Sunday, May 1, 2011

Crazy for Calypso!


Good morning, dear readers! The title of my post isn't just referring to me. It's referring to the half a dozen other women who were waiting outside my local Target store for it to open at EIGHT AM to swarm the Calypso St. Barth racks. I kid you not! And before I offer up my review of the goods, I have to mention one particularly whackadoo woman, who looked like an old Heidi Klum (in that at one point, say 20+ years ago, she was probably as beautiful as Heidi....but years of sunbathing has turned this chick brown and wrinkly :-( She had Heidi's body, but lost her skin tone decades ago. Nonetheless, she was scantily-clad in a tiny white sundress, and took it upon herself to load up her ENTIRE CART with Calypso clothes. Seriously, this woman probably had between $800-$1,000 worth of goods in her cart. I almost asked her "are you one of those people who gobble this stuff up to re-sell on ebay?"

But I digress. Despite the fact that greedy old Heidi had filled her cart, there was still plenty of Calypso for me to peruse. My overall review is an enthusiastic "thumbs up!" There's a lot of options, in many sizes; check online for offerings in Petite and Plus sizes as well.

Here's a rundown of what I bought:
* The Print Dress in Turquoise (which I liked so much, I also ordered the one in Cerise Queen, which is only available online).

* The Woven Shirt in Navy Blue. Looks really plain on the web site, but it's really cute once you get it on. This will be perfect for summer with white jeans.

* The Cuffed Linen Shorts in Chelsea Gray (which is more of a taupe or a tan, IMO). This is another item only available online. I tried these on in white at the store, and they were just a little too transparent, so I ordered them online in gray instead.

* This bright, Tie-dyed Scarf.... which according to Target's web site, is actually in girl's sizing, but I found it hanging in the women's section.

Regarding sizing: as with most of Target designer collaborations, it varies. I sized down in the print dresses I bought, and the t-shirts seemed large as well. But some of the other dresses seemed true to size or even a bit snug. Also, some of the cottons and silks are borderline see-thru. With nude undergarments, I'll be able to get away with wearing the print dresses as-is, but some people might feel more comfortable with a slip or a cami underneath. This was true for many of the Calypso items, and even the knit t-shirts are quite thin.

Other thoughts....

Jewelry & Accessories:

My Target didn't have the jewelry out yet (boo!) so I can't comment first hand on those items. They did have (in the Health & Beauty section) some lovely hair accessories, especially these Shell ponytail holders (at just $5.99 each!) and Mother of Pearl bobby pins (at $7.99).

Home items:
My Target had precious few of the home items out yet, but I did see in the infamous Pouf that so many bloggers have been writing about. While it's not my style, it looked cute.

Intimates/Sleepwear:
This stuff was nice, but nothing that I just had to have. One note on the "short robe" : it's really short. As in, I don't really consider it a robe. In fact, if you wanted to, you could ditch the tie, add a real belt, cinch it over a cami and wear it as a top.

For Mother's Day (which is just around the corner!) there are several great options I scoped out as gifts, including scarves, totes, and makeup bags. I bought the darling pink scarf & straw tote for my mom (shown above) which was included in the Calypso lookbook but I cannot find for sale online. I'm predicting this item be a sellout since there were 6 when I walked into the store, and when I went back to the shelf later I nabbed the last one.

9 comments:

Brittany said...

I bought the woven shirt in navy blue as well, but the first one I tried on had come undone in the seams where it cinches at the waist and luckily they had a second one in my size, but I'm going to resew over it just in case. I took the risk because it's perfect for so many different summer occasions.
The silk items are really nice and soft, but very very thin. The wrap dress was unusually heavy I thought considering how thin some of the other items were. They didn't have the orange and white pocket tee at my target, but I ordered it online when I got home. All in all a great collection!

aly marie said...

i was the only one waiting outside my target. i ordered the gold poufs this morning at 12 (since they were only avail in store in silver. boo!) but i wanted to see the quality of the clothing in person. ended up with the silk blue top, orange tie-dye t, tie-dye robe (which i'm going to wear as a top, the elephant teapot (on the fence as i don't really need it), and i came home and ordered the pink caftan online because it wasn't in the stores yet even though it's listed as being available in stores on the site.

everything else was "eh" for me. i may go back and get the tie-dye maxi dress and the blue dress if they go on sale...i spent about an hour and a 1/2 wandering around and when i passed by the clothing racks again everything was in its place and no one was really looking at it. i have a feeling there's going to be lots of leftover clothing like liberty of london.

aly marie said...

oh and i stopped at another target on the way home just to see if they had anything different, and they had maybe 1/4 of what the target i originally went to had. no home stuff, no bags, no jewelry...only a few tops and dresses. so glad i didn't go there first.

Fashion Trend Guide said...

I wanted to try on the turquoise dress you mentioned, but my store didn't have it. Same goes for the caftan in pink. I was happy that I found the elephant chain belt and silver metallic pouf in my store, though. Based upon my observations while shopping, the teapot and pendant necklaces were the most popular. I also snagged my mom a Mother's Day gift, so I'm happy! I wrote a review of the collection with fitting room photos. Here is the link in case you'd like to read it: http://bit.ly/jycJTO

sarah said...

My store did not have that turquoise dress either. It appears it is not being stocked in my area.

I actually had fantastic time in the girls' department. I picked up the Girls' Woven Sleeveless Dress in aqua. It was only $16.99 and is a fantastic cotton/silk blend. I will wear as a tunic and the girls XL fit me wonderfully.

Target Addict said...

Thanks to all that commented! And Sarah, I neglected to mention the girls' items, but I did check them out in store (even though I have no need for them) and thought they were all super-cute!

Sweet Lily said...

Absolutely fantastic!
I'll introduce this blog to my wife. :)

andrea said...

Today is my birthday and my husband...without any prompting from me bought me the tie dye maxi dress. Online, it says it's pink but it's actually bright red and white. I absolutely LOVE it. I still need to go in and check out the rest of the collection, but this dress is certainly a keeper.

Soigne1908 said...

Frankly, what I'm liking is that online, you can find plus sizes. I just ordered the multicolor tiered maxi skirt. I think this is the first time any of Target's design collaborations appeared in plus.