Some Observation's About Target Clothing

Target Department Store, originally uploaded by Tortuga One.

Today I made the mistake of going to the Target in Stamford, CT. Under normal circumstances I love Target, because you can literally buy everything you need under one roof without suffering the shame of shopping at WalMart.

One of the biggest draws to Target, especially for a city gal such as myself, is all the Isaac Mitzrahi clothing on offer. A few years ago Isaac came out of left field with his designs for the chain, and now he even does wedding dresses for them.

I've walked out of Target with some great clothes from their women's deaprtment, things that I get compliments on every time I wear them. I am, however, wondering if Target is becoming a victim of its own success. Target, as I mentioned before, is a wonderland of finds for women who really like clothes and accessories. Almost all of my fashionista friend in NYC often say things like, "I have to go to the 'burbs this weekend, but at least I can go to Target."

Today, though, I realized that Target has gotten to a point where they're pretty much throwing the Isaac name on anything and calling it art. The thing is, for people such as myself who follows trends, we see that Target has reached a new low. Today the Stamford store was riddled with bad trapeeze dresses and poorly constructed babydoll shirts, which make everyone look pregnent and are very last year.

I realize that I shouldn't have high hopes for a place like Target, since it is, at its core, a discount chain, but I'm wondering where in the marketing/corporate machine did someone make a decision to start putting out sub-par clothes, even if they are made in China? Marketers are smart to put a designer's name on an inexpensive line (I'm looking at you, H&M) but consumers are also smart enough to realize when a garment is just cheap, and even not worth the $20 price tag.

That's all I have to say about that. On my way home I stopped by Anthropologie, which leans towards overpriced, but at least their fabrics are of higher quality and won't give me a rash.

NKOTB Will Never Be Ironic

Urban Outfitters boggles my mind. Here is a company that prides itself on selling poorly made clothing to people who don't live in New York City so that they can feel like they are some downtown hipster. Even more baffling is that there are at least three of these stores in New York, as if we need a bunch of marketing goons telling us what's cool. For years I looked the other way as they hawked bubble skirts, assymetrical dresses and jelly shoes. Eventually I figured their focus groups would come to their senses and realizes that we don't need to bring everything back from the '80s.

You can imagine my horror, then, when I was in Urban Outfitters yesterday and I saw that they are trying to offer NKOTB T-shirts as a viable fashion choice. Despite my adoration of Jordan Knight, even I never wore these things, for fear of getting beat up. If there was ever a reason for hipster-on-hipster crime, this shirt would be a valid reason.

What would be worse? Having to spend an eternity in Urban Outfitters get ups or Anne Taylor mom outfits? I shudder.