Summer sun and Toastie talk! ☀️

[IlovePond]

Hi,
As promised, here is the new thread.

All are welcome to chat about Toastie topics, (and other related things!)

To clarify I am not a size 6 but always lots to choose from if you are

Indeed @Countmeout - I think I have finally accepted that my size 6 days are behind me 😿😹

Thanks for the reworn heads up. As usual not much in 12/M. My size 6 days are also long past 🫤

Thank you @Countmeout - and well done on getting the fig skirt - I missed that! I've ordered a couple of things to try but I did it so quickly I forgot to look at the condition of them. At least we can return!

Thank you @Countmeout I managed this time to get a couple of Oxford shirts, one with a collar and one without. I missed out in the sale and have been pondering Vinted. I kind of like the stripe one too but 2 is enough, I recently bought a stripe shirt, not toast, on Vinted and have it on today. I really like it. I think I’ll like wearing shirts these days, they are nice also under knits. I’m on the look out for a dark waistcoat but the one I like is too much money.

Hi,

I went to the Shoreditch Exchange today - there were only about 10-15 items available -a few of each ‘colour’, some quite poor quality. It was shocking and disappointing and I said so to the staff.

Back in the day, there were rails of exchange items at the beginning of an event, but now they are sending stuff off to Reworn in between exchanges rather than keeping some stuff in hand for exchanges. I said as much to staff and it wasn’t denied.

Sorry - I am feeling a bit grumpy - it’s a long journey for me to get to a Toast shop and I just don’t think they should run an exchange event without any exchanges!

@IlovePondi was there too and completely agree, it was rubbish. So disappointing. I had a ticket for Hampstead too and was planning to pop there as well but ran out of time. I’m going to go to Bloomsbury next week but I don’t think I’ll take anything to swap as I now have 7 tickets from previous events. What with the annoying woman selling her Kings Road swaps on the Facebook group I think I’m done with giving my nice stuff away, I’ll just sell it myself on vinted or whatever.

@IlovePond thats very disappointing. It would be a journey for me to go to a swap event and it’s not encouraging hearing your story. I have one yellow ticket from handing over an unworn linen tunic/dress, not a particularly expensive one, bought on Vinted and too small. But I have only seen a handful of items on Edinburghs permanent swap rail and all too poor looking. I like going in to look but I don’t really expect I’ll ever swap my ticket.

I should have said: I ‘think/suspect’ they are siphoning off the best stuff for Reworn - I don’t ‘know’ for sure. (But they didn’t deny it today!)

I got there at 5.40pm and there was one customer in the changing room and the rest were staff. I actually asked if I had got the date wrong!

Hi @Doy - I agree - I don’t see the point of handing over stuff with little to no chance of getting anything back.

Did we have a chat in-store?

It does sound like the Kings Road event had more stuff - this was abysmal - did they really expect us to be excited and pleased by what was on offer. I would have been mortified if I was working there tonight.

The staff were taking stuff to the back to be steamed but it was taking ages for anything to appear out front.

On a more positive note:

Tbf, staff were pleasant and helpful.

The lady doing the mending looked for extra stuff in the back for me as I was such a sad and disappointed Pond and also did an impressive on-the-spot mend on the tunic I eventually took home.

She also had two Renewed items on display which were waiting to be sent off for sale on the website. Oh my goodness - such beautiful work - she and her sewing colleagues at Toast are SO talented!

The new shop is open plan and bright, if not exactly close to Shoreditch station. (I hadn’t realised it had moved so went to the old premises first 🙈)

@IlovePond I’m glad you managed to find something to take home after going all that way.
I like the renewed items and value the work put in but I honestly don’t think the items should still be the full price.

I agree @ScallopShellWalk - those Renewed prices are 🙀

@IlovePondno I got there around 6.30, there were only two sales assistants and a nice young man from the marketing team there. It was quite awkward, just over half a rail of worn clothing. I’m not sure if they do take things for reworn you know because everything I’ve had from there has been near perfect. Exchange stuff looks like it’s been boil washed and then tumble dried within an inch of its life over and over.

I just missed you @Doy - I left about 6.15.

I guess we will never know for sure - but most of the stuff at the Exchanges used to be both plentiful and good before Reworn began. I remember going to a couple of exchanges at Richmond and there were several rails of excellent things. I got my black linen dress from an exchange, plus a Lydia dress and a linen jacket on another occasion. There was also lots to choose from.

All the ones I have been to recently have been terrible, as you say.

It’s a shame - whatever the reason - it was a great idea and I used to enjoy going.

I did hear one of the assistants telling another disappointed customer that the permanent exchange rails at Notting Hill often had some good stuff. I’ve never been so can’t comment, but if you have lots of tickets it may be worth a try.

@IlovePond before reworn existed is it possible all the shop/warehouse wares that were not possible to sell full price, were sent out to the shop swap rails?

I have bought from reworn a couple of items that the timing had me think they came from the just finished sale, looking perfect and not at all worn. I had wondered if it was easier for some reason to add to the reworn, maybe missing the tags.

@ScallopShellWalk - I think you are right that they are putting some sale stock into Reworn.

I don’t ‘think’ they were doing that for Exchanges previously as stuff did seem a bit worn sometimes, and was often very old in terms of year of production, but who knows 🤷‍♀️

The very first exchange I went to in Edinburgh, which was years ago now, and one of the first such events, they had half a rail of Edith dresses in colorways that were then quite old (the Kelly green and burgundy ones). They were brand new, I think they may even have had tags. So I do think they were sending old unsold stock to the exchange events in the very beginning. Then some clever person at Toast realised they could make more money by selling them as part of Reworn, I guess. And more recently I have also noticed that the permanent exchange rail in Edinburgh is very sad. I have got a few gems there in the past but nothing in a few years now. So I think anything that looks half decent is going to Reworn, and sometimes things that are in less good shape sneak in too.

Disappointed to hear - again - about the poor exchange rails. I have a green ticket sitting comfortably in my bag which has been there for some time. There is an exchange event next week in Cheltenham but I might not bother going as last time it was dreadful.

I was in London at the beginning of the summer hols and the exchange rail at Notting Hill was rubbish too, nothing much at all. Fewer people doing it so just the very old, worn out items stuck on a rail!

@mizu ah that’s interesting, I have only found old poor, nobody would want stuff left on the rail at Edinburgh, even after an exchange event.

Maybe some of the nice things get sent to the sample/archive sales at Kilver Court? I've never been, but I'm always very envious when I read about them on here

One of the interesting things about the sample sales @faustina is that sometimes Toast don’t remove the company product info from pockets, inside seams, etc. before the sales.

I have found company info on samples I have bought which I have then shamelessly Googled 😹

My beautiful coat from a recent sale came from a small factory in Lithuania. (The stuff on their company page looked excellent.) On another occasion I found info from a company from India in a pair of trousers - again a lovely item - which had come from a major wholesaler/supplier, (not a small coop), and had probably cost Toast peanuts per item.

BTW: All sample stock is marked on the label with a dot in indelible ink, so if you ever buy anything marked like that from Vinted, etc, it originally came from KC or Llandeilo.

@IlovePond - sounds fascinating!

@IlovePondI had a good haul at Richmond too! A couple of years ago now, I’m not sure if it was pre or post Reworn. They haven’t had once since I don’t think. I’ve been to quite a few exchanges recently and often chat to the staff (as there is often no one else there and they’ve nothing else to do!) At one such the assistant told me that head office send a rail down for the exchanges based on what they think the customers from that shop might like, I suppose so there’s something for the first swappers to give. So they obviously send everything back to head office afterwards and perhaps the best get put on reworn.

Re Notting Hill, it’s a bit of a pain for me to get to but I did go once and it was pretty underwhelming. But perhaps I should give it another go.

Interesting! Plumo are absolute buggers for doing this as well, I wouldn’t mind but their mark up is insane. I have a lovely jumper which I got from doing a google image search on a plumo one and it was literally a quarter of the price.

That’s a shame about the swap tokens , is it worth contacting the company and ask if they can be used or part used against a reworn item?
Could it just be that there are less things being donated as so many more people are using Vinted . I for one have been buying and selling on Vinted for at least 4 years . I never bothered with eBay and just used to donate my nice clothes to the charity shops. Vinted is just so bloody easy.

I’ve just bought the twill pull on trousers. I really like them, but the crotch is extremely dropped. I find this a lot with Toast trousers. I’ve measured against my barrel cords and the rise is about 2” longer. I presume they are meant to be worn dropped otherwise they would be under my armpit! I have quite a long body too.

Wondered if anyone else has tried these, and their thoughts on them.

They are currently packed and ready to return but I am having second thoughts. Were so comfortable, just a bit low slung!