toasties going into,summer . No end to,us.

[Countmeout]

New thread

I think the Asawa dress is tricky for lots of us @ScottishMouse sometimes there is a reason it's in the sale.
Tailoring, @sonjadog style, could rescue it but since it's not a committed relationship I'm just going to ltb.
I refuse to blame my body for sale clothes not looking quite right. And sometimes full price clothes - looking at you poplin V neck, are destined for the sale.

Today I will mostly be enjoying an elbow length sleeved butternut squash cardigan. I believe I look the business and am basking in it's buttery texture. It's a winner!

Hope you have a lovely holiday @ScottishMouse

Where are some of your old faves from as we may be able to suggest alternatives?

I love that butternut cardi @TosstTastic. The colour is amazing. Sadly it didn’t work for me.

@ScottishMouse Sending very best wishes for a great time in Sweden , I’m sure you will love it and forget clothing woes( which we’ve all been through .)
Here in Southern France despite the reputation of French women being so chic etc, I find the opposite ; people dress very casually and don’t seem at all self conscious about their appearance , they look fine and seem to enjoy life at full throttle!

As I’m not prepared to pay EU prices, I’m tempted to nab the Asawa trousers while my size is available , for delivery in UK
I shan’t be able to try them until late August so no returns,

I wondered if anyone can comment on the cut and wearability as compared to last year’s Linen Balloon Trousers which I have and love in Navy & Fenugreek?
I like a dropped crotch if the fabric is drapey but not if it’s going to stick out like a nappy !
I have the Asawa shirt and also wondered if anyone is getting mileage from wearing them together ?

@ScottishMouse I tried on that dress prior to the sale [ The asawa dress] and I could not make it work for me. The medium was tiny on my chest and there is no way that I could make it work and the large was huge! Large armholes, huge at the bottom and just baggy at the bust. Strange as I have other styles that are practically identical that I wear but there was something unflattering about it on me. I thought it was because I was inbetween sizes. Needless to say it was returned although I have been tempted recently to try it again but I have hundreds of dresses and have tried not to be swayed into ordering it again.
Hope you have a lovely holiday. I'm off to Cornwall on Saturday!

I also hope you have a fab holiday @ScottishMouse

I just popped on to say I noticed someone had ordered the lounge tee. I forget who as I've just had a long catch up on posts. I ordered the chalk and navy and they are soooooo soft. Quite long, but they kind of bunch up in a pleasing way. Nice arm length. I can imagine they'll become PJ tops for me in time as they're so soft they'd be nice to sleep in.

I've just got off chat to a helpful chap who has sorted a missing refund. I sent back a pair of olive fracap mules on 26th June and still hadn't been refunded - it looks like Royal Mail lost them when they got to Chelmsford as that's where the tracking info stops. They've sorted a refund for me, but it's so frustrating to wait when I can prove I've posted them. Glad it's sorted though.

@AmethystMoonShine - glad you sorted out your refund, and thank you - it was me who ordered the lounge tee! I went for a large after reading the reviews. I quite like long, unfitted tees so am hoping it'll work. The last tshirt I ordered had similar length sleeves but there was no stretch in the fabric and I couldn't manage to pull them up to my elbows - it was really odd!

@neveradullmoment99 I shall set up a bag search on the border or we can liaise, let me know if you are in the northern regions.

Jam first!

@OftenOrange will fish out the aswana's later. I think it was the taper that put me off.

I’ve ordered the half placket denim shirt that I remember Nikki wearing ages ago. Anyone have it? Sounds like it comes up large

Thanks again for making me feel considerably better about my clothes/body hump yesterday. I am in Sweden and it is very warm (though not particularly sunny and rain forecast on and off for the next week). Everyone looks so effortlessly cool here, as they always do. Makes me realise that what I really want to be wearing is great fitting jeans, good quality tees, plain but interesting wool sweaters, cool trainers, and nice accessories. This was always my happy wardrobe, but menopause has brought a lot of weight gain around my middle and my bust, and I have not found jeans I can fit into/like in years now. Maybe I need to put all my effort into finding some great basics, rather than trying everything and anything Toast has to offer.
On accessories, I know some folk here have the long bandanas. I really like the new one, but how do you wear yours??

@ScottishMouse I completely sympathise on jeans and they are such a pain to try because so many cuts washes etc etc. in case of any help I have had surprisingly a lot of success with m&s (they do leg lengths) and I have palazzo cut and carrot leg

not jeans but I have also had success with me & em high waist wide leg trousers. not cheap and they are long so I need to have them altered. but I have found the waist and stomach area so flattering they actually make me feel like I have a waist again. I am thinking of trying their jeans.

ScottishMouse another person recommending that you try M&S for jeans - amazingly wide range these days and I've found a couple of styles that suit me well. I have also bought jeans/cargo trousers from The White Company this summer and the Brompton style is a good fit (sounds like we have similar postmenopausal weight gain, groan)..
I have a couple of the long bandanas and like the style either loosely knotted around my neck with the points hanging down or double wrapped around my neck which makes a stylish pop of colour under shirts or sweaters. The new colour way (bright cobalt blue with black and orange) is lovely.

@ScottishMouse The jeans that work for me are Levi’s Ribcage, they are high rise and then some. I have the both the balloon leg and straight ankle styles.
The rise is deep enough to go the long way round my post-menopause-and-bit-of-extra-weight apple shape.

These are the ones, I may need to get another pair in case they stop making them. https://www.levi.com/GB/en_GB/clothing/women/jeans/straight/ribcage-straight-ankle-jeans/p/726930215

@ScottishMouse - what style of jeans did you used to enjoy wearing? Have you tried the Toast Suki jeans? My other suggestion is the Arc pants by le Bon Shoppe. They do them in two shades of denim and you can turn them up and not lose the shape (I know you're around the same height as me so this is important). If you look on the Instagram account of Kitty clogs they've recently been posting pics of their staff and they're all wearing them - I think that might be my next pair of jeans. They're flat fronted and have an elasticated waist which isn't too high so you might find they suit you.

@OftenOrange looking at the Asawa trousers they have a 360 elasticated waist like the cotton wool pull on trousers in charcoal/ecru but they also have an additional pleat of material at the front. I think this balloons out, you could sew it together, reducing the bulge if determined to make it work.
They also don't have the dropped crotch of the check trousers or the sail stripe fisherman's trousers.

So a combination of more material plus less length to smooth it out over made the silhouette hard to stomach over my already bulging meno tummy.

They are also cut wider in the thigh than those two other pairs but taper to about the same ankle.

Material is lovely and you could easily take them in if you wanted a straighter leg but if you can't return and need to make them work that hard, maybe not.

@TosstTastic Many thanks for the photos and info re Asawa Trousers, really wish I’d tried them but going on the description I think I’ll pass on them .
I wouldn’t get to see them until late August so may as well hang in there until the Autumn sale .

Taking a dispassionate look at my Summer wardrobe , it’s largely non sale items that I like and treasure the most anyway …….
Most of my sale bargains didn’t especially wow me when they were in store, the only sale buys which have proved their usefulness are the Pond dress ( so laid back, non girly and so cooool) and this ancient linen T for lolling around the garden in .
The T wears and washes like iron , Toast quality justifying the price !

Up to 60% discounts now. Think that's just happened today, I'm losing track!!

I have a parcel that arrived today and haven’t yet opened and I can already see the items have been further reduced, I feel a bit limp with it all!

@Popplebop you can ask customer services to refund the difference since you only just got it

I’ve just had this. I emailed because chat wasn’t visible. Took a few hours to get back to me but said they’d refund the difference once the parcel had arrived.

Was a bit of a weird email tbh - would’ve thought they’d be able to see that I’d already received the parcel and that I was Kindred so comments about postage don’t apply. 🤷🏼‍♀️

But yes, as SnowyOwl says they refund the difference - but include that fact the parcel has been delivered and you want to keep the item (why else would you be contacting them?) to save a bit of email pingpong if chat is down.

@whinsome @Snowyowl78 thanks I have emailed Toast so we will see what they say. I don't mind so much when things are reduced a few weeks later but the same day the parcel arrives feels harsh!