Keep this dress or send it back?

[ketzeleh]

I nabbed this dress in the TOAST sale. From the photos I was expecting a coffee cream colour. It's a slightly deeper brown in real life, and when I unwrapped it DH blurted out in horror that I'd look like I was modelling the Bristol stool chart. My own first thought was along the same lines. Then I tried it on, just in case by some magic it looks better on me than on the hanger. It did. The fit is just what I want (fitted bodice, swingy skirt) and the fabric is a lovely weight and good quality. DH also thinks it looks nice on, and as you might have guessed from the stool chart comment, he isn't one to sugarcoat things if he doesn't like them. His verdict was to keep it.

I'm torn. I also don't think the colour looks too bad on, but £95 is a lot of money even in the sale. Do I keep it or send it back in the hope I can find a similar dress in a different colour? Recommendations for other places to try are welcome! It's such a comfy flattering fit that I'm reluctant to let go of it unless I can find a better option first.

Yep. Send it back, hideous colour. Everyone else getting full on toast advertising now or just me?

Or Meadows. Or Oska?

I quite like it. I like the style and the colour isn't reminding me of that. I probably wouldn't buy it as there are other brands which do this thing better than Toast does.
Meadows
Oska

Bristol stool chart 😆 I've had to choose from this multiple times and I see what he means sorry!

I also don't much like the style but that's personal taste. I'm short and curvy and would (also) resemble a sack of shit. You might look stunning! I think you'd have to be relatively tall and slim though (at least in relation to me 😅)

@ketzeleh your DH’s comment cracked me up. Is a poo brown frock though 🫣 so I’d give Dylon a go. But £95 - jeez!

This dress is right up my street and I’d be keeping it if it fit properly. Toast is a brand you either love or hate so there are bound to be a lots of people that don’t like the style and/or the colour.
To me this is a dress that has a lot of mileage - wear now with sandals or similar and then come the cooler months add a cardi, tights and boots
If you like it, keep it until you’re fed up of it then sell it on.

Ha, I know. DH does have a way with words and you can always rely on him to be absolutely honest. I love him for it. (Most of the time!) 🤗

I'm 6ft and a size 10 in most shops. I sized down to an 8 with this dress so it looks less boxy than it does on the model. My height is one of the reasons why I'm reluctant to send it back. It's rare to find a fit and flare dress that actually hits at my natural waist! I just can't get past the colour. I do like the third dress that @Wildermess suggested, so I've ordered it to try. If it's a good fit I'll send the Toast dress back. If not it's time to experiment with dye.

I've seen that dress on someone and it looked great, but the colour really suited them. I have a jacket in the same colour and it's lovely. I like the shape of it much more than the community clothing one. I've dyed things before in the machine from white to navy, and also faded black to black. Maybe you could get it dyed at a dry cleaner if you don't fancy trying it yourself? I think Toast do that shape with different fabrics too (poplin) but might not be much left in the sale. I say keep and dye if you can't get past the Bristol stool chart!

Forest green might go more olive green because of the original colour but if you're not too against that you can try. Russet is easier as scarlet red will go russet on a brown background I think. As others mentioned, the dylon pods are so easy and so satisfying. The washing machine makes sure everything is dyed evenly. I've never had a problem.

Most things in Toast look like what housekeepers or handmaidens had to wear.

Yes of course I know about the good quality etc but I would only actually wear a tiny handful of their things, if they were given to me for free. I really can't bear the dourness of it all. It's deliberately shapeless and sludgy in a kind of superior way as if the wearer is just so rich/beautiful and confident that they don't care how much money they spend to look sad. It's humble bragging and makes me want to buy something really gaudy from Temu.

I think it is lovely and I like the colour. I like browns anyway and they really suit me. None of us have seen it on you but if it is as flattering as you say then keep it.

It looks like something a woman would wear during WW2 or Soviet Russia working in the fields. I'm not keen.

I'm not keen on it. I don't know if it's the colour, but I don't think the style looks that flattering. And it's too expensive to not be really lovely. I'd send it back.

It dawned on me. Old brownie/ girl guide outfit.

I think it's lovely

It's a bit 'open all hours'

From your description I wasn't expecting to like this dress but following the link I think it's lovely! Definitely don't send it back. If I saw someone wearing it I wouldn't think of poo. You could dye it but even if not I think it's a keeper

I really like the dress too. Although Id probably belt it for a more vintage look.
It looks extremely wearable (dress up or down, would work for most seasons).

However I can see the colour being an issue. Nice if it suits you but would probably look cack on some people. Def worth trying to dye it if the colour isnt you IMO.

I’d have said the waist is too high to belt?

And - looking at it again, the problem is that the whole dress is too narrow, particularly the top half. That sort of dress usually involves a huge amount of material and is meant to be wide. Essentially Toast have taken on the idea of a style but attempted to make it more palatable. Which is weird because people shopping at Toast surely expect clothes to look … un-ingratiating.

It’s the narrowness of the proportions that make it look a bit wrong.

It might not go green though. It would maybe go dark khaki/brown due to the combination of green and the original colour.

I bought a dress that arrived and the shade was hideous so I dyed it! Looks lovely now!!

I dyed mine from khaki green to navy. I didn’t want to risk any other colour fiascos 😂

I agree. It's hideous in style and colour (which is baby poo).

I actually don't mind the dress or think it should be fuller - it's very sensible utility-wear, though this is definitely playing seamstress-in-a-postwar-factory.
I'm trying to imagine a darker brown than the image (maybe I will google the poo chart) but I feel accessorising cleverly won't make it look so... crap?

EG slightly unbuttoned with a classic Breton turtleneck underneath, with a vivid rust-red kerchief knotted around neck, or with a safety-orange accessory like a crossbody bag, etc. It has to be bold to go with all that brown!

Re getting the right colour from Dylon, there are some helpful guides on Google showing what you get if you put X dye over a certain colour.

The Toast website says the dress is 100% cotton and should be washed at 30. Dylon machine dye recommends 40 degrees so I’d check with Dylon that the dye will take if you use it at 30 degrees before you decide to keep the dress. The original colour will affect the final outcome so blue if you want green and it’s going to be on the olive side of green, which could be lovely.