Toasties can we go on chatting forever? Looks like it!

[Countmeout]

New thread. Woke (blooming cat) to find it’s nearly full.

Another vote for the York store. Everyone is always very friendly and welcoming. Staff are patient if you want to try different sizes and there’s never any pressure to buy. I always come out with a smile on my face even if I’m empty handed.

@TheDeepLemonHelper do you mind me asking which J C Rennie yarns you use? As a Portgordon quine (originally!) I knit obsessively, at the moment I mainly use Di Gilpin Lalland lambswool but I have been so tempted by the J C Rennie yarns but they don't seem to make d.k.
More relevently, my favourite shop is Harrogate. They usually have lots of stock and they're super nice and helpful.

I used to find my local store , Islington, offered a great shopping experience , but that’s no longer the case .
The store is quite small and they’re really pushing Menswear so the Womenswear seems squeezed around here and there. I took some returns in today, service was fine but somehow not at all on my wavelength .
I’m not sure whether that has turned me off enough to shop elsewhere. I went into APC thinking to invest in some great non Toast denim, but the staff were all looking at their phones and didn’t even say hi let alone offer help.
As someone who loved nothing more than scouring Topshop and Miss Selfridge every weekend way back then, I’m really missing the good old days of loving a good shop.

it is interesting to read about all of the different store experiences. So glad my local, Cheltenham, is up and running again. I find the staff extremely friendly and not pushy at all. I like to pop in to see what is in stock and then usually buy on line in the sales, unless, I absolutely love a piece and worry it will sell out in my size and under £200.

@Primrosespaw oh I could have written your post. The Cheltenham one is lovely, so happy it's there again.

@AmethystMoonShine I too really like the Oxford one for friendliness. I went to one of their circle things once and it was actually quite good.

That takes me back @OftenOrange - am feeling very nostalgic thinking of TS, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins! I even remember RI when it was Chelsea Girl, (although I was very very young then). For some reason one CG remained for years, untouched, long after the rest had been transformed, hidden in Tooting Broadway of all places!

Re:Toast - do we think they’ll offer a Kindred gift this side of Xmas? I’m quite new to Kindred and can’t remember when the winter gift was around last time.

It’s entirely possible I am looking for an excuse to buy the woodblock Xmas prints…

Yes no stock and I thought I was invisible, ducked next door into Dicks and it was completely different@TheDeepLemonHelper
C&R is closing its ready to wear collection I see
It's not my style but they do some beautiful things, I wonder what they're planning?

Oh knitting chat !
Fabulous*

I'm just finishing some socks, rose pink The Uncommon Thread Tough Sock
They are the Seed Pod socks by Helen Stewart
Lovely design for autumn
Looking for a nice jumper pattern also

I didn't order the pleat front crops, I have way too many crops as it is
I did buy the Baya Organic shirt in seaweed, it will be useful for layering
My worst and most funny but awful Toast experience ,in a store which shall not be named, was when the assistants gave a loud running commentary about the customers in the shop at the time
" she doesn't buy, oooh this one spends loads"
It was so awful !

@Poplinskirt That reminds of the time I had spent ages looking at what must have seemed like every single thing in a Toast shop and gradually became aware that the two people working there were having a very loud conversation about a shoplifter and was she wearing that top when she came in? It was just dawning on me in horror that they meant me, (I was the only person in there), when one of their colleagues came in, recognised me and we had a nice chat. Those two quietly slunk away looking a bit guilty.

Tbh, I was appalled and offended, but thought it said more about them than me. I could have stopped going in, but my money’s as good as anyone else’s, so…

Hi new to toast. Do they make anything in uk ? Checked a couple of dresses and both are made in china Tia

@Rosescountrylifecottage - Toast usually flag up on each page where things are made and some stuff is made in the UK. I think they sometimes also use Scottish wool, for example, but it might be knitted up in somewhere like Romania.

To be fair to Toast, they are intending to move away from China as a source of production, but yes, currently quite a lot is made there.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the toast boots?. I can only wear super comfy footwear or it ends up gathering dust!.

That’s awful, poor you !!!!
I would have been so angry.

@IlovePond I think I would have had a quiet word with the nice colleague to explain what happened. That behaviour needs reporting.

The slate/ecru merino wrap is absolutely gorgeous. I tried it on in store. Very soft and thick wool. It stays in position when thrown over the shoulder -( I can’t be bothered constantly having to re arrange or anything that requires faff). It’s a special piece.

Hi @Rosescountrylifecottage Which specific boots ? Toast source from lots of different brands. I haven’t bought boots recently but someone on here may be able to help you.

@IlovePond - there has been a Kindred gift mid November before (followed by end Nov short sale). It was a pre Xmas Kindred gift (garland) that got me into Toast decorations....which has ended up cost me £100s 😬

@Rosescountrylifecottage ian recommend Blunstone’s. I wear them for everything from mudlarking, to teaching to a night out. Amazingly comfortable. .

@PeonyBlush10 - I should probably have been more angry than I was, but there was something so ridiculous about the pair of them that I was more irritated than anything else. If I hadn’t been going in that particular shop frequently, I probably would’ve said something, as it was, if I had, I would’ve felt I couldn’t go back. (And I like the lovely things in there too much!)

It has, however, made me aware of what I wear when I go into Toast now. For example, if I’m wearing Toast, then it’s usually a dress, rather than just a Toast top with other brand jeans - because I probably didn’t go in the shop naked 😹 I also try to avoid looking at too much in one visit to avoid frightening the horses, (as my nana used to say!)

@TheDeepLemonHelper - it’s not nice, is it? A sign of how good a company’s ethos/recruitment/training is how welcoming they are to all who walk through the door, regardless of whether they fit whatever image the company has decided fits their demographic! It’s a shop, people are going to look at and touch things!

Thanks @Stoic123 - that sounds about right. I know you can identify with my Toast Xmas decorations obsession- I really want those woodblocks! (But no more baubles🙀) If there is a Kindred gift in the offing, I could hold on till then…

Oh that would have sent me into full tilt contrarian charm mode!

'Lovely ones, I've been a Toast customer since the early pyjamas by mail order days. The whole point of coming to a shop is to be able to touch things, to feel the fabrics, to check the labels, to hold the colours up to the light, to swish the garments about and see how they drape. To lay one thing on top of another, comparing colours and making outfits. To try everything on, in multiple sizes and combinations. It is your entire raison d'être. Oh, look at this! Can I try this in an S please? Maybe an XS and M too, as the sizing is so shockingly unreliable these days. Does this come in any other colours? Not in this store - could you find out who does have it please? Thank you so much. Could you possibly measure these for me, in 8, 10, and 12? Oh no, not in cm, in inches please. Thank you! What's the fabric composition of these please? How are you finding these new velvets compared to the original cotton ones? Oh, this is beautiful, but £€$¥?!! I can't afford that. These cotton mix jumpers are so heavy and inelastic. Do you have any in pure wool? This is pretty! Shame about the viscose, I remember when Toast only used natural fabrics. No, I won't wear that. Gosh, this waistband comes up to my bust! It must be faulty, can you find me a normal one please? How quaint, you've just discovered Manos del Uruguay, I've been knitting with their yarns for decades. Why is the world is a 'winter' coat 50% cotton, is Toast skimping on production costs? Not much use where I'm from! Swithering between this combination - twirl - or maybe this, or this (gets more things out).'

All delivered with a smile, in a soft spoken lilt which is hard to take offence to. They'd be desperate to leave me to browse in peace and please just try anything, everything you like on. If they weren't helpful and attentive to my satisfaction, and suitably conciliatory before I left, preferably with an overt apology, I'd follow up with a complaint to HQ.

I've never lived anywhere near a Toast shop, but if ever made the many hours/day-long trek, requiring multiple modes of transportation, I'd bleeping well expect the red carpet to be rolled out! As it should be for every customer.

I did dash through the Toast concession in Selfridges a couple of times, passing through London, many years ago. Where I tried on a hip-length green leather coat which I regret leaving behind to this day. Sigh ...

So sad to see more unpleasant stories of bad experiences. It's almost a year since mine and I still haven't been back in a Toast store. Thank goodness for online!

Has anyone else received an email from Toast with a 20% off code? I've never had anything like this before and am quite wary as well as excitedly refining my list.

Thanks for the recommendation of blundstone. I have been looking at fracap monkey boots (names a bit offputting though!) and Stirlini tall boots .

Does anyone know did toast once have a shop in Manchester in the old jigsaw location? Or have I dreamt it ?

im debating my first purchase I’m between the panelled needle cord olive dress (but I’m blonde I don’t know if it’s my colour ) or cord sleeveless tunic dress in oil . I’m in Cheshire so might have to order both and see . Just not sure what I’d put under the cord sleeveless tunic I can’t seem to find the shirt they have on in the photo with it .

I might tie in a visit to the Cheltenham store as I’m that way ish . Hoping it’s a nice store - or Oxford would be the second choice .

lol at @Stravaig post! I like to be left alone to browse but have the help with a smile when I need it. I hate sales assistants breathing down my neck