Wu Hoo! The Jason Wu for Target Collection

NE Minneapolis Target Store, February 5th 2012

This morning the Jason Wu collection launched at Target stores, and while I usually refuse to get up early to shop, or feed into the frenzy surrounding limited-edition items, today I made an exception. I met my friend/very fashionable co-worker (of Editorialistyle) bright and early in attempts to snag a few of the items on our wish lists.

There was a lot of excitement in the air, and it was rather fun to chat with women of all ages while waiting in line. We lucked out and ran into a woman in the dressing room who is a professional stylist, and she helped us make a few key decisions regarding our purchases. Everyone was so friendly and the only rude behavior we witnessed was one woman who cleared out the entire handbag section with one swoop of her arm. I have a feeling that all of those bags are headed to Ebay, or she is just a very generous person and plans to gift them all to friends. 

I was a little nervous to enter Target after reading so much about the Missoni Mishap last fall, but this experience was quite fun and friendly. The collection was better than I had anticipated, especially after seeing a few of the Missoni pieces in person and being completely underwhelmed. 

I got two things that I just love -a little black dress that definitely channels Audrey Hepburn, and this fun navy dress that feels kind of vintage, like something one of my old paper dolls would wear.

 

What do you think of the collection? Love? Indifferent? What about the concept of high-end designers releasing lines for Big Box retailers like Target?

Happy Friday!

A few fun things for the weekend, have a good one!

1) Check out this KitchenAid mixer made out of legos by Bruce Lowell. Fabulous! See all of the other fun Lego sculptures here. via Colossal 

2) Did you see Maurice Sendak on the Colbert Report? He's so feisty!
Watch part 1 and part 2

3) The Jason Wu collection is coming to Target on February 5th, he designed the gown that Michelle Obama (the link will take you to a great photo gallery of gowns throughout history) wore to the inaugural ball. What do you think of the collection? These are a few of my favorite pieces. See the whole collection here. 

 4) Have you seen Midnight in Paris? Oh my goodness, it's absolutely wonderful and caught me totally by surprise. I am a huge Woody Allen fan as Manhattan and Annie Hall are two of my most favorite movies. If you haven't seen this one, I highly recommend it and the soundtrack is pretty great as well. Vanity Fair posted an article on some of the inspiration behind the movie, but if you haven't seen the film, be cautious before reading it because the article gives away some of the major plot points!

Cut Paper Fashion

The other day when I Googled Origami, I came across these beautiful cut paper fashions by Ralph Pucci. Amazing.

Savage Beauty: The Alexander McQueen Exhibit

"People don't want to see clothes," ... "They want to see something that fuels the imagination."

From the collection Romantic Nationalism, Widows of Culloden, Autumn/Winter 2006/7. Dress of McQueen tartan; top of nude silk appliqued with black lace; underskirt of cream silk tulle.

"You've got to know the rules to break them. That's what I'm here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition."

From the collection Romantic Exoticism, Summer 2001. Overdress of panels from a nineteenth century Japanese screen; underdress of oyster shells; neckpiece of silver and Tahiti pearls.

"I don't really get inspired [by specific women]....It's more in the minds of the women in the past, like Catherine the Great, of Marie Antoinette. People who were doomed. Joan of Arc or Colette. Iconic women."

Dress from the Romantic Exoticism collection, Spring/Summer 2001. Razor clam shells stripped and varnished.

"I relate more to that cold, austere asceticism of the Flemish masters, and I also love the macabre thing you see in Tudor and Jacobean portraiture."

Romantic Gothic, House of Givenchy Haute Couture, autumn/winter 1997-8. Dress and gloves of black leather. Collar of red pheasant feathers and resin vulture skulls.

"I want to empower women. I want people to be afraid of the women I dress."

Romantic Nationalism, The Girl Who Lived in the Tree, autumn/winter 2008-9. Coat of red silk; dress of ivory silk tulle embroidered with crystal beads.

"Beauty can come from the strangest of places, even the most disgusting of places...It's the ugly things I notice more, because other people tend to ignore the ugly things."

I feel so fortunate that I was able to see the McQueen show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art while I was in NYC last week. The exhibit of his pieces was just incredible and made for a wonderful, moving experience. Apparently, it was the 8th most popular show at the Met in 141 years. The exhibit was so well thought out and curated, and so many different emotions were evoked throughout the various rooms of the show, it was simply stunning. He was a master of his craft and it's a terrible loss that he is no longer with us today. The details of his work and materials that were used to create each piece are beyond words. If you were not able to attend the show, I highly recommend checking out the book Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty, it is a fabulous summary of the exhibit.

Images in this post from Ology