Toasties counting down to Sale Day.

[ilovecherries]

New thread as we wait eagerly for the next sale :)

I'd like to see a different pic @AFingerofFudge , it's hard to get a sense of the fit in that one. But also i think this is a challenging dress. I expect to love it but for it to draw negative responses! Mine's still drying but I hope to wear it tomorrow, will post a pic if i can.

Also when i was wondering whether to keep the poplin trousers i asked my husband's opinion. I don't know why i did. He likes the retro tees and the unique pjs but nothing else. In response to the trousers he just said they looked like others i had! He will hate this dress, he hasn't seen it yet, will post his response tomorrow!

I’m strangely drawn to it too. And it’s hanging beautifully.

I thought they might have had some returns back on the website today but nope, doesn't look like it!

Indulge me this long early morning musing…
How perfect does a piece need to be for you to keep it in your wardrobe/purchase it?
I am looking at the two dresses hanging on my door that I am trying to decide whether to keep or send back - the poplin square collar dress and the non-sale vneck jersey dress. In some ways I love them, but neither is 100% perfect. Does that mean I should keep them and risk being annoyed by whatever isn’t perfect later, or should I be ruthless and send them back?
Despite trying and ordering a lot year round, I don’t actually keep very many items, as I need them to be just right. This means that my wardrobe is actually very small, and I have quite a few wardrobe gaps (some that I have had for years and have never managed to find the right piece). This recent hot weather, in particular, leaves me with very little to put on (winter is easier as sweaters seem an easier buy for me).
If I was ruthless about the items I have in my wardrobe, I would chuck a lot of them too as the fit is not great or something else about them annoys me (for example, love my Alixes but they are unflatteringly baggy on the bum, have a few great shirts and shirt dresses, but all are a bit too neat on the bust and pull on the arms so I never wear them, love my poplin pj shirt but ironing poplin is such a pain that I wear it so rarely).
I always read about capsule wardrobes and keeping only pieces you love, but although I love most of the pieces I have on the hanger, on my body not so much.
Am I too fussy (quite possibly…I am a pernickety person generally!)? How do you all navigate this? How “perfect” does it have to be to be a keeper? Would love to hear (while we’re waiting for some returns…).

@ScottishMouse 4 rules for me - an item must a) fit, b) must flatter - an item must highlight positively my shape, c) complement - must complement my colouring and complement the rest of my wardrobe and d) work - be versatile in the life I live, multi-seasonal, day to evening, etc.

Naturally I need to love the item. But sometimes the items I love are not for me.

@ScottishMouse I am similarly 'just so' about clothes, and have a miniscule wardrobe, with many gaps! There were many years of my life when I had just the outfit I was wearing, and one to change into, and a few random bits. Until the penny dropped, that things wearing out quickly, and the mad scramble to find something new I actually liked, could both be avoided by having a few more clothes in the place 🤣.

I love wearing dresses, but rarely do, mostly because I find them especially hard to get right in every respect. Fit at neck, shoulders, underarms, bust, waist, hip; amount of ease; length; weight, drape; how it moves with me and on me; feel of fabric is very important; and must be natural fibres. The items that are 'just so' tend to be the most expensive! However despite a fluctuating income, I am happy to invest in good quality items when I can, or to search them out second hand.

Even now, at 50, with the inevitable accumulation of garments for a variety of work and play settings, I still have far fewer clothes than any woman I know (except you, perhaps!).

I've always just winged it during the traditional Highland summer (1 week in May, 1 week in August :) - but we obviously can't do that anymore, now it's several months of warm weather. Although, promisingly, I have thousands of pounds worth of dresses bookmarked this year, so I'm hopeful of finding things I like if/when finances allow.

One thing I have form for is keeping things because they're beautiful and I admire the craftmanship, even though the shape doesn't suit me at all. I have to remind myself that I'm not in a position where I can hang clothes on the wall as textile art (even though I'd love to 👗🖼️😍).

Oh I like these rules @Noeggsontoast But I fear that if I had to stick to them all, I would never find anything that meets the criteria. I’m pretty good on c and d, but I find a and b trickier. Definitely the flattering my shape bit, I’m just not sure that anything does anymore!

@stravaig, this all sounds very familiar to me. When I was a jeans wearer (cannot find any to fit & flatter these days), and found a pair I loved, I would buy multiples. I should really do the same with other pieces, but I never have. It’s so sad when something you love and is perfect wear out (I’m looking at you, perfect white shirt that is now threadbare and yellowing at the collar/cuffs/armpits).
And I am exactly the same with dresses. Love how they feel and look on me (trousers are hard to get right with an ever expanding waist but small hips & bum), but it is so hard to find ones that fit everywhere. My favourite are the collarless shirt dresses from a few years back. I have the chambray and the orange. I wear the chambray loads, but the orange is too much of a statement to wear frequently. Wish they would do those again, plain colours, no prints.
And yes, I used to muddle through summer too, but it seems I actually need a summer wardrobe these days, even in Scotland.

@ScottishMouse Oh yes, multiples! Usually only obvious with hindsight, or just too expensive in the moment. I'd rather re-buy something I love second-hand, rather than the current fashionable version. If Toast re-ran their first 10 to 15 years of collections, I'd be a very happy woman. It's getting hard to find the early years on eBay.

I loved the clean lines and vibrant colours of those orange and green dresses!

This 'summer' business is quite the conundrum. It's not natural, and if continues to impinge on the proper allocation of cold snaps and winter woollens I'm going to have to move even further north ❄️🌨️☃️.

I might just buy some pretty summer dresses first though ...

@ScottishMouse fit and flatter is hard. I went through a time thinking nothing flattered me or fitted me because my shape changed. Still the same size and still the same weight but distributed differently. My wardrobe I loved, I could no longer wear.

I listened to people when they complimented me and noted what I was wearing. Then worked out from there as to what fits and flatters for me now at this stage of life. It took a while. I got lost when I used to be confident and I've been building my confidence back up again. My wardrobe has been gradually replaced to work for who I am now.

@ScottishMouse I am the opposite - i desperately look for reasons to keep something that I know doesn't really flatter me (hence posting that photo last night) and so I end up with all sorts of items in my wardrobe that I think I might wear but the reality is I don't feel confident in them and so they stay in the wardrobe - not loads of stuff but things I love that don't love me.

@ScottishMouse - I am getting much better at being selective about the clothes I order and keep but still have too many items. Like @Stravaig - I am susceptible to keeping beautiful items that don't suit me.

I now start with colour. I have a scarf which is the perfect colour for me (lights up my face). I now hold any new item against my face and then this scarf. If newbie doesn't have a similar effect, it doesn't even get tried on (in shopor at home). If colour really suits me, items will fit in with rest of wardrobe colour-wise.

I'm also much better about size and flattering cut. I am short waisted and large hipped - some styles will never suit me.

What I'm not so good at yet is is lifestyle fit and buying too many versions of the same thing. I have the dresses you reference - I sold my Spiced Orange Edith Oxford recently as not worn enough so I am cutting down. The Chambray version is still hanging in there (not quite my colour - but I love wearing it).

Thanks for starting this coversation - good reminder to be more fussy about what to keep. Invaluable during sales time!

*should say 'I had/have the dresses you reference' as one is no more...

@Noeggsontoast , I hear you. My shape has also changed in the last few years. I’m carrying a lot of weight around my middle now which makes anything with a waistband tricky. I think I want to just cover everything up, and I have always leaned towards oversized, but I am very short so this is probably unwise. Good tip to take note of things that others compliment.

The square neck poplin dress fits and flatters, and because that is unusual, I want to keep it. But I suspect I wouldn’t wear it that often as it seems a little dressy for my lifestyle. It looks less so with a top underneath, but would I choose it over my cotton linen pinafore in that case…probably not.

@Stoic123 , I am wearing the chambray dress today, having put the orange one on and then taken it straight off. I really have to be feeling right to wear that colour!
I am eyeing up the new Selma dress, wondering if it would be a better choice than either of the ones I am mulling over. Though I am not a massive fan of a collar on me - so yet another case of “is it perfect enough?”

@ScottishMouse - if there is time to try on the Selma before sales returns window closes, might be worth ordering to focus the mind. You can always return all 3 and waiting for Selma in a sale.

I always reach for my cotton linen pinafore- a real workhorse 😀

Today I am wearing the strata check dress from my sales purchase Blouson Sleeve Organic Strata Check Dress | Olive/Tangerine | TOAST

I am short and this dress is ankle length on me, but I love the colours. And this is probably very much how I chose what to buy or not: If I think the item looks nice and have some of my fave colours, it is a keeper. Actually I have Toast dresses, shirts and trousers from several years ago that were too small when I bought them, but which I kept anyway because I loved them. Stupid me! Luckily, I have recently dropped another 10 kg, so all of a sudden my wearable wardrobe has expanded quite a bit.

@AFingerofFudge @dudsville Don’t believe a word of it, the Ticking dress is really good . A agree with a sales assistant who said that in general m’en don’t like ( women’s) Toast as much as women. If I dressed to please my husband I’d be in pastel florals,god forbid .
I’m honestly drawn to it too now…..

@Stoic123, yes, a total workhorse. I should have snapped up another one in the sale when I saw it there.

Just posting pics then will catch up on the thread. I think the fit might be similar on me to you @AFingerofFudge ?

@ScottishMouse i have largely stopped buying some things - non-work skirts for example. I have some from Whistles that I theoretically like but I get the out at the start of summer and put them back at the end without having worn them. So that helps in terms of knowing what I will/won’t wear and avoiding the latter. Dresses are my thing, Toast specifically. I have around 30 I think, largely bought over the past 5 years. Which is why, in a season such as this with so few dresses I’ve wanted to buy, I start to panic.

I’m not a perfectionist at all, I do need to know that whatever I buy will be in high rotation. I don’t keep things for best and I do don’t even think about if something is appropriate or could be regarded as too dressy. If I like it I wear it but I do recognise that comes with having a lot of clothes.

I nearly didn’t keep the Selma dress I bought a couple of weeks ago as the back was a bit puffy. Then I tried a belt with it and it looks great - I find small changes can change everything sometimes.

I also know that I have different categories - do for example I have some Hush summer dresses I wear to wfh. Tbh I don’t especially like them and I wouldn’t wear them to the office but they have a smart top so work for teams calls, they don’t need ironing and they just keep going.

Do you have other ‘go to’ shops? I’m finding that harder - quality is plummeting at places I used to shop such as Whistles. So many shops but so few are worth bothering with imho.

@Saurus72 , to be honest I rarely buy anything that isn’t Toast anymore. Like you say, the quality elsewhere is going downhill, and the fit is never as good (when Toast get it right for my body shape, it is better than anywhere else).

I will try to get to a store to try on the Selma this week @Stoic123. I can bring the other two dresses and return if I think Selma will work better. Or indeed if I realise that none are really good enough for my (and @Noeggsontoast ’s) criteria.

@Saurus72 , which colour Selma did you buy?

I find it increasingly difficult to find clothes I like these days. I only discovered Toast a couple of years ago, and trouser-length aside (I'm 5'10"), it ticks all my boxes. I love the natural fibres and the good finishing - I also sew a lot of my own clothes, so I really notice seam finishes etc, and most of the high street is so shoddy in this regard.

I am being very strict this year about what I do actually keep - I too order quite a bit, but my rules are that it must fit, must be able to work in several outfits with existing wardrobe; must go with at least two pairs of shoes; must be able to wear something over it (quite a lot of puffy sleeved tops have been returned because of this); must not require additional purchase (eg, new bra, slip etc).

I'm quite lucky with my colouring, that I can wear many colours. But I can't seem to carry prints as well as I'd like - they always look like they're wearing me!

I am wearing the lovely orange Edith dress today - bought from the Facebook Toast group - a lovely antidote to the thunderstormy morning we're having in London.