After Vera was released at Kohls early, I had a sneaking suspicion that Alice Temperley might come out early at Target. I was right. Today I stopped by Target to pick up an extension chord and discovered a whole lot of Temperley under the "Libertine departing soon" signs. Before stepping foot in Target, I was already a little disappointed with the collection. I really wanted some classic Temperley: beautiful prints, florals and floaty chiffon dresses. While this collection was not classic Temperley, I still was very optimistic. As I shopped the new collection I noticed several of my fellow shoppers reactions.
Target Shopper 1 (TS1): Oh! This dress is so cute! Something like that would look really great on you!
TS2: Yeah, it is pretty cute. It looks very French.
Sophia (butting into their conversation, I couldn't help myself): She's actually British!
TS1: Oh cool. Well, England is close to France. {Sophia: quite snicker}
TS 2: If I bought this I would rip off the buttons, they're just so ugly.
TS1 and TS2 wander off.
The dress in question was one of the cutest pieces in the collection, it was a mid-length black polyester dress with black textured polka dots. The sleeves are nice and fluttery. There is a bow tied in the back and three little buttons on the front. TS2 was correct. The buttons are very cheap looking. In fact, the reoccur through the collection and ruin several otherwise very nice pieces. They are kind of bulbous large and shiny and are either black or white, to match the piece. They are on the gray dress pictured above. I don't have any detail shots because it was hard to really get a good shot. So, down to the details:
Dresses
When I shopped Target there were 4 dresses avaibile in the store. The black polyester dress is discussed above. Then there was one of my favorite pieces in the entire collection: the pictured gray long sleeve cotton dress. The length is a little short and the buttons are ugly, but otherwise this dress is 100% cute for only $30! The next dress was a lined polyester knit dress with kind of a crazy pattern on it, which you can see yourself above in the middle left shot. Finally, there was a short-short-short black cotton knit dress. I felt a little like Brittany Spears when I tried it on...not good.
Overalls??!!
Yes, you read it right. You too can own a a sexy v-neck overall in either demin with flashy gold buttons or black polyester. I really didn't get it. On the one had it was a little Stella McCartney. On the other hand, I guess it kind of fit in with the 1950s glamazon vibe I was picking up on in some of the collection. I could totally see Marlena Dietrich playing Rosie the Riveter wearing these sexy overalls. Can I see anyone else wearing them? I sure hope not.
Pants
There were some pants. They were polyester. They were black. I think they had the sailor detail seen on the super mini skirt pictured above. As you can tell, I was not really super excited about them. There were also some pantaloons. Yes, pantaloons. I did not take pictures, becuase you can go see them yourself if you are THAT interested. I am sure they will be there for a very long time, because I can't imagine anyone would buy them.
Skirts
There was a mid-length black skirt and an oh-so-short mini skit. The mid-length black skirt looked pretty cute but was not in my size, so I have no advice on fit. I did not even bother to try on the mini skirt after the shortness of the knit dress. I was also very unimpressed with the satin piped detailing on the skirt, and several other pieces. It looked cheap. Shiny satin edging almost never looks nice, it is usually worse in polyester, and it is always worse on cheap clothes.
Shirts
There were several nice shirts. Half of the shirts in the collection are cotton and half the shirts are polyester, with one Rayon shirt thrown in for good measure. I purchased the plainest shirt in the collection: a gray stripped cotton blend with thin sparkly gold stripes and a scoop neck. The polyester shirts were interesting, except for the ugly buttons and the fact they were polyester. They were very frilly and kind of conservative-retro-sexy-secretary. The cotton shirts were similarly designed for the most part. There was a simple white military inspired shirt that also had a lot of potential.
Jackets
Perhaps my favorite parts of the collection were the jackets. For $130 you can have a very well designed brown leather jacket, which was tragically not in my size. There was a very cute white jacket which I think would be great for evening. I styled it with my own little black dress and pink leather gloves in the bottom right hand corner of the above picture. The white jacket also came in blue and has fabulous gold buttons, as seen in the upper right hand corner. Finally, there was a sweater jacket, which I didn't pay that much attention to because the other two jackets were SO fabulous.
Summary
I'm not a big fan of polyester, so I was pretty disappointed personally with all the polyester. I was really hoping for some silk! Many of the polyester pieces would have looked so nice in silk! The buttons on half the collection are totally ugly, and the gold buttons on the other half were amazingly cute. The other detail I have an issue with is the satin edging motif, it makes everything it is on look cheap. Overall, the construction was pretty nice. The cotton pieces were great, especially the adorable gray mini dress with the long sleeves. I think the leather coat might be my overall favorite piece. The lining could have been a little better, but it just looks so nice on!
I also just have to note that Alice Temperley has the absolute cutest tags ever on her clothing. I think they might even be letterpress.
Target Shopper 1 (TS1): Oh! This dress is so cute! Something like that would look really great on you!
TS2: Yeah, it is pretty cute. It looks very French.
Sophia (butting into their conversation, I couldn't help myself): She's actually British!
TS1: Oh cool. Well, England is close to France. {Sophia: quite snicker}
TS 2: If I bought this I would rip off the buttons, they're just so ugly.
TS1 and TS2 wander off.
The dress in question was one of the cutest pieces in the collection, it was a mid-length black polyester dress with black textured polka dots. The sleeves are nice and fluttery. There is a bow tied in the back and three little buttons on the front. TS2 was correct. The buttons are very cheap looking. In fact, the reoccur through the collection and ruin several otherwise very nice pieces. They are kind of bulbous large and shiny and are either black or white, to match the piece. They are on the gray dress pictured above. I don't have any detail shots because it was hard to really get a good shot. So, down to the details:
Dresses
When I shopped Target there were 4 dresses avaibile in the store. The black polyester dress is discussed above. Then there was one of my favorite pieces in the entire collection: the pictured gray long sleeve cotton dress. The length is a little short and the buttons are ugly, but otherwise this dress is 100% cute for only $30! The next dress was a lined polyester knit dress with kind of a crazy pattern on it, which you can see yourself above in the middle left shot. Finally, there was a short-short-short black cotton knit dress. I felt a little like Brittany Spears when I tried it on...not good.
Overalls??!!
Yes, you read it right. You too can own a a sexy v-neck overall in either demin with flashy gold buttons or black polyester. I really didn't get it. On the one had it was a little Stella McCartney. On the other hand, I guess it kind of fit in with the 1950s glamazon vibe I was picking up on in some of the collection. I could totally see Marlena Dietrich playing Rosie the Riveter wearing these sexy overalls. Can I see anyone else wearing them? I sure hope not.
Pants
There were some pants. They were polyester. They were black. I think they had the sailor detail seen on the super mini skirt pictured above. As you can tell, I was not really super excited about them. There were also some pantaloons. Yes, pantaloons. I did not take pictures, becuase you can go see them yourself if you are THAT interested. I am sure they will be there for a very long time, because I can't imagine anyone would buy them.
Skirts
There was a mid-length black skirt and an oh-so-short mini skit. The mid-length black skirt looked pretty cute but was not in my size, so I have no advice on fit. I did not even bother to try on the mini skirt after the shortness of the knit dress. I was also very unimpressed with the satin piped detailing on the skirt, and several other pieces. It looked cheap. Shiny satin edging almost never looks nice, it is usually worse in polyester, and it is always worse on cheap clothes.
Shirts
There were several nice shirts. Half of the shirts in the collection are cotton and half the shirts are polyester, with one Rayon shirt thrown in for good measure. I purchased the plainest shirt in the collection: a gray stripped cotton blend with thin sparkly gold stripes and a scoop neck. The polyester shirts were interesting, except for the ugly buttons and the fact they were polyester. They were very frilly and kind of conservative-retro-sexy-secretary. The cotton shirts were similarly designed for the most part. There was a simple white military inspired shirt that also had a lot of potential.
Jackets
Perhaps my favorite parts of the collection were the jackets. For $130 you can have a very well designed brown leather jacket, which was tragically not in my size. There was a very cute white jacket which I think would be great for evening. I styled it with my own little black dress and pink leather gloves in the bottom right hand corner of the above picture. The white jacket also came in blue and has fabulous gold buttons, as seen in the upper right hand corner. Finally, there was a sweater jacket, which I didn't pay that much attention to because the other two jackets were SO fabulous.
Summary
I'm not a big fan of polyester, so I was pretty disappointed personally with all the polyester. I was really hoping for some silk! Many of the polyester pieces would have looked so nice in silk! The buttons on half the collection are totally ugly, and the gold buttons on the other half were amazingly cute. The other detail I have an issue with is the satin edging motif, it makes everything it is on look cheap. Overall, the construction was pretty nice. The cotton pieces were great, especially the adorable gray mini dress with the long sleeves. I think the leather coat might be my overall favorite piece. The lining could have been a little better, but it just looks so nice on!
I also just have to note that Alice Temperley has the absolute cutest tags ever on her clothing. I think they might even be letterpress.
10 comments:
Well, although the collection wasn't a huge success, I still wish that we had stores like Kohl's and Target in Canada - did you know that Target doesn't even ship to Canada?!? I'd love to see these collections up close & personal. With the exchange as it is right now, I might just do the 1.5hr drive to New York ;-D
That is really disappointing! They are very silly not to ship to Canada! I agree that every woman should go take a look and make her own decisions. For example, I'm sure there are some indie girls out there who could rock a few of the pieces in the Temperley collection that I'm just too conservative to love.
So, it might be worth the drive! Especially if you also check out the new Nick and Nora sleepwear (very cute sock monkey socks and slippers), the Chanel-esqe jewelry line by ? (a guest artist who I can't remember) and the DARLING paper party goods by Isabelle deBorchgrave. I threw a party just to buy some, they are THAT cute.
I bought that white jacket in blue - I love it! The grey mini dress you liked was one of my favorite pieces as well, but sadly not available in my size. I might just have to order it and sew on some replacement buttons. The buttons on my jacket are great, but I agree that the other type of buttons are ugly.
OMG Lady! I was just at Target today and tried on practically EVERYTHING in this collection - and that just ain't my usual style...but this stuff is adorbs! I was calling my sis and best friend with a conspiratorial air like: "pssst - Alice Temperley for Target...it's here! so you should get here fast!"
All said and done, I came home with the black wool/felt jacket - you know the one that goes to the knee with pleats down the back and bishops sleeves? LOVE IT!!!
P&C-I am SO jealous! That coat sounds divine! I wonder if all the Target employees purchased them before they even hit the floor, because I did not see it over here on the east coast. Hmm....off to target.com to investigate!
I just went to target.com. There were definitely things missing on the sales floor! I will have to go check out some of the other Targets in the area and report back!!
omg. those overalls are HORRENDOUS!!! I can't even look at them as I find the image rather disturbing...
I'd rock those overalls - they are the hotness! I highly doubt they'd have a long inseam though; Target's Go! stuff usually does not run long...the regular Temperley offerings are sooo beautiful though. Truth be told, I've never purchased any Go! apparel because even though the designs are nicer (except for Libertine - barf!) the quality of the material is usually so shoddy. I was really stoked for Proenza Schouler earlier this year but still walked away empty-handed as well.
You go girl! At 5'11, I do find the lack of long inseams in general a depressing part of life. Perhaps this is why I live my life in skirts.
My bigger problem with Go! is that it is designed for "juniors" which means that the chest size on the larger sizes are usually not quite big enough. I was obsessed with a Proenza Schouler bikini but it made me look like an adult film star, hence I could not wear it in public. Why, oh why can't they have these designers work in women's sizes? Do you know any 15 year olds who know who Proenza Schoulder is?
I should have said who Proenza Schouler *are.* Oops, that is what happens when you post your comments after getting home from work at 1 am.
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