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MasstigeWatch: Thakoon for Target
Yesterday I dragged MW to the Atlantic Center Target; it was the first day for the Go International collaboration with Thakoon, and I was so excited about it, I wanted to go to the store instead doing my usual online ordering. Since our neighborhood (and Manhattan, for that matter) had been dead since we got back to the city on Saturday, I was assuming Target would also be deserted; I was wrong. I was, however, glad I went to the store, because not only is this the best collection since Rogan, but the dress I had wanted is already sold out online, so I'm lucky to have grabbed it while in the store. The dress in question is the shibori shirtdress; I initially wanted the navy/white style featured in the ads, but I ended up with the black/white, whose pattern kind of resembles spiderwebs, giving it a kind of goth look. Also sold out online is the cyber floral dress; I think Target only had small and extra-small left by the time I was there, so I didn't bother trying it on. I didn't even see the chevron-stripe dress, but that's okay, because all of the other chiffon pieces in the collection are polyester and incredibly cheap looking (stick with the cottons). I also bought this zip-back floral top, which is nearly sold out online; the fit is kind of voluminous and makes me look pregnant from the side, but belting it or tucking it into a high-waisted skirt or pants seems to resolve the problem. The print is gorgeous, too, and I like the exposed back zipper. There are a lot of floral and striped tops; normally I am sucker for the latter, but the fit of what I tried on was on the boxy side (more on fit later), and since I already own so many stripes, I convinced myself to pass. I tried on the tunic, which was not bad, but the fabric felt kind of crappy to me (I thought it was polyester; I was shocked that it was cotton--it's kind of stiff and janky). The other piece I really liked was the shibori skirt; I thought it was incredibly flattering and well made, but since I was buying the dress in the same print, I figured one piece was enough. I recommend staying away from the tie-waist skirts, however, as they suffer from too-much-fabric syndrome and amplify whatever hippiness you may have tenfold.

So, like previous Go International collections, sizing is a bit wonky, but, if anything, it's on the side of being too large, rather than too small. In previous collections, a size 11 has often been too small on me (I wear a 6 or an 8 in real life), but when I tried on the shibori skirt above, even the size 9 was too big. I ended up with a large in the dress, but that was due more to inventory than anything else, and I think the slightly looser fit will allow me to wear a turtleneck underneath for the time being. I really, really love the dress, and at least for the cotton pieces, the quality and fit seems to be of much higher quality than recent collections (I'm looking at you, Jonathan Saunders). Since many of these pieces are selling out already, I highly suggest ordering now, or hitting your local Target ASAP.

Sadly, the Atlantic Center store did not appear to have any Hayden-Harnett bags; they are available online for pre-order, but early word on the street is that, like previous handbag collections, they're kind of cheap-looking.