Despite the fact that
Target allegedly had "quantity limits" on the amount of
Phlllip Lim items bought in store and online, the
eBay vultures have already posted
over 1,500 items for resale. And almost 1,000 of those items are the coveted bags that were the first to sell-out. These quantities will no doubt increase throughout the day as folks drag their hauls home to post online at greatly inflated prices. The most obnoxious example thus far is this
3.1 Phillip Lim for Target men's leather jacket (shown) which retails for $299 but has an asking price on eBay of $750 (OBO). It's truly sad that The Bullseye can't seem to stop the secondary market on their designer collabs, but the best tact to take is to not give in to the eBay vultures and pay their outrageous prices.
19 comments:
Target could totally limit people's purchases to 2 per person if they really wanted to stop the vultures.
Well if people want something, they'll find a way to get it. Even when it's marked up 3-4 times the original asking price. I knew this was going to happen, and the little yellow satchel I had my eye on is no longer available. I opted for the grey medium sized satchel instead (online only item), which I ordered this morning at 3AM. As for me, I wouldn't pay $200 for a polyurethane handbag just because it has a designer label on it. Can you believe people are trying to sell Versace for H&M at full Versace price?!
I was excited about this collaboration, until I checked out the pieces and upon closer inspection decided that only a few items were worth having. Other than a few handbags, the green shirt, and sky blue trouser pant, it didn't grab me.
To tell you the truth, I'm nit sure what I was expecting.
I love Target, but I am totally done with these collab deals. It has a designer name on a Target quality item. And the craziness that goes on is just ridiculous.
Suzy, I agree with you on many points. Many of the collabs just feel like a Merona item with a designer label. Still, I think Target tries too hard to make every collab a hit, when it's a miss. What was the Kate Young collab about? I only purchased a clutch after it was marked down to about 5 bucks. I didn't really see myself paying 20 dollars for it anyway.
The Missoni stuff is still my favorite. My dress, gloves, scarf, shoes, and weekender bag have held up nicely. I definitely think that they wanted them to feel like designer items.
Jason Wu was good too, but I only got a couple of dresses and ended up scoring the straw clutch for 10 bucks on Poshmark. Prabal didn't do it for me. The sizing was way off. I had one of the dresses and I ended up getting rid of it because it was just all kinds of wrong. The availability of items I did want was just as with the Phillip Lim stuff, nonexistent. PG shoes looked cute, but felt really cheap and for 40 bucks I wasn't taking the bait.
I think they have to look at the quality of the items they sell if they are going to carry the designer name on them. I purchased three items from the Narciso Rodriguez collection at Kohl's (clearance rack!),which I love and do not feel like cheap pieces of cloth strung together. I missed out on Duro Olowu at JCP. Well I can't win them all.
I agree with pretty much all your points, readers!
Queen Elizabeth: some past designer collabs (like Rogan, Liberty of London and McQ) have used natural fabrics like cotton and silk, so I can't see why Target can't try to incorporate more quality materials into their merchandise.
In particular, I'm interested to check out the quality of the Lim bags (once the ones I ordered have arrived). I realize they aren't real leather, but you make a good looking vinyl bag. Unfortunately, IMO, Target hasn't had a good designer bag collab since Rafe (and that was over 5 years ago...)
I tried on several things in the store and came away with one item I am super happy with, which is the funky shirt dress - and it's what I suspected would work on me anyway. I'm mulling over the black dress with collar detail just because it's a little long for my torso. Looks better with a belt, but is it worth it?
CLEARLY the bags were the hot ticket because they look so much like his actual line. And although I have some of that "hot potato" desire of wanting what everybody else wants, I know I don't really want a pleather bag - and I likely wouldn't use it. I adore my coated canvas Orla Kiely bag I got on sale and would rather opt for another one of those or ideally a Jonathan Adler canvas bag on sale (even though the yellow bags were very cute.) Need to be reasonable.
So only the shirt dress was a solid match for me. The navy sequin dress = too Nancy Kerrigan/Michelle Kwan (would be good for ice dancing, actually). Trench coat = huge and bulky - even in XS. Sweater with attached skirt = won't even try it on because I'll look like one of the Olsen twins trying to stylishly drown in an outfit. It's like I'm too petite and short to fill out some of the stuff, but then I have a little too much meat to look waifish and willowy in the drapey stuff...
Luckily i live in a small city on the south, so there isnt the insanity a lot of you deal with. I did notice, though, on tne yellow bag that the blavk edge was already worn off in some places. And the handles on one bag had huge flaws on them. Apparently there are quality issues, but i guess for a $35 bag what do you expect?
Ack! The typos! That is what happens when I type too fast on the ipad.
Another colab bust for me. I went early to take a look at the men's offerings, and there was nothing in the en's department at all. It turns out that they don't even bother putting the men's clothes in the men's department. So I wandered over to the Philip Lim display in the women's and there was literally 5 items and NONE of it worth my time. I am not even going to look for the remaining items at other stores because the men's pieces are just boring. The quality is fine, but these are just not things I would ever add to my wardrobe. One shirt looks like it came from Chess King early 90's, and the rest are just sweats. I will just stick to the fashion forward items from H&M if I want anything more than basics on the cheap.
Also I went looking for the halloween costumes that should have been out the same morning, including the hysterical Chris March "wigs". They hadn't even bothered to put up the Halloween section yet. So I may go to another store today to see if they have anything out.
Critifur - AAHHAAHAHAHA! You wrote CHESS KING! All I can think if is a Justin Timberlake/Andy Samberg collab! That made my day.
Critifur, you are TOO funny! I haven't thought about CHESS KING in years! I think they went out of business in the mid-90's, so I checked online, and I was right.
For those unfamiliar with the chain, read this hilarious recap on the retail experience that was called "Chess King": http://the80srule.blogspot.com/2006/01/and-what-of-chess-king.html
By the time I made my way over to Target this past Sunday, there wasn't much left, but what was there was nothing I would ever buy. I didn't like what I saw when the look book was out of it. I did however want to see the handbags, but the sales person said they were gone in 9 min flat when they opened the door. I too am DONE with all their collaborations. The last and best one was Liberty of London. Missoni was neat too but that is where it all went down hill, as far as the vultures....so dear Target, I'm over it!
I finally made it in person to my local Target today (Redwood City, CA) and there was a decent amount of women's clothing left: several of the navy sequin dress, the black sheath dress, the blue sheath dress, the floral shirt dress, the sequin-trim blouse in black as well as in white, and the drop-waist sweater dress. There were also 5-6 of the "BOOM" sweater in size XL. The men's rack looked fully stocked, as if no one had touched it. Handbags were no where to be found. I was able, however, to get both the floral peplum top and the black sequin trimmed peplum top in my size, which I had hesitated to order online yesterday. Both seem of excellent quality - much better than prior Target collabs.
I am glad I can make people laugh!
I tried a second store, and they had a few more pieces, including a the men's trench, which was very nice, and the black high tops, which were not. I thought I might get the trench on sale if it is still around.
They also had the Chris March wigs, but only a couple of styles, and not the two I was looking for. So off to another store...
At my third Target, they had NO Philip Lim at all. Nada. But what I found instead made it worth going. A very stylish Merona jacket in a waxed cotton: http://tiny.cc/vnfl3w
Much better than a tired trench. Hasn't almost every colab produced s trench at this point. And of course why buy the Philip Lim version when Merona has one too in same store, and it is $30 less? I am really unsure if any of the designers actually design anything from these collaborations, because honestly, I never see anything fresh and new from these productions. The Philip Lim menswear is sweats, a 50's leather motorcycle jacket one could get anywhere, same with the trench, The Chess King shirt, plastic high tops and so on.
So at least I am super happy with my Merona jacket.
And this store doesn't carry the wigs nor any adult costumes. HUH. Oh well. I guess I won't spend $20 on a foam wig, which, considering how easy it would be to make my own, it's s good thing.
Critifur, I agree with you: there's nothing special about the mens offerings from Phillip x Target. And the shoes are a joke; I've been to 3 Target stores this week, and every one has three dozen of those pleather hi-tops. That's going to be the biggest "leftover" from this collab to hit the clearance racks.
I like your Merona waxed jacket; it reminds me of the one Odin NY for Target from last year, which I bought my teenage son and he literally lives in.
And I'm not sure which Chris March wig you're looking for, but some (not all) are available on Target.com.
Such great comments! I wound up with the print shirtdress, navy skirt, green shirt and green sweater shirt, black sequined dress, khaki trench, and little grey bag. The trench was really baggy and that's going back. I think the blouses are, too. The shoulders on the trench and shirt are very broad and I have pretty broad shoulders. The shoulder treatment on the blouses is a little weird, too but the blouse looks cute tucked into the skirt, so we'll see. There were no bags left by the time I got to target at 8:30 but another shopper that I'd been talking to earlier found a stray and gave it to me :-) . There are nice shoppers. I loved Missoni and picked up a pair of PG shoes (spiky, cute and comfortable) but everything has been spotty in quality. HOWEVER, I did get the Kate Young polka dot dress and it is quite fabulous - it saved me when I had a Napa dinner party occasion.
My store (the Bronx) has a lot of the clothes, most of which I am not too impressed with. Yesterday they put out some new stock-the scarves, which have a huge bullseye logo on them, no thanks, and a few of the large black totes. The totes don't look that great to me. They look vinyl and I would never carry one. I don't understand the ebay markup.
I am extremely disappointed as I placed an online order for a Phillip Lim bag, and now Target sent me an email stating that they will not be able to fill the order. Instead, they are mailing me an gift card for $100.
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