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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Worthwhile Escapism - Missoni for Target

The plan was to meet up at 9 am today at our local Target.  Shelly and Miranda were my co-conspirators and partners in crime.  After watching a stream of tweets way past midnight last night, I realized that 9 am may be too late.  I sent the girls a message that we may have to reevaluate the plan and meet up right at store opening.  Miranda entered at 8:04 am and I got there at 8:07.  In those 3 minutes Miranda managed to grab an armful of clothes in our size to try on and we made it to the shoe and accessories section just in the nick of time.  By the time Shelly arrived at 8:20 we were way, way too late to snag any home accessories.  We hear those were the very first to go.  After the excitement of the morning Miranda declared that she needed a nap.

All in all I scored what I loved the most, but most of these items are going back (I was pressed for time and couldn't make a decision).  As a girl that worked for St. John Knits, the second most famous knit house in the world next to Missoni, I've always had a personal fascination with the brand.  A quality knit like Missoni is truly a work of art and I spent so many hours touring the knit factories that I truly appreciate the workmanship.  No doubt the quality of this capsule line holds no comparison to a true Missoni knit, but each piece does carry the classic Missoni graphic elements which are beautiful. 

I am definitely keeping the chevron skirt and the beautiful lurex cardigan.  The skirt's fit is amazing and is the perfect length, and I can imagine wearing that cardigan for years; such a classic.  And both perfectly embody the iconic chevron pattern that is Missoni.  I think I'll take both dresses back though as they are very, very short, as well as the shoes for Taylor pictured above.  The little chevron dress is adorable for her though and she'll wear it for Thanksgiving.  I'm still undecided about the heels and the tights though.  They don't seem that soft or that comfortable.  If you're local and are interested in anything, let me know.  I'd rather a friend get these items than return them to the store for them to land up on ebay, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. 
I saw a bevy of tweets and facebook posts showing a mixture of excitement for the launch and utter dismay and even disgust over the frenzy that was made today.  Target's site crashed almost immediately at 6 am when the items launched online, and as I'm typing this, still seems to be down.  I personally loved the excitement and exhilaration that the launch caused and I genuinely thought it was fun to get so caught up in something.  We are 35 year old woman raising young children, for goodness sake, we deserve a little escape from the mundane that is motherhood for even just an hour. 
The excitement today represented to me all that can be fun about fashion.  I love that a designer collection is suddenly very attainable to the masses.  I love the appreciation for the heritage of a brand.  And I love seeing women looking for opportunities to feel beautiful, and finding it in a simple chevron graphic.  I know a lot of people think it's completely silly and even superficial to get so caught up in fashion, and perhaps it is.  But all this dismay over the importance of fashion and style and clothes and such always makes me think of one of my favorite quotes from The Devil Wears Prada.  It's when Andy scoffs at the Vogue editors agonizing over the choice of a leather belt when to her they all look the same.  Miranda looks down the frames of her Chanel lenses and says this to her:

"This... stuff'? Oh. Okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select... I don't know... that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise. It's not lapis. It's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent... wasn't it who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff."     

So what say you?  Inconsequential silliness, or fun escapism?  How did you view today's madness, or did you even care?  And what should I do about the shoes? :)

19 comments:

  1. I have a love/hate feeling about this event. Love the excitement and fun of it but really hate that it is spoiled by the people that resell stuff on ebay. All in all not in love with the line as much as I thought I would. Definitely liked the Liberty of London line they did better.

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  2. I loved every minute of my experience today and I would do it again tomorrow.... (oh wait... I probably will)

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  3. This is such a well written post! You captured the excitement that us Fashion Lovers appreciate. TODAY was super fun and weirdly stressful. I actually think the line was very well done! Their best collab yet!

    I am SICK about the eBay-ers! SICK. I would hope that anyone in the US is not bidding (I know that Target wasn't shipping internationally so I SLIGHTLY understand out of country bidders)

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  4. I'm jealous you got to Target in time! My son sleeps in past 9 and I...well stay lazy till he gets up.
    With that said I see your early Target/Missoni mission as fun escapism! Wish I could have been your fourth conspirator!
    Keep the shoes!
    How much are the tights!? I LOVE THEM!!! Let me know if you are willing to part with them still. :)

    Have a good Wed. fashionista!
    Jacqui
    www.babyboybakery.com

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  5. hahaha you go girl!! i got a few things myself, the heels and a cardigan!!

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  6. i definitely would file stuff like this under "fun"! :) what's not fun are the people who raid target, only to sell the items for much, much more than they're worth on ebay. boo to them! they're ruining it for the rest of us! and, i will say: i kind of preferred the liberty for london collection overall. just my personal preference, but i didn't love most of what i saw at my town's target (which was, admittedly, pretty empty). i did find the suede heels, which i find to be a tad uncomfortable, but i love that they were black and brown, so i took the plunge. time will tell if i regret that decision.

    anyway, always enjoy reading your take on stuff like this since you have a perspective most of us don't. and i love, love that line from "the devil wears prada." brilliant.

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  7. You can't take back the brown dress before we get a twinses photo with the girls.
    And you forgot to write about how you squealed when the lady in the dressing room gave you the cardigan - that was my favorite moment of the day!

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  8. i loved the idea. hated the fact that i couldn't participate but dug the concept that target has created. I mean it's MISSONI!!! hello!
    keep what you can and give the others to friends or better still as a christmas gift to a deserving lady!
    what a wonderful holiday surprise!

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  9. I didnt even know the line came out today, and went to target to get my son some uniforms for school. While there we saw people with baskets filled to the brim with all the stuff running around like crazy pulling anything that had a Missoni tag, they didn't even care what it was or what size it was, they had 2 baskets each. I was thinking it was so unfair to the people who might actually want to buy it for themselves for fun not to re-sell. They were yelling and acting so crazy, the employees were just rolling their eyes! I am glad you got to get what you wanted without having to fight for it:).

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  10. That sweater WAS the best thing find of the day! I ended up finding it with the shell at a different Target, but I walked away. YES...I walked away and after I was so jealous you scored it. I think I was Missoni'd out at that point. I'm taking back the blue dress too. Not thrilled about the cut. But I do like my shoes and the clothes I got for Ellie are SO freaking cute on! Fun morning indeed.

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  11. shauna got to go this morn and reported that every stitch was sold out already. i missed it all, so YES i'm interested. :) short dresses = leggings and boots? LOVE all the stuff you got and how awesome that your daughter even got a piece! yeah, i bet the home stuff was amazing. lmk if you have any pieces left.

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  12. I thought it was a blast! It was unexpected - I was surprised there was any local interest. I love Missoni and have a few of the "real" piece (as well as St. John) and you're right - these aren't exactly the same but I'm REALLY happy with the stuff I was able to pick up. :)

    Jenn

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  13. And I missed all the excitement. When I made it to Target around 10 am, there was one lonely shirt hanging on a rack . . . surrounded by emptiness.
    The tights? Now that's what I could go for.
    Ebay? Seriously? They will restock you know. It's Target.

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  14. While Missoni isn't my style and I didn't get to Target at 8 ... I am all for this kind of fun! Different tastes, likes, hobbies, people are different and that's what makes the world go round. And for a gazillion people this was fun, this was right up their ally, and wouldn't we rather have people enjoying life than not? I say YAY for the crazed mania it caused, people were excited and girl friends were getting together, people were happy!

    Except for the poor girl I saw crying hysterically when I got there at 11, she had missed it all. She wasn't having any fun. And also boo to the people who grabbed anything and everything and overfilled shopping carts just with the intent to sell it on ebay and rake people over the coals for $$$. That's not fun.

    But the true fashion lovers who wanted some Missoni and a fun coffee/shopping playdate with their girlfriends ... I hope it happens again! :)

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  15. I had so much fun! I was there around about 10 minutes before they opened, and stood in a small line of 25 - 50 year old women. As soon as they opened the doors we all started running. Haha! I got myself the flats, a travel bag and the infinity scarf. I got Leila the little girl's flats and a scarf, as well which she can wear with an adorable tan trench coat I got for her at Target as well (Cherokee, though.) The only thing I didn't like about the whole event is the lame people who bought as much as they could of whatever and will end up re-selling it for profit online. Spoils it for so many, but for me I'll do what I have to do to get there early and pay retail.

    Let me know what you think of the heels - they're adorable, but after wearing nothing but heels and standing up for 10 - 14 hours a day when I worked at Nordstrom I won't set foot in them anymore.

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  16. @Maegan I love your view on this and that’s exactly how I see it. It was so, so sad to see so many people with loads of shopping carts traipsing through the store. Quite honestly I had never even thought to do that and when I saw some lady with a basket full of place settings I said to my friend “why does she need so many plates?” and she said “Andrea, she’s going to sell them on Ebay” Duh. I guess I’m very naïve

    And right after the madness, me and my girlfriends went for coffee and it was fantastic! Such a fun morning!

    And @Heather - you scored good girl! happy you got your flats and a piece of luggage, I know you really had your heart set on those items

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  17. And @Miranda, I totally forgot to tell the story of the sweater! See, nice people did exist yesterday in all the madness :) That was such a happy moment for me!

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  18. Love this post, it's all so true. I got online at one point and had 5 things in my cart then when I went go to check out, I somehow lost everything. After a few more failed attempts, I called my local target to see what they had and they were nice enough to hold a few things for me until after work. Funny enough, I ended up not liking 2 of the 3 things, but got a couple more things. It was one time I can say living in a small town is an advantage, I think maybe 1% of the population has ever heard of missioni!

    I am not local, but am wondering which dresses you have- is the blue/green patterned piece a dress? Or do you have the "jumper" with just the pattern on the front panel? That's the dress I really wanted but my store didn't have it. I would pay for shipping and your time to ship it all and everything. If it doesn't work though I understand.

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  19. Oh you lucky girl!!!

    I'm coming to Blog Sugar and can't! Stop by and say hi!

    http://www.frugaliciousme.com/2011/09/haute-stuff-thursday_15.html

    XOXO,
    Tasha

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