The concept was great, and before I knew what the items would be, I was freaking out with excitement. I know it is just fashion, but I LOVE perusing runway collections, and high end fashion blogs to see clothes I can never afford. It may sound like torture to some, but for me, a wannabe fashionista, it is fun. So to see some of these designers collaborating with my favorite store (Target), I am all over it. I love Neiman's too, but I definitely am living the Target life!
Once the collection lookbook was released, I have to say I was disappointed that many of these fashion designers were designing items that had nothing to do with clothes. Most of the items were household accessory items. Tory Burch lunchbox? Brian Atwood Sunglasses? Um no thanks! But then I learned this collection was never intended to be a Fashion Collaboration like they have done in the past, but more of a Holiday collection, which included a few clothing items suitable for holiday gatherings or gifting and accessory design items suitable for gifting (or for yourself). Of course right away I noticed the Robert Rodriguez lace dress, and knew it would be mine! There were many beautiful items in this collection, but none that I really NEEDED to make me spend that kind of money on. Then I went to the store! Oh why does it always go this way?
Here are some of the items I tried on from the clothing items and some of the other accessory items I am seriously lusting after. Actually let's start with the items I'm lusting after.
First are these three items from Altuzarra. I have to admit, I have no clue who Altuzarra is. But if his clothes is as divine as this set, I am probably better off not knowing! I saw this picture, and my first thought was, oh that's pretty. Then I looked and realized that the glasses, shaker and tray are all separate items and all quite pricey. $180 for all three pieces! WOW! They aren't THAT nice! Then I saw them in stores, each item is well made, and gorgeous and I really started wanting them, but still I just didn't feel the price is justified here. Then a little more research and it turns out the gold lattice design on the glasses and shaker are hand painted with 18K gold and the shaker lid is gold plated. I'm not sure about the tray it says golden plated. So either it is just plated in a gold color or it is a misprint. But the tray is mahogany. Now I get it! The more I see them online designed in people's homes, I get this weird pang of jealousy tinged with anger that they got what I wanted. So not becoming of me! But OMG, I want, I want, I want! I can just picture this on the buffet in my dining area. But to spend $180 on something that looks good and will never be used, just seems so impractical. I mean I suppose they "could" be used, but I would be so scared that someone would break it. So this stays on the lust list.
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| Altuzarra: Set of 4 Old Fashioned Glasses - $49.99, Shaker - $49.99, and Tray $79.99 |
Jason Wu Ornaments. The details on the gold top and bottom are beyond. And these are rather substantial feeling as well. They are so pretty. But at $49.99 for all three, this is definitely a gift item. This is for that friend who you know absolutely loves the holidays, and would cherish these ornaments. Or this would be perfect if you know someone having a holiday wedding. Talk about a keepsake gift that can be passed down! But it is just too much of an extravagance to buy for yourself. Well for me anyway. But soo pretty, I'll keep lusting unless someone deems me worthy.
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| Jason Wu Ornaments - $49.99 for the set of three |
Tracy Reese Dessert Plates - $29.99 for a set of 4
There are other items as well, (more than 50 in total), but beyond those, above, I really had no desire for anything besides the lace dress. But since I know, and you know that I would be reviewing the clothing items here, I grabbed a few items to try on. There are more clothing items, but I really had no desire to try them on like I normally would. I was still getting over my sinusy eye situation and was exhausted, so my goal was to go get the lace dress and get out of Target and come home and go back to bed.
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| Items I grabbed to try on. |
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| Skaist Taylor Faux Fur Vest - $79.99 |
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| Rag and Bone Sweater - $69.99 |
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| Lela Rose Dress - $99.99 |
Robert Rodriguez Lace Dress. The dress I went for! LOVE! It is exactly what I thought it would be! I heard it ran small, so I grabbed it in a 4 and it was just a little too big. So I went back out and grabbed a 2. I was too lazy to take my jeans off this go round. The 2 is on the left in the picture below and the 4 is on the right. the downside is that there is a zipper issue with this dress. There is so much material between all the dress layers, lace and waist ribbon that in that one spot all that material on either side of the zipper pulls it to the sides making it hard to impossible to zip. You need to try several different dresses to find one with a good zipper. I am also hearing there is sizing discrepancy with this piece, one size 2 can fit perfectly and the next be too small or too big. So you may need to grab a few to try on if you really want this dress. This is so dressy and definitely needs a special occasion. But it is classic and definitely showcases Robert Rodriguez's design esthetic. He actually has another dress with an almost identical top in his black label line and does several other lace pieces. I love that it has his influence in the design of this dress. I am planning on a perfect occasion for this dress, or at least the cruise we are going on in January for Nakizzle's Quinceañera. If I wasn't already married to Juan, I would marry him in this dress!
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| Robert Rodriguez Lace Dress - $99.99 |
Robert Rodriguez Ribbon Shirt. I saw this shirt in the lookbook and my first thought was that it has about 6 too many rows of lacey ribbon down the front! No thank you! But then when I saw it on the hanger, I couldn't not try it on. Juan agreed. Then I put it on. Oh my! It buttons in the front all the way up to the neck. No thanks! I really like it open like this. Add a leather jacket to this outfit and I'm good to go! I sent Juan a text of this pic and his response was "Heck Yeah!" Done!
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| Robert Rodriguez Ruffle Shirt - $79.99 |
I loved the fur vest so much I wore it out that night! I could live in this vest!
Overall I think the collab is great, however a bit on the pricey side for Target. I'm not sure it is going to be as big of a hit with the high price point of the items. Some items seemed overpriced, while others seemed OK, but I just think that when I go to Target, I go there to get cute items at the Target price. I get that this is Target and Neiman Marcus coming together and the prices are in between each stores normal price points, but I still feel that for Target, it may be a miss. I am not looking for necessarily long term items when I shop at Target. If I buy a picture frame I want to have it for a few years until I redecorate. A dress? Perhaps a few seasons before I move on. I feel like Target may be alienating their customer base with the price points in this collection. But I wanted that Robert Rodriguez dress so bad, the store didn't matter, it was the dress I was after. Clearly for a little while I forgot I was at Target when trying these items on. So either Target is spot on with this collaboration and I am wrong about the price points, or I am a Target shopper anomaly and this will only be purchased by weirdos like me.
Did you go and check out the collection? Did you get anything? What did you think?
I love the lace dress! But I think I represent the one half of the target shopper who would never pay more than like $40 for a dress like that, especially from target. The other half of target shoppers, like at the target I go to in Atlanta, are very wealthy and drive the Cadillacs in the parking lots, they were all perusing the collection with intent to buy. Most of the stuff was little girl dresses it seemed, kind of weird to buy something so pricey for a child, I think, but I am not the shopper type that is interested in this collection. I want pjs for $6 and some tomatoes, and of course clearance nail polish!
ReplyOMG you made me laugh! I love the comment "I want pjs for $6 and some tomatoes, and of course clearance nail polish!" HA! HA! I laugh, because it is sooo true! I am a huge Target fanatic, but I do like nice clothes too. I find it weird that I am paying the same for clothes at Target that I would at Macy's. But I get what they are trying to do. The quality of these items in materials and workmanship is much higher than what you normally find at Target, but I think most Target shoppers aren't going to take the time to look at the materials, their just going to look at the price and walk away.
Nope, didn't even bother to look. First of all for practical reasons Target gets a lot of my housewares budget, but they can never be bothered to include plus sizes in their "Designer" collabs. Secondly anything I am halfway interested in, I will likely be able to pick up on an end cap sale when buying necessities.
ReplyI wonder why they never provide smaller or larger sizes? I know it has been voiced to them so many times, no size 00 or 0 and nothing over 14. I don't get it. Apparently if you aren't between a 2-14, you could care less about fashion. I would love to see that changed. These supposedly will not go on sale at all. Let's see if that rumor is true!
I was browsing through this the other day. I thought the items were gorgeous, but definitely on the pricey side. I did LOVE this ivory toddler baby doll dress. Once I looked at the price, $99.99!!! WHAT?! For a kid that will be able to wear it maybe 3 months?! And that Alice and Olivia bicycle was adorable! I wish I would have seen the Rag and Bone sweater. I might have snatched that one up! Love the vest you ended up with! Looks like it was made for you!
ReplyI couldn't believe how pricey the girls dresses were! Although when my girls were little, I did spend $50 on dresses for the holidays for them, I would get their pics taken and then they would wear that one dress to every holiday event, so 3-4 times each year. So I felt that was worth it, but I don't even like to spend $100 on a dress for them now and their teenagers! LOL!
I was just like you... so excited the second I heard about this Target/Neiman Marcus collaboration months back! I got up early and was at Target the minute it opened... there were a handful of items I really loved, but I agree that most things were way over priced (ex. Marc Jacobs scarf) - after all it is Target! Everything you bought looks great on you (and Juan:)!
ReplyOMG yes the scarf was what $60 or $70? It is a cashmere/wool blend, which is why it is so expensive. And it is sooo soft! But for FL, it is just not a necessity! Well a scarf is just one of those things I cap out at about $20. LOL!