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Gwen Stefani’s New Harajuku Mini Line for Target: Yay or Nay? (Images)

From Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Mini line for Target
I stopped by Target yesterday morning to pick up some paper towels, toilet paper and self-esteem legwarmers, and I noticed this great sweatshirt in the girls clothing section with a chain and anchor motif in primary colors. I was drawn to it because it had a gender-neutral 70′s vibe that I found extremely stylish. When I went to check the price, I noticed the tag had Gwen Stefani’s face on it. Then I laid eyes on the sweatshirt next to it, covered in a bright mermaid print, and I got sucked in. T-shirts, pants, skirts, all very cute, but sloppily sewn, most items made in China or Guatemala. Some of the cuts were a bit risque for little girls. I was all up in the Harajuku Mini line, “inspired by the cool kaleidoscope of colorful styles found on the streets of Harajuku, Japan.”
Stefani (or her price tags, anyway) tells girls, “Be the fashion know-it-all you were born to be.” I may not have the most developed sense of style in the world, but I have learned a thing or two about fashion over the years, one of those things being that at least half of what makes clothing sell is branding. (Woman cannot live on style alone. The devil is in the designer. Do I really want my 6-year-old to be a label lover?)
So I asked myself, as I held up a tee featuring a mermaid with a gorgeous afro, “If this flimsy bit of cotton – which was likely assembled in a sweatshop – was not designed by a pop star/fashion icon, would you even think of buying it?” The answer was no, and I was able to walk away empty-handed.
Take a look at the collection and ask yourself the same question, then let me know what you think: Continue reading »
Target’s Missoni Mania: Is It Worth the Unhappy Customers?
Target may be laughing all the way to the bank, but yesterday’s frenzy over the launch of its Missoni for Target line has created lots of unhappy customers.
While some just don’t think the design is worth all the fuss — on Twitter, @et_cerica tweeted, “If by Missoni for Target you mean Cosby Sweaters for Target, then yeah” – many love it, and found themselves highly frustrated with their shopping experience, which included Black Friday-like mad rushes in stores and a crashing Target website.
On Access Hollywood’s site, Glam Slam blogger Ryan Patterson said her husband, “… stayed up all night trying to get online to order the highly coveted collection for me. When it finally came up online around 3:30 am pst. we started to order and already things were sold out.” Most online shoppers were met with the same difficulty. The Target website was unavailable most of the day yesterday, and people report service is still spotty today.
Missoni for Target: Would You Pay $20 for Baby Leggings at TARGET?
The long-anticipated Missoni for Target collection descended onto the racks yesterday to eager shoppers online and in-store, so much that it crashed the Target website (and seems to continue to do so) and flew off the racks. Twitter was abuzz all day with happy consumers tweeting what they were able to snatch up.
Toward the end of the day I did find myself at Tar-jay even though I had planned to stay away- I didn’t really see what all the fuss was about and also didn’t need the temptation in case it was as amazing as everyone was making it out to be. But, there we were and I casually (frantically) skimmed the racks for any sight of Missoni’s popular stripes. Continue reading »
3 Surprising Places I Hate To Take My Kids
Unlike Jill, as she writes at the Stir that one of the places she dreads taking her kids is Target, I actually enjoy bringing my kids along to Tar-jay. It’s one of the few places I can let my two-year old walk and not be in the cart. Maybe it’s also because we all know the layout like the back of our hands and they don’t wander off. Maybe it’s also because I just have mad love for Target and am blinded by all else. No, for me, my most dreaded places to take my kids might be surprising to some. Or maybe you can totally relate?
Continue reading »
Another Holiday Tradition Goes High Tech
If your family prefers a real Christmas tree over an artificial one, you generally have two options for acquiring that tree. You can either head over to the nearest Christmas tree lot and choose a pre-cut tree from their inventory. Or drive out to the country to select and chop your own tree at a Christmas tree farm.
Either way, the exercise is usually about more than decorating for the holidays. Choosing a tree together as a family is a tradition that many of us have enjoyed since we were kids ourselves.
But now, thanks to the Internet, that tradition may soon be a thing of the past.
National retailers, including Target and Costco, are now selling live Christmas trees online. And while choosing a tree from the comfort of your own home isn’t nearly as popular as the more traditional method, it’s likely only a matter of time before it is.
It is estimated that about 30 million farm-grown Christmas trees are sold each year. Of that, only about 3% of them are purchased online. But because the idea of selling live trees online is fairly new – Target just started doing it this year – those numbers are sure to increase once word gets out.
Christmas in July: Are You Ready?
Yesterday, I was obliged to take a trip to my local Toys R Us store. The kid needs a new bike and that seemed like a good place to start the search. As she and I walked into the store, we noticed a huge sign in the window featuring the image of someone we weren’t prepared to see on a hot July day: Santa Claus. That’s right. At Toys R Us, it’s Christmas in July. Continue reading »
Cynthia Rowley Designs Pampers
Denim diapers are nice, but no self-respecting baby is going to crawl around in fake jeans every single day. The well-dressed infant likes to mix things up a bit and play with color and pattern, right?
Maybe not. But if you’ve got a baby fashionista in your house, you’ll be excited to know that designer Cynthia Rowley has teamed up with Pampers to create a line of stylish diapers for boys and girls. Continue reading »











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