So unless you've been living under a rock (or are in medical residency like a lot of my friends :-p), you've probably seen the ads, heard the buzz, or walked into a Target store and seen the pieces themselves. This collection has been distinctly polarizing. Most people either adore it or hate it. I think it was aimed at a slightly younger and bolder audience than previous Target collabs, for whatever that's worth. What this means is that many of the pieces come with short hemlines, eye-popping prints, and textured fabrics.
My first impression of the lookbook was decidedly negative. Target unfortunately layered printed pieces over printed pieces, creating a cacophony of prints that hurt my eyes. I like prints, color blocking, and bold colors, but one trend I just cannot get into is print mixing. Styles like these make me cringe a little:
I can't be the only one that wishes Target had made a full bodysuit out of the lace sleeve material in these two looks and sold them as separates, right? Then people could choose to wear the lacy sleeves or not.
As usual, I ordered everything I thought I would want as soon as it went live, then woke up at a reasonable hour and moseyed into Target (rather than stand in line at 7 AM). My goal was basically to get the moto jacket, something in the red iris print, and something in the purple floral print, and that was all. There was still a really nice selection left, although the smallest sizes were gone in many of the pieces. My impressions upon seeing the pieces in person were...
1) All the prints were much cuter in person. Still, I shied away from the louder ones and the mixed pieces. Stripes mixed with floral? No thanks. That yellow-green dress with lace sleeves in addition to two different prints, pictured above? Not for me. But I appreciated how much nicer they were in person and saw lots of other girls looking cute in them. For myself, I really only liked two of the many prints: the red iris and the purple floral.
2) The fabrics were quite varied, but the most interesting pieces unfortunately had fabrics that I thought were hideous. I'm talking about the moto jacket (actually the only item I really loved from the lookbook and thought I'd keep), the romper, the strapless dress, and the purple tank dress. The fabrics were crepe-like, with an odd shiny texture that I just did not love at all. I guess Peter Pilotto uses textured fabrics in his real collection, but I dunno...hopefully they translate better in more expensive fabrics, because these just did not impress me at all in the cheap synthetics that Target is notorious for. I'm all for saving money with inexpensive fabrics, but sometimes designer looks don't translate well to budget fabrics, unfortunately.
3) There were major fit issues. More so than any Target collection that I recall. I didn't try on a lot of these but kept hearing the same complaints over and over again from my online friends. Here are the issues I can remember off the top of my head:
-the purple floral bodycon dress was ridiculously slim in the hips and loose on top
-the strapless iris dress ran tiny in the bust but large in the waist
-the high-low dress was too short in front (even on someone I saw who's 5'2"!)
-the romper was scandalously short...more on that later...
-the printed shorts looked like a big ol' diaper on everyone
-the wrap-style skirts were snug and unforgiving in the hips, requiring people to size up 2-3 sizes
-the bustier-style bikini top had huge cups with a more true-to-size, if not small, band
-the one-piece swimsuit was disastrously short in the torso
-the vertically striped ruffle dress was shapeless in the middle
4) The most universally coveted pieces, those pretty little flared dresses, had a horrendously poofy layer of stiff tulle that I would have cut out immediately had I bought the dresses. The poof adds volume to the backside on everyone, and the dresses look so much better without it. The models didn't seem to have any tulle in their dresses, but it just magically appeared in real life. Blah. Between this and the fit issue with the bust of the strapless, they turned out to be the most disappointing pieces for many people. Neither of these dresses were really on my list because I typically have a more casual style, and a girl only needs so many fancy party dresses.
Yet despite all of these caveats, I was strangely drawn to many more of the pieces than expected. Here's what I'm keeping:
1) The moto jacket. I could go on and on about how much I loathe the fabric...but everything else about this piece is just sublime. The cut is feminine and edgy, the colorblocking makes my heart sing, the colors themselves are cool and subdued in comparison to the louder prints in this line, and the belt hits my natural waist perfectly (normally Target tops are way too short for my excessively long torso). Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
2) The sunglasses. I didn't think the round shape would work well on my face, but they were really fun and much cuter than expected. They seem well-made, not lopsided or too light, like some cheap sunglasses can be. I loved the red but not the black and white pattern. They'll go nicely with my new red hair. (Not pictured.)
3) Two tank tops: the purple floral peplum and the red iris racerback. The peplum fit impeccably and was a nice soft cotton blend with a criss-cross design under the bust. Something about that print makes everyone's chest look voluptuous too! The red iris tank ran big but will be a great spring/summer piece to wear with skinny jeans. Or these white straight jeans I'm wearing. Everything in this collection seems to look great with white pants.
4) The romper. I was somewhat curious after seeing the lookbook and instantly drawn to it in person, but nixed it after trying on my regular size because it was WAY too short. So short that when I took a picture in the fitting room, I draped my jacket over the backs of my legs because I didn't want to see the backs of my upper thighs in the mirror on the opposite wall. And nobody else wants to see them either...so back to the rack it went. A few days later I tried on one that was 2 sizes larger and was pleasantly surprised at how much longer it was. It wasn't that much looser, and I realized I actually liked the slightly looser look. I should mention that it seemed to make my gargantuan hips and booty magically vanish in both sizes - something about the slightly A-line cut of it. I'll wear it with Spanx/bike shorts for additional modesty, since I'm still not 100% comfortable with the length. Also, a fitted black tee will help to camouflage the looseness of the top part and avoid visible bra, and a belt cinches the waist nicely.
Overall, I'm happy with my haul despite seeing the overall collection as somewhat disappointing. The facts that I could completely skip most of the prints and that the most expensive pieces were not for me were great for my wallet. And I really love the ones I picked up. Ironically it was kind of refreshing that I disliked a lot of the pieces, because that way I didn't have to pick and choose which ones to keep among a multitude of pieces I liked. Not bad!
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