Kohl's Announces Collab With Thakoon

Fashionistas who were fans of the Thakoon for Target collab from a few years back take note: the designer will be teaming up with Kohl's for a collab with them this Fall. Thakoon Panichgul will be the seventh designer to do a Kohl’s DesigNation limited-edition collection.

Back in December of 2008, Thakoon for Target was a very successful collab for the Bullseye, with a resort-wear vibe to it (as shown here). In particular, the shibori-print dress (at far left) was an immediate sellout, both during it's first debut as well as when Thakoon reprised the same dress for Target's GO International Design Collective in 2011.

Thakoon’s collection will be inspried by the city of London and will be available exclusively at Kohl’s and Kohls.com for Fall 2015. For more information, visit this page on Kohl's website.

Fab Find: This Merona Blouse

Let's all try to move away from the Lilly madness and attempt to find something to like about Target again, shall we? Like this adorable blouse by Merona (shown here). Besides this lovely "Florida Coral" color, it's available in Ebony, Calla Lilly (Ivory) and in stores I've also seen it in a pale pink shade they call "Cantaloupe". It's a polyester crepe, but to me this fabric feels softer (and more like silk) than other Merona blouses I've owned in the past. And I just adore the eyelet accents, which somehow gives this top a retro vibe.

Lilly for Target Returns Start To Trickle Into Stores...

Slowly but surely, returns from the Lilly Pulitzer for Target line have started to trickle into stores. I somehow lucked out yesterday and found the exact dress I wanted (the shift dress in Upstream Dream, shown here) in the size I needed! And I found it in the oddest place: wadded up with a bunch of other Lilly clothing on an endcap in the Cosmetics section of all places. It was in a larger size than I usually wear, but that ended up being OK as these dresses seem to run small.

So keep checking back in stores for customer returns. A friend told me a Target clerk mentioned to her that a woman bought $900 worth of Lilly merchandise the first day, then returned $300 of it the next day. Let's hope a lot of shoppers "went crazy" buying everything in sight, and now will have buyer's remorse. I think there will also be a lot of returns of clothing due to fit issues. As stated, the dresses run small, whereas the tunic tops seem to run huge (at least from the size 'Small' one I saw in store the other day).

Product Review: Cutex Nail Polish Removers (including the NEW Cutex Twister)

Recently the fine folks at Cutex® - the leading provider of nail care since 1911 - sent me a box of some of their nail polish remover products to review. Cutex® nail polish removers are conveniently stocked in the beauty aisles of more than 1800 Target stores nationwide, and they have just introduced a brand-spankin' new, first of its kind, instant nail polish remover: Cutex® Twister® with SPA Formula.

Now full disclosure: I rarely do my own nails (as you can probably tell by the pic in the lower left). But I DO need a good nail polish remover around the house, because even when I get professional manicures, I usually start chipping within a week (from all my computer typing) and so I need something to remove it all before my hands start looking really ragged. For this "test", I used a dark, eggplant hue - two coats + clear topcoat - to see how the Cutex offerings would rate.

The first I tried was the Cutex Spa Formula Nail Polish Remover. This took my polish off in one pass with the cotton pad (as shown in the pic, bottom right). The formula is "fast-acting, with conditioning botanical oils", but what I like best is the non-offensive smell with little after-scent left on your hands. Ladies, this is not your mother's nail polish remover! It contains 98% acetone in order to get tough gel and glitter polish off quickly and easily.

Next I tried the Cutex Advanced Revival Nail Polish Remover, which "strengthens & conditions" and also contains botanical oils. This also worked well, and from the ingredients list looks to be similar to the Spa Formula but contains less acetone. It did have a slightly stronger scent than the Spa Formula, though.

Then it was on to the Cutex Regular Nail Polish Remover, which still worked well, but honestly was pretty much your regular run of the mill polish remover: it took several passes with the cotton pad to get all the polish off each nail, and the smell was definitely strong.

But my two favorite products were saved for last.... first, the Cutex Advance Revival Nail Polish Remover Pads. Now this is more my speed! The box contains 10 pads (individually wrapped) and each pad contains plenty of remover to get off all the polish on both hands. This might be pricier than the products listed above, but to me, the convenience is worth it. Likewise, the Cutex Twister is a fun, easy way to remove polish from your nails - especially coats that are hard to remove like gel and glitter formulas. All you do is dip, and twist (in the attached plastic brush) and 'viola!' - your nail is clean!

All of these Cutex products are available at Target and other retailers nationwide.

Target's Spin Doctors Try to Justify the Lilly Sellout...

A post today on Target's corporate blog - by their Chief Merchandising and Supply Chain Officer, Kathee Tesija - tries to spin their side of the story to the Lilly Pulitzer for Target sellout. You can read the full story here, but here are two notable quotes which I call BS on:

"When we look at the amount of Lilly Pulitzer for Target product being resold, it translates to roughly 1.5 percent of the collection. While we’d prefer that number to be zero, it tells us that the vast majority of guests who purchased the collection did so with the intent of enjoying it for themselves."

"The website never crashed, but due to high traffic, it was slow and our guests had to wait longer than they should have to access the full collection. That’s frustrating, both for them and for us. We’re taking a close look at what happened."

So 39,000+ items (that's the # of Lilly for Target items on eBay this morning) is only 1.5% of the entire collection? I find that hard to believe. And they can deny the "crash" as much as they want, but having the site inaccessible for hours on end is essentially the same as a crash. 

Target removes Lilly collab from homepage...

Target - probably in response to all the Lilly Pulitzer for Target backlash - has removed all the Lilly promotions from their homepage. There's been a lot of chatter in social media about why Target was keeping the Lilly collab front and center on their site when the line wasn't even shoppable anymore (as it all sold out yesterday in a matter of hours).

So instead, Target has decided to RE-introduce their 'Made to Matter' program... which they first introduced more than a year ago. Huh?? Well, I guess they had to put SOMETHING up there. As a reminder, 'Made to Matter' is "a first-of-its-kind partnership with leading natural, organic and sustainable brands. The Made to Matter collection features over 120 new and exclusive products from this crew of trusted companies, taking the guesswork out of buying better-for-you products. Hand-picked by Target, the line makes it easy to find products made with simple, recognizable ingredients that you can feel good about bringing home without sacrificing on price or performance."

How to still score Lilly Pulitzer for Target...

Ok readers... I know we're all still frustrated by the Lilly Pulitzer for Target sellout. Shown here is a picture my friend snapped at the San Mateo, CA store about 5 minutes after the store opened yesterday. So how can we still score a little Lilly? Here are my shopping strategies:

1 - Start checking stores this week for customer returns. Capitalize on buyer's remorse and look for returns in the next few days (for people who bought in store) or in the next week (for folks who bought online). Returns should peak around May 2, as that is right around the 14-day return window (which is required for this collab).

2 - Look in odd places. That means endcaps or mixed in with the regular Target merchandise, especially in the beauty aisle and housewares. Don't bother looking for the Lilly signage; your store has most likely taken it down already.

3 - Don't forget the clearance racks. I'm betting that all of the "online only" items (including the Plus Sizes) will immediately end up on the clearance racks if they are returned. This was the case with past Target collabs, like Missoni. So if you're lucky, you may score Lilly on sale.

4 - Don't bother with the website. Mid-day yesterday I spot-checked about 10 items online and nothing was available. And from everything I've read in the press, Target's website is completely sold out and they won't be re-stocking. Also: be wary of the "find in store" tool. I've found this tool to be faulty in the past, not accurately reflecting store inventory.