*Unfortunately, the fabrications of A.N.D. seem cheaper and not as nice as Merona was. Case in point: this striped boatneck tee was thinner than identical offerings from Merona.
*Speaking of fabrics, it looks like A.N.D. is using more poly and spandex, whereas Merona would include cotton blends.
*Construction also seems off. In inspecting a lace-up tee by Merona, it had a lot more shape and style to it than the A.N.D. one, which just seemed boxy and shapeless.
* The sizing has shrunk. Again, using this tee as an example, I picked up what I thought was an XS or S, only to be shocked it was a M. So this style seems to run at least a full size smaller than the same top in Merona,
Furthermore, Target seems a bit schizophrenic in its Womens Department right now: you have Merona being phased out, A.N.D. brought in, Knox Rose for the boho set, Xhilaration for Juniors, and Who What Wear with their 'streetwear' (which I'm not feeling anymore - enough with the bizarre sleeves and fringe hems already!). I'll probably be gravitating more towards Mossimo than anything else at this point.
5 comments:
Totally agree with you on A New Day skewing smaller. I'm very loyal to both Merona and Mossimo and have been a standard Medium in their dresses -- I tried on a cute new A.N.D. dress yesterday and had to size up to an XL due to the armpit area being too tight and way too tight across the chest in both the Medium and Large -- but the XL ended up being too large in the waist -- this did not go into the cart. On the other hand, I did find a burgundy A.N.D. anorak that I sized up to an L and I've gotten a lot of compliments on it since wearing it today. Here's hoping they can figure things out with this line. As far as "Who What Wear", it is skewing more and more young, although the sizing on this brand is more in line with Mossimo and Merona than A.N.D. I thought WWW was a one time thing like other Target collaborations in the past, do you know if this line is now a permanent fixture in the Ladies Department?
Thanks for your insights, NSHD! Regarding WWW, I have no idea how long it's going to stick around. It debuted in January of 2016, so it's already been around for well over a year. I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be phased out at the end of this year, as Target makes way for all their new brands.
WWW isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Its sell-through and RPF are quite healthy. While it's part of a portfolio of outside oriented brands, it is in essence a wholly owned house brand.
Went to check the new line yesterday, what a disappointment! New brands are definitely using cheaper fabric - they can market it as trendier and such, but when the fabric quality is below mediocre, thank you, but no!
Sizing is a disaster for me personally, before I could get into Merona's XL or XXL (depending on the cut), not working for me now.
Color scheme for the fall is atrocious, imo, lots of synthetic and less and less natural fiber (this trend to cheapen started some time ago, but it was possible to find a decent item or two within Merona lineup).
Target has been unkind to the plus-size girls for the last few years and yesterday all I could find was a sad rack with some t-shirts and some jeans and horribly striped synthetic blouse.
I thought I would never say this - but I found a couple of well-made 3/4 t-shirts (deep navy, white) at a local mega-mart. Sad times, really.
I am glad I had not purged my Merona collection at home, going to cherish items I have.
Unknown, I hear you! I totally agree, and I think Target is missing the boat here. If Target is going after the millennial shopper (per my post on Monday) who favors trendy "fast fashion", where does that leave the average, middle-aged female customer?
As for Merona, there's still time to buy it up (in store and online) before it disappears forever. I've been stocking up on my favorite boatneck tops and ankle pants while I still can.
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