cardigans. I prefer to wear things over rather than under. I am rather boring though.😬
I love my Darby jackets to throw on if I’m going out, just an extra layer mostly necessary due to current poor weather.

Re socks @paintyhands I am not a sock wearer with dresses but love a toast sock with trousers . The socks are lovely. I am currently coveting the spotty ones.

I found the Ivar jacket not for me for the same reason as @Laska2Meryls. I bought a 12 , would normally have gone for the 10 but there was only a 12 when I ordered. It was roomy but the 10 would probably have been too neat.

Thank you @Countmeout - I think I have been subconsciously avoiding looking at the Toast socks as not sure I can justify that level of spend on a sock but I will! I like a shirt (often denim) under some Toast dresses or a fine knit. I have the same problem with cardigans as a few have mentioned - I can never seem to find the right style or fit to go over my dresses so I tend to layer under.

@neveradullmoment99 - re Ivar jacket sizing - I think it's quite generous. Just checked and mine is a 10. Yesterday I was wearing it over a medium thick t-shirt and a medium weight cashmere jumper and it didn't feel tight (I'm a 30F)

@Laska2Meryls I'm picking up my dark red linen tee today. It's This one. Which colour would be more successful do you think - dark blue or charcoal? I don't mind either, but want to avoid any hint of purple

Ooh so many good ideas, thank you! I don't know why I didn't think of putting warm layers underneath - of course! But I love @Countmeout's cable knit too so will try out chunky things over the top. Also maybe warm scarf/wraps would work.

Hadn't thought of wearing the Kala open either @ilovecherries - thanks. Then there are loooooads more options for underneath things too.

Funnily enough @Moominmammaatsea I was thinking that if I kept them hanging somewhere that I see them every day it would all become clear eventually - I see what you mean about being timeless.

You should stay, Rose. Now he buying frenzy of sale time is over, I suspect we’ll be doing lots of Pimping our Toast for ideas.

Ive been following this thread with interest - a complete newbie to Toast but seduced by all the posts saying what good quality it is. As a result have bought the tapered trousers (sized down to get a good fit but need to move the button on the waist over a bit), the workwear jacket - perfect, the Kado dress (again a button move required) and finally a beautiful Ines stripe cotton shirt. The shirt is lovely but the neckline is too high - if I tweak it and make it a v neck it looks great - has anyone done this?