Tuesday's Rant: Target Strikes Out....Twice

Each Tuesday I take the opportunity to rant about something I do not like about Target…because although I love ‘em to death, they ain’t perfect. It is with a heavy heart that I report this, but Target has struck out not once, but twice, with their recent designer offerings.

The first strike is for their latest Go International line that is designed entirely in-house vs. hiring name designers the likes of Tara Jarmon or Patrick Robinson as they’ve done in the past. I blogged about this last week, and then on Friday I saw the goods first-hand on the store floor. Bottom line is, the news isn’t good. The Private Label offerings look cheap, shoddy, and poorly constructed. Not to mention the bizarre color combinations, such as ballet pink with dove gray (Hello! Last time I saw that color combo was circa 1986!) and charcoal with mustard yellow (which is just plain icky). There were a few pieces that would look good on a tall, thin, supermodel-type, like the pleated-front/racer-back tank top in icy silver. And there is a one-shoulder jersey dress in electric blue (pictured) that would work great as a cute beach cover up…but as an actual dress? Forget it; the material is far too thin and flimsy.

The second strike comes for the much ballyhooed Joy Gryson purse line. I was really hoping that this collection would outshine the mediocre Loeffler-Randall line which I wasn’t crazy about. But I hate to report that it’s actually WORSE. Picture the woven Randall line…only more poorly constructed, with larger woven pieces (which could easily get snagged) made out of cheaper materials, with badly sewn zippers. Seriously, these bags did not even hang well on the racks! If I were Joy Gryson, I would be embarrassed; her name is not only on the nameplate on the bag, but also on the (aforementioned crappy) zipper pulls.

All in all, both lines were a disappointment, and did not give me a warm-fuzzy about Target’s future designer offerings.