Monday, February 1, 2016

My Review: Who What Wear

Yesterday I was able to view the new Who What Wear collection at Target, and in short, I wasn't impressed. First off, I almost missed it. At my local store, they placed the 3-4 racks of this line right in the middle of Womenswear, sandwiched somewhere between the Mossimo and Knox Rose brands. There was no oversized, overhead signage as with pasts major collabs; I think even the recent Adam Lippes collection had more fanfare. There were small signs (as shown here) on some of the racks, but blink and you'd miss them.

Shown here is a good representation of what's wrong with this line. At left is pretty royal blue linen t-shirt for $17.99. The issue, though, is that it's so paper-thin that you can't wear it without a cami underneath. Next, in the middle is a skinny black chiffon tie for $14.99. I wasn't sure WHAT this was supposed to be exactly until I checked back on Target's website - whether it was a belt or a neck tie - and it turns out it's a Skinny Scarf. This doesn't really make sense to me, because the only time I've seen these before were attached to the neckline of blouses (like on this Mossimo one). Then on the right, you'll see a bright floral pencil skirt for $27.99. What you can't see is how tiny the sizes look; I thought I was looking at a size 0 or 2, but the size tag on this super-narrow skirt was a 6. Likewise I saw an olive-green knit dress that looked like a size XS on the rack, and it turned out to be a L.

On the other end of the sizing scale, both the denim shirt dress (which I thought was a trench from the Lookbook) and the black/white shirt dress were so long that they literally came to my ankles (I'm 5'4, btw, so I'm short but not that petite). I also saw a bizarre pair of black cropped gaucho pants with a draped front (that they're dubbing a Front Wrap Culotte) that I can't imagine being flattering on anyone.

There were other pieces that weren't bad - in particular, this striped Bateau T-shirt for $19.99. Then again, it also wasn't anything special, and could have just as easily been from Merona. While I was checking out the racks, I saw just one other woman peruse the Who What Wear collection, then quickly move on to pick out things from other Target house brands.

For me, this collab is a big fat yawn, and I'll be passing on it. What did everybody else think? Will you be buying it, waiting for it to go on clearance first, or skipping it altogether?

4 comments:

Godiva said...

The bateau sweater looks interesting, but I have something similar from Loft. Maybe the denim pencil skirt, but sounds like sizing is all over the place so I would need to find one in store to try on. Hopefully later this week!

Stylewatcher said...

The cape blazer is amazing!! It's well constructed, fits wonderfully, and is right on tend. It's like a blazer with a twist. I also purchased the denim pencil shirt....they run tts.

Shopgirl888 said...

The skinny scarf makes perfect sense to me! Now that I have a score of fun if somewhat poofy infinity scarves to play with (after going on clearance at target last summer) the style industry has to do their best to CHANGE the style to the opposite.. . . small, skinny,non-infinity, so that I'll have to buy MORE scarves. Just wait. This summer I predict SKINNY SCARVES will be everywhere. Too bad. Not biting (yet).

Music said...

I'm with you, Target Addict. I wasn't impressed with most of this collection. I also didn't like the fabric quality on most of the non-cotton pieces. The two white-with-black-dot skirts had a more substantial fabric with nice silhouettes, but I found the pattern a bit too Cruella Deville...so ultimately a strike out for me...