Underwhelmed

Could be the most consistent adjective for Target's GO International line after the rise of the Luella Bartley diffusion line (I STILL want that green tartan dress). It usually goes one of two ways: Either the design concepts are good, and the fit is absolutely bizzarre and random (my Libertine dress is ridiculously tight in the chest and huge everywhere else, I swim in my size XS Jovovich-Hawk tunic). Or the product is unwearable and nowhere as appealing as the hype around the designer, such as Proenza Schouler's blah efforts, or Erin Featherston's heart-motif-crazed pajama, party wares.

If I think about it, much to my chagrin, anything bought from the GO International line would qualify as a misguided impulse buy. The Libertine dress is beautiful, and now that I think about it, it would go wonderfully with the cocktail hat I mentioned in an earlier post. But the fit makes it impossible to wear. I still haven't figured out how to wear my too long to be a top but too short to be dress Jovovich Hawk peice without the cream and black chevrons evoking that misguided, mod obsessed fad of two years ago. My Libertine blouse makes me look like a crazed air stewardess. The one and only item I've gotten any real wear out of it a navy and gray Proenza cardigan, it's not ridiculously attractive or avant garde, but it is comfy. In other words, Target needs to fix a few major kinks in it's line, get consistent sizing. It also lacks consistant quality. A Temperley leather jacket struck me as sumptuous and downright Italian, but their silk items look like they'll start to fray within roughly two wears. And finally, pricing. The idea of a thirty dollar dress from Target is hard to swallow, but doable if I feel the quality is up to par. The idea of a one-hundred dollar jacket such as the leather Temperley, no matter how decadent it appears, is something something I cannot reconcile with buying from the same place I get six dollar sushi and chocolate soymilk, especially when it's too tight in the shoulders and short in the torso.

That being said, I was understandably wary of the Rogan for Target line. It was part of my New Year's resolution to stop buying crap without considering how it fits with the rest of my wardrobe, and though I have regrettably strayed, (geek glasses, dr. martens, bizzarre vintage purchases), I am trying to be more conscious of what I spend, and how I spend it. Luckily, Rogen supplied me with one of my natural deterrents: Animal prints. In any form; brightly coloured, abstract, natural, I despise them all. So about three quarters of the line was out the window right there. I did feel I needed to purchase at least one thing. I am a hippie, and was taken in by the eco-friendly appeal. So I finally settled on a teal, space-dyed t shirt that appeared comfy and had cute side buttons of the sleeves.
Not exactly Marc Jacobs. At this point, it would take that sort of miraculous designer coup, "Marc Jacobs for Target", to make me what to buy the ill-fitting hype Target is selling.