Piedmont jacket £285 Antique stripe shirt £79
In what can only be described as great news for middleagedads everywhere, Toast is launching a menswear range this autumn. Made up of clothes that are nicely stylish, but in a low-key-no-one-down-the-pub-will-laugh way, in sensible colours like coal, khaki, navy and black and reassuring fabrics like flannel, cord and denim. Nothing to scare the horses but lots to be hopeful about for those of us with partners who might still be stuck in a groove made some decades ago.
Actually it's just as hard for 35plus men as it is women to find interesting clothes to wear once they are abandoned by the high street, doubley so if you're on a tight budget. Admittedly there are men in their 40s and 50s who are perfectly happy with the way they look; they picked their style just after they turned 20 and see no reason to change, but increasingly, older men are taking non work clothes more seriously. Both our partners are pretty cool dressers (we like to think it's years of advice from us that's got them into shape) but even they sometimes struggle with where to go for clothes that are stylish but not designer prices.
Toast for men is designed (like the women's range, which we are fans of) by Toast founder Jamie Seaton, husband of Jessica (she's the MD) and dad of Rachel (who edits Toast Travels- more of this in a later post). Rachel told us her dad had wanted to do this for ages and absolutely loved doing the first collection. When we saw him at the press day he looked very smart in it,. The range is called it Amateur, which means 'a person who practises something for the love of it' (just like us then) which feels pretty genuine when you hear them speak so enthusiastically about it.
Prices start at £225 for relaxed tailored jackets, poplin shirts start at £79 and merino sweaters at just over £100, so not cheap, but you feel these might be the type of clothes that never wear out. As lovers of the Toast winceyette pyjamas for women, we are thrilled to see there's now a mens version too, very snuggly for winter nights. The range launches for the autumn season, around August time.
Chalk stripe jacket £295 and waistcoat £115
Chelsea boot £145 and flannel pyjamas £65
