Finally Someone Pays Me to Shop! (Plus a Quick Trip to Target)

I got a call from a market research firm the other day. They ask me lots of question about buying hair care products and where I like to shop and whatnot and said they'd call me back in five minutes to tell me if I qualified for any upcoming studies. I figured it would be one of those sit-around-a-table deals where you get free bad dinner and have to spend three hours talking about what you like in plastic shampoo bottles.

Instead they asked if I could meet them at Sephora and talk about my shopping experience there. I was all over that. I took the day off work, got to sleep a little later than usual, and met two market researchers at The Mall. I picked up a few items I was out of as I chatted with the ladies. Then we cruised The Mall, talked about what catches my eye in a window and why I like the Aveda store and hate the Mac store. Then we drove to a nearby CVS, discussed hair products and makeup, and I bought some mousse. It took one hour and they paid me $175 to run my errands and talk about my favorite activity--I hope they call back!

I had some spare time, so I got a pedicure with my birthday girl pal, and stopped in Target on my way to the gym. I had purchases a long white belted Isaac Mizrahi sweater with pretty pearl buttons a couple weeks ago. What was I thinking? Long? White? Belted? I returned it and in approximately seven minutes found two more sweaters, and a dress and a top from the Go line. There was no specific designer attached to the Go items currently in the store (Rogan is winding down and Richard Chai is gearing up), but I liked what they had going on. Lots of flowers and ruffles--and I'm a sucker for both these days.

Here's the dress. It's very fun and vintagey and cute on. Short but not too short, and quite figure flattering. (Cheapy Jr. doesn't care for it, but he's four--what does he know? He's quite the fan of my Chick Flick Cherry toenails, however.)


This is the top I got. It's very similar in style--floral and ruffly--and I probably should have gotten one or the other, but I couldn't decide and I like them both, so now they are both in my closet. Note that both of these items look better in person than they do in these photos. I don't know what it is about the Target website, but they really don't do their clothing justice.


Check out the exposed silver zipper up the back--that was the clincher.


The other items a got were a couple of cropped cardigans. I can't get enough of them for summer. It's hot outside; it's freezing in my office. A mini cardi is the perfect thing to keep the chill off my arms and shoulders and not eclipse my entire summer outfit. They also fit into my bag quite nicely. I must have close to a dozen at this point--a few from Anthropologie, a couple from Old Navy, and four of the exact same one from Target in different colors. Have you all noticed I collect things?

My Dressing Room Reorganization Project (Yay!)

You may remember my post about the mess that was my dressing room--shoe boxes and baskets of accessories everywhere! It was driving me completely crazy and making me run late in the morning. I could never find the shoes I was looking for, boxes fell over every time I opened the bottom drawer of my dresser, and my bracelets kept ending who-knows-where because I'd knock them over and lose them in the black whole of disarray.

To refresh your memory, here are a few Before photos:




Mess, mess, and mess. But no more! I finally got the shelving units I ordered from Pottery Barn Kids and I put them together on Sunday. Now check out the beautiful neat-o-rama I've got going on:


You can see the carpet!


My necklaces are now stored neatly in bamboo cutlery holders from Cost Plus World Market. (They had the same ones at Target for around the same price but Target seemed to only have two of anything and World Market had a million or so.)


The trays slide into three flat shelves that also have room for cigar boxes filled with other treasures. Shoes boxes are below.




I have more shoe storage in big cubes on the other side.



Bracelets are in easy reach in a World Market basket. The basket on the right has every extra button from every garment I've purchased in the last decade. I have yet to replace one, but I sleep better at night knowing they're there if I ever need them. (They're topped with a necklace that wouldn't fit anywhere else).


I even have room for some books and copies of Vogue. (Aren't the little mice I got from Trailer Park in Brooklyn adorable?)

Trying on Rogan for Target's Go Collection

I finished up a big project at work today in the early afternoon so I decided to take the rest of that day off and hit Target them the gym. (Conveniently, Target is practically right next to my gym.) Recently the latest Go collection was released from guest designer Rogan Gregory. (Read about his eco-friendliness--and view his formidable facial hair--here.)

Rogan's collection was released about a week ago (and it didn't seem as picked over as the Jovovich-Hawk offerings I perused at the same Target store the day after they'd come out). I like the overall look of the collection. The colors are mostly soft and muted or black (with a random yellow or bright blue thrown in), lots of animal prints and lots of linen. Here are a few things I tried on.




The zebra top was, of course, way too long for me. It's one of the many items I've tried on in my lifetime that I would have purchased had I been taller. Interesting details in the buttons--they are distressed metal with a random hot pink one--something that only you would know was going on if you wore the top buttoned--fun! (There are lots of surprising buttons in this collection.) The blazer--also too long or I would have taken it home. It fit nicely and I love the leopard fabric showing through the light gauzy fabric--what a subtle way to do animal print.




I had to try on the black romper--how can one resist a romper? (I remember the light purple one I had in eighth grade. It had flowers embroidered at the neckline. I always wore it over a green polo shirt. It was wonderfully hideous, and, unfortunately, captured in a number of photos. I wore it the same year I cut my own bangs within an inch of their life. Actually they were only about an inch long. Thirteen--not my most attractive age.) Well I seriously thought about buying this romper. It fit pretty well. But I decided I am indeed too old to wear such an item of clothing, even if it's not purple. The linen babydoll dress is a nice fabric. I'm so over billowy babydoll silhouettes, though. Not a good look on me. (It does have pockets, however, which is groovy feature in a dress.)




These two silk dresses are the same cut in different fabrics. I carried the leopard print one too and from three different trips to the dressing room before deciding against it. Every time I try on something silk at a store it seems to be static crazy. It was so hard to tell how this dress would drape because it was stuck to me. (I've had this problem in Macy's a few times. Stores must be super electric. The last silk dress I bought was fine once I got it home.) Also note that these models are tall. These dresses hit me at the knee.




I dig these striped items--but not on me. I'm always a sucker for a wrap dress, but this linen number was cut weird in the shoulders. It was a tad line-backer-ish on. And the mini skirt was not so mini. This might have worked well if I had been able to try on the correct size, but this item was almost sold out. (The belt is striped linen on one side and animal print fabric on the other.)




It's hard to tell in this image, but the halter dress above is a black-on-black zebra print. They didn't have my size (note: these run really small), so I hit a computer in the Target and purchased the dress right there in the store before I left. Target is offering free shipping for purchases over $50, which I took advantage of as I also ordered a pink with gold stitching Issac Mizrahi dress that was sold out in my size in the store as well. It's really much prettier in person than in this picture and I had to have it. (I'll miss Issac's dresses when he's done with Target. )

Jovovitch-Hawk for Target, Part 2

The Jovovitch-Hawk for Target items are already showing up on eBay. There seem to be plenty left on Target.com. Why anyone would be these item on eBay at this point is beyond me. And this phenomenon annoys me. Are people running to the stores when a new GO line emerges to buy up items solely for resale on eBay? No wonder they get so picked over so fast. For shame, you opportunistic people. Leave our in-store selection be!

Jovovitch-Hawk for Target Online Now

I was pretty excited when I heard that the next Target GO line would be designed by Jovovich-Hawk. The line debuts online today!

I checked it out in store yesterday and came home with three items, and would likely have purchased more if they have not already been picked over--there were a number of items that were practically sold out, and I heard the Target employees complaining about how often they were going back and forth from the dressing room to the GO display. It was hard to get to the racks at time--there were a lot of shoppers going through them.

Of all the GO lines I've seen, this is my favorite thus far. The items are fun and feminine and flirty. I bought these items yesterday (two of which I wore to my birthday party). And of course the prices are fab.


This is a tunic, but on I wore it as a mini dress with the star vest over it. (I'm only 5'2" so it was not scandalously short.) Its very soft and lovely to wear.


This is sheer and floaty and I love the detail at the end of the ties. This looks great under a vest.


The cut of this vest is so flattering. In addition to the star print, it comes in a linen chambray (which was no where to be found in store).



This tunic was practically gone in the my Target store--just one XS and XL left on the racks. It comes in blue as well. All about the buttons.


This dress is adorable--love the metallic pinstripes, which add a little sophistication and a little '80s vibe to the babydoll silhouette--and was also almost sold out in store.


This also seems to be selling like hotcakes. Only one was left in XL in my Target. I love the floaty layers.


This is a perfect top for spring and summer--very lightweight and well cut. I ordered one online because there were none left in my size. I wish I could have gotten one before my trip to Florida which is coming up on Tuesday.

Birthday Shopping with My Mom for Simply Vera at Kohl's

My mom is a big fan of Kohl's. She says: "It's such a nice store--it's clean and they have good stuff." Plus her best friend Mrs. Valentini works there. During one of her frequent trips to Kohl's, my mom saw a Simply Vera dress she thought I would like, so she wanted to take me there to try it on and possibly buy it for me for my upcoming birthday. Here it is.


Today, since I was off work for the holiday, we went to check out the dress. I didn't buy it--it was not structured enough for my shape, but I loved the pattern and I thought the fabric was very nice. I did come home with a few other Simply Vera by Vera Wang for Kohl's items. Pictured below are the anaorak and printed tee Mom bought me. I also got a plain lavender tee and a black embellished tee (neither of which I could find online).

This is much ruchier in person. The collar has adjustable ruching. The fabric is really thin and light. It will be perfect for warm rainy days in spring and it could probably fold up small enough to fit in my bag.

The cotton this tee is made of is super super soft and it's thin for layering. The gray-on-gray pattern is cool. I am really into gray lately.


Overall, I liked the current offerings of the Simply Vera line. Good shapes, good colors (a lot of black and gray, but some greens, yellows and purples thrown in here and there). Compared with the Target GO lines, the Vera pieces are more expensive (although a lot of them were marked down) but the Simply Vera garments seem to be of better quality than the GO items I've tried on. Here are a few more pieces I liked. (All are clickable to the item for sale online.)

This dip-dyed cardigan is a great color. (One cannot have too many cardigans.)

This cami has beautiful detail--even on the back.


This nice, crisp pin-tucked shirt in a good pale gray is a nice alternative to a white shirt. (It was sold out in my size.)

I like the color and pattern of this ruchey jersey shirtdress. (I love me some jersey.)


There were also a few cute and highly affordable Simply Vera bags.

This canvas shopper is nice for spring and comes in three colors.


I dig this ruched nylon tote, particularly in this buff color. (It's also available in black and khaki.)

My Field Trip to Fashion Design College

Today I took a field trip to my former college campus where I and my designer/co-worker/friend Claudean met with a fashion design professor named Margaret about some illustrations for a book. This was quite possibly my best field trip ever. Margaret has worked in fashion in some capacity for 40 years-ish. One wall in her office was lined floor to ceiling with fashion books and magazines, a number of which contained her illustrations. She had framed portraits of vintage Barbie dolls. I could have spent hours there. What was she wearing, you ask? Black head to toe, with funky glasses, the lenses topped with red flourishes. She piled on half a dozen thick black necklaces of varying lengths--chains, beads and the most awesome huge vintage bakelite cameo she picked up at an Indiana antique store. (A students asked if it came from Target! She was referring to the Dominique Cohen jewelry collection they currently carry, an example of which is pictured. Material Girl just set up an eBay favorite search for antique black cameos because now I must have one--or five.)

After our meeting, she gave us a tour during which we got to see all the budding fashion designers in action, pinning fabric onto dress forms as they worked on their themed lines. (Material Girl can barely sew on a button.)

We had tromped a bit through campus to get to the design college building, and pretty much everyone we passed wore the same outfit: jeans, t-shirt and hoodie. Not so with the design students. They were adept at layering and wearing hats and scarves and pops of color with confidence--a crinoline under demin here, a shocking yellow tee peeking out there. (When I was their age, my favorite wear-to-school outfit was my shiny leopard print leggings, my oversize black Jack Daniels sweatshirt, and black clunky boots with chains. I also had some rather big hair.)

Open Letter to Target

Dear Target,

You know I think you have a lot going for you. You're bright and shiny and clean and generally well-stocked. You've got hip-nifty ads. And you attract exciting up-and-coming guest designers for your Go collection. Patrick Robinson's stuff was nice. Libertine's was brightly odd. Now you've got Brit Alice Temperley and her black-and-gray-heavy, Victorian-ish collection. Many of these pieces seem good. They look wonderful on the models. They look nice on the hangers. But on me. In your not-the-best-lighting-having dressing room. Well, 95% of the time they miss.

Now here's the part that might hurt, but I love you and I owe it to you to say it: These collections...they look cheap. There's always something that's a little off. They don't hang well. There's a bumpy seam. Whatever. They don't hit the bulls-eye. I came close to purchasing an Alice Temperley collection top today. It had a nice scoop neck, good colors, a dash of metallic thread, would have been nice for layering, and it was $16.99. But something about it wasn't quite right. The shoulder seams, maybe. And it was itchy.

I guess it comes down to this: A $16.99 top is a $16.99 top; a $39.95 dress is a $39.95 dress. When it comes to clothing, more often than not, you get what you pay for. (eBay and clearance racks not withstanding.)

I do have an Isaac Mizrahi for Target striped seersucker sundress that I got on clearance for $24-ish. I've worn it a number of times, and it's darling and looks $20 shy of J.Crew. But I've tried on probably 20 other Isaac dresses that were so not good.

Your guest designers' lines always seem to sell well in the stores, so certainly many consumers do not agree with me. I'll continue to browse these lines in store and hope for that one piece that will flatter--and hope it's actually left in my size (like may darling Patrick Robinson medallion skirt with pockets). Soldier on.

--Material Girl

P.S. Right now Patrick Robinson and Libertine lines are on clearance online. I hope they sell well for you, Target. And I hope my fellow shoppers enjoy them.

P.S.S. Isaac is doing bridal now. Bridal? Hmmmm