Ladies, start your engines.

The crazed reaction to the Missoni for Target launch was clearly not anticipated or planned for, and as reported locally by Seattle Met and nationally by MSN and several other news outlets, online demand for the line actually crashed Target’s website and retail stores sold out of most items within minutes of opening, as evidenced by this shot of an emptied display:

This photo was taken at 8:15 AM, 15 minutes after the store opening.
This is what retail pandemonium looks like.

Women were literally piling carts (plural) full of whatever items they could get their mitts on, purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of items they couldn’t possibly have the use for (who needs galoshes in five different sizes?), and within hours of its launch, items from the Missoni for Target line were being sold on eBay at a huge markup (article at CNN). As harrowing as the whole experience was, it did help to drill a few things into my fashion consciousness as I took mental notes throughout the ordeal:

• I can die happy if I never see another ‘C’ insignia Coach bag ever again, authentic or otherwise. The garish hardware, the unnecessary detail, and especially the ones with that HIDEOUS patchwork pattern on them… ladies. Please. STOP.
• If I’m ever going to participate in an early-morning retail madhouse like this again, I’m joining a team. Apparently, going it alone was doing it wrong, as a solo shopper cannot transcend time and space to be in both the Bedding and Accessories departments at once. In retrospect, I should have formed alliances with the women standing around me in line to maximize our reach throughout the store. Hindsight.
• Kids seem to be a nuisance during any shopping excursion, but are even more of a hindrance to a heightened retail frenzy such as this. One woman had her infant strapped to her person in one of those Baby Bjorn sling things whilst wrangling items into a cart and surveying the apocalyptic scene unfolding before us. She looked frazzled and inconvenienced, and in desperate need of an adult beverage. Or a nanny.

In addition to the protips above, I also solidified my shopping strategy in general. I won’t shop online for Target stuff because the quality can be very inconsistent, and, as a general rule, I like to shop in retail stores to get things in my hands and look at the construction of the garment, feel the fabric, and, perhaps most important, try it on.

Although the look of the signature Missoni colorful zigzag pattern was good on the preview photos, the quality of the clothing pieces created for the designer capsule lines leaves much to be desired. Missoni is best known for its bright, patterned knits, and cheap knitwear will look good for approximately 4 seconds before it’s snagged, pulled, or looked at the wrong way before it unravels into a rayon heap. I stuck to the housewares and accessories for this one, making off with a few fun pieces:

Worth the hype?

Later on this week after work, recovering from post-traumatic retail stress syndrome and wanting to have a pleasant shopping experience, I was wandering about in Nordstrom and saw this spunky chick whose t-shirt made me smile:

Indeed, lady. Indeed.

Until next year’s Target capsule line, folks. Who will it be? I’m crossing my fingers for Marc Jacobs, Jonathan Saunders or Marimekko: hear that, Target execs?

-dau