Toasties - still loving the knitwear and the chat!

[IlovePond]

I have set up a new Toastie thread, guys.

My other youngest daughter has had her ears re-pierced and no issue at all.

I seem to have side tracked the sales chat into a discussion about piercings, apologies 😁

Apologies - I haven’t had a chance to catch up with the sales chat so sorry if I’m duplicating a previous conversation - but has anyone purchased the sun and moon dress in oil ? I’ve had my eye on it for a while and will pounce on it now it’s in the sale. Any information/opinions regarding sizing, fit, fabric , colour and drape will be much appreciated.

Nice that you have confidence in your appearance. I certainly don't have a model body either, but some styles suit me, and some don't.

Being short with a small frame, I find dresses and skirts particularly difficult, especially those with any structure, which seem to drown me.

I seem to do best with simple stretchy wool sweater dresses for winter and simple stretchy tank dresses for summer. But skimming rather than body con to limit exposure of my post menopausal tummy. I don't like all this flouncy floral stuff either, it's just not me at all.

All this talk of piercings reminds me of mine. I was a bit of a goth in my youth in the 80s and had a whole row of piercings up the side of one ear and two on the other side. They were actually really uncomfortable to sleep on and they healed years ago.

I hardly ever wear earrings anymore, probably stopped wearing them regularly when DS20 was born, putting earrings in was just another thing to think about.

But when I got married for the second time just over 2 years ago I wanted to wear earrings and the first holes on each side were still there and usable. Reckon I probably hadn't used them for about 5 years.

@netcam I hadn’t worn anything in my nose for about 20 years and tried on a whim last year and although the hole wasn’t particularly noticeable, the stud went in easily. I guess for some people they never close up.

Yesterday I had a big box of Toast sale items delivered, but I haven't mustered the energy to try out the items yet. Then I suddenly - here in the middle of the night - discovered that more items had been added in the sale...

Now also the 3 sun-and-moon items are on their way to me, together with some silk and velvet/silk velvet items. I hope at least some of it will fit.

Aargh- I missed the middle of the night restock, (bizarrely I was awake and contemplated logging on, but told myself off!)

I have the black clogs in my basket, but I remember there was terrible dye transfer when I tried them in store. Does anyone have them?

Thanks

If I'd not been on a no buy year I would have been very tempted by the sun and moon dress and the black wool wrap cardigan.

But I'm sticking to my plans.

Plus, the viscose content of the sun and moon dress and the fact that it would probably need ironing puts me off. I don't iron!

And the wool wrap jacket, despite being gorgeous, is dry clean only and really I don't buy dry clean only clothes. Especially those of knitted wool which should at least be hand washable in my opinion.

Dry cleaning is a total pain. It's not on our local radar, it's a special effort here with limited opening hours and a chore I don't need.
I'd love a robust, no nonsense set of care guidelines, a sort of Good Housekeeping testing to distruction on stuff.
You can wash this but it will fade. Steam this, keep it for best. And at the design level, massive attention to detail to pairing fabrics so they all shrink at the same rate or it doesn't matter.
I love getting the max out of my clothes.

Finally placed an order.
It was the Gia being reduced .
Trying to remember how many I have now
Yes it's dry clean and completely impractical but I saw it in the shop and it's absolutely gorgeous.
Will probably hand wash anyway 😅
Also ordered the tie neck poplin shirt and a pair of socks .

Exactly, and I also think what's the point in buying lovely natural fabrics if you're going to smother them in dry cleaning chemicals.

Which of the Gia's did you order?
I ordered the silk batik one in the middle of the night, but wondering if the 18 will be large enough for me. Could you say about sizing?

Dry cleaning is the worst. I will not do it, for cost & environmental reasons. I try to keep my clothes at their best by washing as infrequently as I can get away with, by changing into pjs or something similar when I am at home (including when I work from home), by airing clothes outside instead of washing unless they are stained or smell bad, and by never cooking in nice clothes. I really don’t think we need to wash our clothes as often as we sometimes do.
As for washing instructions, I will risk a gentle machine wash for dry clean only items and have never had a mishap.
And I think this has been spoken about here before, but I am of the wool hardly ever needs washed school - airing and wearing a layer underneath that can be washed is usually enough to keep your woollens fresh.

I've just ordered some Cos thin wool gauze type tops to go under everything. They look incredibly vulnerable but seem to last.

I want to know more about the sizing and fit on the Gia's. Once you get a grip of your pattern cut it really helps when the new fabrics come out.
I'm always ridiculously tempted by the Bryn dresses but I cannot make the Raglan sleeve work, I look like the Triangle from Mr Maker.

@ScottishMouse, I am with you there. I just washed a 3 year old dry clean only wool coat on the wool wash and it was fine, it had never been cleaned before.

I wear wool all the time in winter and do cook in it, but wear an apron.

But I wear my wool outer items multiple times before washing, they probably each get washed once or twice a year.

I have several thick, long wool cardigans that I wear over my other clothes to keep warm in winter and I will wear one daily for several months before washing.

Even a wool base layer I might wear for a week without washing.

Sounds great. I have quite a few wool long sleeved tops from Dilling, both round neck and roll neck, they are really warm and comfortable to wear under other clothes in winter. I really recommend them for wool base layers.

I will dry clean coats, but that's my limit. If I see anything else that's dry clean only I won't buy it. There was a shocking pair of the cotton wool seersucker alixes on Vinted recently. They are dry clean only but the seller hadn't noticed, or had forgotten. She was modelling them in the listing and they came to just below her knees - like long shorts!

I saw someone mention Johnston's of Elgin last night (eye wateringly high prices but lovely cashmere). There's a brand called Nearly New Cashmere, and I can't recommend their preloved (very hit and miss), but they do sell some 'new Scottish cashmere' and I think that's all Johnston's of Elgin except they can't say it is. I bought a cashmere dressing gown - brand new, label still attached, for £120 last year and it is the warmest thing ever!

Sounds like nice tops!
I had some similar from Toast 15-20 years ago, they seams to keep up fine. It was back when they made them in pairs, to wear over each other

I had those too. Jewel tones and a black/grey one to, Maybe I should lobby Toast for a retro revival.
I think that they are part of the holy grail of wardrobe staples that I continually quest for.

I'm another one that doesn't dry clean anything , nor do I wash any woollens too frequently . I'm trying to educate dd whose way of tidying her room/floordrobe is to chuck it all in the wash grr.
My Xmas Eve purchase arrived today and it's a keeper. The blue poplin striped dress . I think it may have been further reduced , does any one know ? If so would I get a refund ?
Any how here's a picture , I'm 5ft 2 , big boobs and it's a 14 . I may wear it tomorrow for a Birthday lunch !

@triggers34 that's lovely! Another great length dress!

What a lovely colour on you @triggers34 and it goes nicely with the cardie!

@faustina - I hate it when the sellers model the clothes - I do NOT want to be reminded that other people have worn them and they should be clean.

I have held off buying the clogs - I do not need them!