Autumn leaves, colder days and Toasty talk!

[IlovePond]

I have started a new thread for all things Toast related !

I’ve never done a Toast sample sale , none of the venues are nearby .
I never used to miss a Margaret Howell one , memories of the heaving fitting rooms, impossibility of getting near a mirror and an Alan Bennett lookalike on the till….
I still have quite a few of those buys and still love them for their utter simplicity and superior fabrics.
Wore an ancient pale brown linen skirt to the beach today ( over a Toast bikini ) and thought how beautifully made it is , and the linen is so much better than that of some Toast trousers I own. The linen is finer and more supple so that it doesn’t ever go limp.
Anyone also a MH fan?

That person did admit that they hadn’t looked at a toast thread in years and was making very little sense anyway.

Most threads about ‘boutique’ fashion go that way, sadly, the mention of certain brands brings brings out the worst in some posters. Someone else on that thread called them the ‘serial scolders’. It’s not worth trying to explain a love of fashion to them.

Grrrr , thinking about Margaret Howell I looked for Sample sale and it’s tomorrow
so I shan’t be able to go .

@IlovePond - I'm so sorry the Flower Mountain sandals didn't work out for you. It's so annoying when brands can't keep to one size for at the very least each style. It seems to be happening more often too

@PeonyBlush10 - that is really shitty about Plumo saying their coat was an exclusive when it isn't. The only possible excuse is that they designed it and then didn't know it was being sold elsewhere. Maybe it's that?

I quite like Margaret Howell @OftenOrange and saw the ad for their sample sale. I loved your description of Alan Bennet working the til. There was a Guardian article some years ago where they interviewed MH superfans and they all looked identical - sharp bobs and fierce glasses - it was very funny!

I love MH @OftenOrange, but have never found anything that works for my body shape - boobs are even less catered for than by Toast I find. I shall just stick to admitting from a distance.
I am definitely going to try the uber spendy new navy coat. I always love the check ones, but know that I would not be able to wear them with everything so have never taken the plunge. But plain navy would be perfect. I have some birthday vouchers, and it was a big birthday so I feel like a fabulous coat would be a thing to splash out on now that I am a proper grown-up.

Yep. Every so often someone would pop onto the cabbages and roses thread to
express their outrage that we actually wore the clothes - and were then most offended when I suggested that we probably wouldn’t like their clothes either!

Confession time. I was the OP of the Cabbages and Roses threads (under a different username), and I was shocked about what happened. I still don’t understand why some people are so outraged by the thought of a middle aged woman wearing a frock.

Perhaps clothes threads that are not a race to the bottom are offensive because we’re not supposed to spend money on ourselves.

I miss C&R, I’ll admit I was a fan of the clothes, not so much the company. As a pretty serious collector I have enough to last me a good few years though and I’m having fun looking tor alternatives. So glad Toast is still going, much as I love my mahoosive frock collection I wear more Toast jeans, tops and corduroy dresses day-to-day than anything else.

Someone once took the trouble to pop in & tell us we were wrong to a lovely thread, full of grief and celebration of the genius of Droopy & Brown.
Not necessary.

Despite being on the sale page early doors, I didn't order.
I don't get enough invites to justify more quirky items and need to buy some robust winter basics to wear under my Toast pieces

@OftenOrangei too love MH and built up a good collection when they had a sale shop in the York outlet. Sadly closed last time I made it there. I agree the quality is amazing, maybe next years sample sale for me.

I worked in the office of the York shop in the mid nineties. The loss of Angela at only 50 was a shock, and came only three years before the death (and spectacular funeral) of Victoria Bage of Sarah Coggles, another favourite that I couldn’t afford at the time.

If I love a piece now and know I will love it for years I buy it and am aware of how fortunate I am to be able to do so.

In the words of Mary Quant, ‘Fashion isn’t frivolous, its a part of being alive today’.

I’m keeping the Apron dress from today’s toast arrival. The ‘Poplin’ is much heavier than I thought it was going to be, the straps are wide and I love that its a true Apron that ties with apron strings front and back. I saw one just like it by Metta Melbourne but I got financially stung once buying from Australia - ended up paying almost £500 for a cotton dress - never doing that again.

@TosstTastic I get my basics from Marks and Spencer. I like the Toast basics but I think the T shirts are too expensive and too floppy.

I never have enough of that kind of thing - the quirky stuff is too much of a draw. It all started with this D&B suit. I still love it.

How many Navy Toast dresses is too many?

@IlovePond I’m sorry, I was teasing you that the journey to Kilver Court was mentioned - sometimes attempts at humour can fall flat in a thread (perhaps I need to try and develop that skill.) Thought I ought to explain as you sounded a little mortified.
@Snowyowl78 I can’t remember the exact
thread I’m afraid. It was very recent and very brief and I can’t remember as I was ill in bed and doing a lot of scrolling. I remembered a Toastie came to our defence and it was @BankfieldForever
@OftenOrangeYour linen skirt sounds gorgeous, the type that improves with age. I dream of having a MH collection. I have a couple of scarves and a very plain but very beautifully cut shirt from MHL. It’s lasted me years and washes beautifully. I’d love to add to my very small collection. I have just bought a recently launched MH/Barbour collaboration parka jacket in kelp. It’s beautifully made, I love the colour and I’m very happy with it so far ( worn once) - the style and shape suits my needs very well.

@PeonyBlush10 - oh no, please don’t worry - I genuinely thought it was funny - I wasn’t embarrassed at all. (Racing halfway across the country to go bargain shopping is just the tip of the iceberg over here at PondTowers 😹)

On a sort of related note to sample sales: I wish Toast would do another pop up in aid of a good cause. I had only just started buying a bit of Toast clothing when they held the Ukraine benefit, so didn’t fully appreciate its magnificence. I could weep when I think of all the lovely things I saw that I just left on the hangers!

I have decided to give the Puck dress a whirl tomorrow if I can find a jumper that will work over it.

@faustina - I was really disappointed with the sandals. The straps just felt different to the ones on the brick pair and I knew I would be forever fiddling with them.

BTW: Has anyone worn their Flower Mountain trainers in the rain and, if so, are they waterproof at all? Thanks

@BankfieldForever your wardrobe sounds like a treasure trove of beautiful items. I had just discovered the C&R thread and was enjoying all the interesting, entertaining and thought provoking comments and then it was removed. What happened - was it hijacked by a few toxic posts? Liked the Mary Quant post - will try to remember that.

I’m having a particularly vile day at work, but in better news I am wearing the Puck with a jumper over the top!

theres new stuff online now, mainly knitwear and shirts, trousers etc

@BankfieldForever so lovely to see you here! I missed out on Droopy and Browns - only heard of them after they were closed - the odd thing does pop up on Vinted though. I got a gorgeous coat from https://lapetitealice.com/product-category/women/ and knew the C&R guys would appreciate it, but alas...

I’ve also ordered a few things from https://oliviaannabelle.co.uk/

Maybe we should start a heritage dressing thread?

The cotton poplin sundress in Raven Blue arrived today and it's a keeper. I only bought it after scrolling this thread one evening during the sale and the reviews were amazing. I forget who mentioned it on here but whoever it was - thank you :)
I'm not usually a poplin fan as I find it too rustlely (suspect that is not a word or I just can't spell), however this dress is a much thicker fabric and rather than pack it away for summer I am going to try it with a long sleeve top under and jumpers over. It's definitely an autumn weight.

Just the hogla mats and the raised stripe shirt in blue to come - all finally dispatched. I do wonder if the emails are running late as I have had a Royal Mail notification that the shirt is due tomorrow, which arrived a day before the Toast dispatch email.

So many trousers!

The geometric pyjama pants are gorgeous but they’re silk…never the same after its washed. Has anyone washed Toast silk items? I live too rurally to able to dry clean, not that I would anyway.

I was very pleasantly surprises by the cotton poplin apron dress in ‘slate’ (its blue).

So much thicker and more practical for a dress than shirt poplin. Its a keeper for sure. If I had to name the fabric I’d probably call it cambric.

Just wanted to say Hi, @weareallcats - and thanks for the link, that’s my tea break today sorted.

@PeonyBlush10 That was about the size of it, yes, it was pulled after it turned into the weirdest thread I’ve ever seen on here.

Today I’m wearing my Toast Utility Dress from a couple of years ago (the one with the weird curved seam down the front, if anyone remembers) Its a 14 but unusually for toast runs small so I’ve only just got back into it after losing a stone this summer.

Everything I’ve kept from the sale just gone is a 10/S. Toast sizing is nuts.

Nothing in the new drop for me, really disappointed.

I’m planning a visit to Cambridge in a few weeks so I’m hoping to have a look in the Toast store there, perhaps something from a previous drop will look better in the flesh than online.

Don’t think there is anything for me either @Theteapotsbrokenspout. The navy wool coat is lovely, but realistically I need a coat that works in all weathers, and that is not it. Was hoping for a lovely knit, but nothing grabs me.
I overheard staff explaining recently that there is a drop every month, but it alternates between mostly menswear and mostly womenswear, and the next big womenswear drop would be beginning of November.