Toasties moving into autumn and dusting off the mothballed knits (or buying new ones)

[ToastCosILoveIt]

New thread for us lovely Toasties.

Has the green coat disappeared from the website? 👀

@pretlea It’s very much my usual Toadt size and a nice easy fit , not oversized at all.

This happened to me this week.
I returned some stuff as I was in London and yep no receipt .
Checked and no refund.
Feeling somewhat panicky I rang the store and luckily it was the same person and they remembered me 😅
There was a glitch in the system and all sorted now but surely not a great system that you no proof you have returned £300 worth of clothes?

@Saurus72 that dress is lovely, far nicer than the pictures , not for me as I'm a serial food spiller and it's dry clean only.

@PretLea oh I'm so pleased!
I saw that colour at the weekend, they are lovely soft cords
@clowniform The size 10 Annie's arrived today.
Full length , falling over half the top of my foot/ shoe

@faustina what a horrible way to be treated and on your birthday too.
I was once scolded by the most unpleasant woman for asking if there were any new dresses coming in.
She replied in the most sneering way " toast are cutting down on waste" face like a slapped arse
I just walked out of that London store, never to be seen again.
Belated Birthday wishes

@faustina sending sympathy and warm wishes as others have done.

I used to go to the Cambridge store once a year when I was there for a conference and always bought something although yes, the service was often indifferent. I’m not in that job any more so didn’t go there this summer.

I love the Marylebone store: there is a sales assistant there who is, I think, Australian. She is so upbeat and helpful and full of advice: top marks to her.

John lewis returns at Waitrose are like this. They take your return and you get an email. It makes me uneasy though. I mean on thr odd occasion, I haven't had an email. How do you prove you've returned the item? Its ridiculous.

Sorry to hear those that have had a less than pleasant experience at Toast shops. I've never been to one myself but I'm not fan of shops that don't make you feel comfortable and are in your face all the time. We have a local boutique and the lady is like that!
How hideous about them making such a fuss about a repair. Just horrible.

As for the new drop, I hope that's not it and there's more because it'd very similar to last year - velvet jacket, pinafore, skirt. All in the sales BTW.
I love silk velvet, but I won't dry clean.
It also stains easily, even with water, so not for me. Nothing much else so far. I'm a bit disappointed there aren't more practical things. Mostly seems for night out dressing, which I rarely do.

So, pocket mushrooms are out; juggling an artichoke and a sphere of unknown provenance is in. Cumbersome, and prickly.

Boiled wool trousers, warm and cosy for icy temps with no heating.
Naturally they have cropped legs 🤯. FFS Toast.

@faustina bless you, similar if slightly less traumatic experience at Shoreditch store, it had taken me hours to get there as I got lost and it was raining, I shared this with the assistants, making small talk, you'd think they'd be friendly and ah you made it, but oh no, first thing she said even before I got my item out to be mended was well we probably can't fix it, then she served somebody else, I'd already waited patiently for her to finish. She begrudgingly said well yes they could fix it, (a new pair of pj's btw) had developed a hole. Didn't ask what kind of mend I'd like, told me I could pick them up in three weeks, I'd already explained I lived miles away and I thought they could send them. I returned something at the same time and like others have mentioned I didn't realise it had been actioned as they didn't bother to tell me. I had dared to look around the shop whilst waiting and they actually said you're done you can go now! I love Toast but I don't enjoy going in the stores so much. Hope you get nicer people next time. Happy Birthday.

@faustina I’m also sad to hear of your experience in the Cambridge store. To be honest I’ve come across Toast shop staff being less than friendly in a few of the stores, Oxford, the old Guildford store and Bath among them. Lots of being looked up and down and an air of them feeling they were above me somehow 🙄
One good experience in one of the London stores earlier this year though. Friendly and recognised an old Toast dress I was wearing.
Hope you have a fabulous time with your son 😊

Ha ha! @Stravaig I actually looked at these with interest but dismissed them as the legs look too long for me and wouldn’t be easy to alter/turn up.

You mention the now shut Guildford store. I used to go in and gaze at the clothes but couldn’t afford anything. In a sale I dared to try on two dresses in my usual high street size but they were enormous. I said they were very big to the manager when she asked but instead of telling me the clothes often come up big and to size down, she told me that Toast clothes are for fat women and I shouldn’t bother! I left as I was so flustered and never went back. So sad because I wear lots of Toast now 😊

How awful to read more have had bad accounts of toast shops. I must say my nearest one is really pleasant. Occasionally during high returns they might be more efficient than anything. But there's always new staff around that I haven't seen before (i only go in a handful of times a year) and they're always quietly welcoming.

@Stravaig , I think that model is also juggling a giant moth ball!

I'm nearly done with my home updates, which excitingly includes a change of old bookcase from a thing of beauty that's horrible to dust (off to charity shop, not tip) to a mid century thing of practically that has doors.

Well, I'm off to buy my new artichoke measure so I'm ready for the next sale.

I’m also really sorry to hear about the negative store experiences , inexcusable and a really poor service which is having an impact on sales.
It’s all about advertising and constant emails extolling virtuous production methods ,then no follow up at the customer interface, crazy .
I’m familiar with this syndrome , living in London I’ve developed a rhino hide .
I’m near two London stores one of which sees constant staff changes ,isn’t that a sign of something wrong higher up causing discontent ?
The other , Shoreditch , I find really friendly especially one lady Ruby , who goes beyond .
@Pretlea Yes , I saw that the green coat had disappeared. In fact I bought one at the Kindred event but found a couple of small issues and wanted to swop it However most stores didn’t have my size , and I gave it a gentle press with a damp as advised by Ruby, which has sorted the problem.

@OftenOrange oh dear, I do then wonder if it’s sold out…I really do need a winter coat and that was at the top of my list.

@PretLea They have them in stores but not all stores have all sizes , if that makes sense,

I'm seeing Toast has put a measure guide on their clothes i.e. Dress runs big / small etc.
Only thing is, I've checked with dresses I have and it's wrong for me!

I’m quite interested in the velvet jumpsuit, re.rain what would happen to it in the rain?? I would want to wear it to a special event but I don’t wanna look silly if it rains

That velvet jacket is very similar to the choc brown one from last yeah except it has a collar and flared sleeves. the choc one was £225 full price and went down to only about £85-90 in the sale!

@Snowyowl78 I chatted to the shop assistants over the weekend and they were mentioning the joy of cotton velvet and the pitfalls of silk velvet. They recalled a customer last year who came into the shop wearing silk velvet, who has just been caught in an unexpected rain shower. Absolutely ruined!

@OftenOrange I just chatted to CS online to track down a coat, and they said it’s been removed from the website due to quality concerns. Is that maybe the issue you steamed out?

@PretLea urgh! That doesn’t sound like something anybody wants!!

Does anyone have experience of Whistles knitwear? I saw this in John Lewis and it looks lovely. 100% wool. I wondered if it felt a bit thin though.

https://www.whistles.com/product/wool-block-stripe-jumper-37105.html#q=Stripe%20junper&is=false&sz=60&start=0&isSecondPage=false&pid=wool-block-stripe-jumper-37105&pos=2

It must be bad if Toast have noticed quality issues, in fact I’m surprised CS admitted to that.

Toast have started selling reworn clothes online. Prices are reasonable but I’m shocked at some of the items, such as the citrus tie neck dress from last season. I wonder if they are returns that had obviously been worn.

I mostly visit the Llandeilo and Richmond stores where the staff are very friendly and helpful. Really sorry to hear about poor service. And as posters are pointing out, it doesn’t square with the caring ethos of the endless emails.