The New Luella Bartley Line at Target: Things to Pick Up When They Get Marked Down

Just thought I'd comment on the new Luella Bartley line at Target. I've always been lukewarm about the Issac Mizrahi products--love the shoes, but the clothes are just not for me. The Fiorucci stuff were just not my thing either. Hence, even with the existence of rave reviews and rapt anticipation of the Luella Bartley collection by various web outlets, I was a bit skeptical about the hype. After seeing part of the collection in person today, I have to say that I'm quite impressed!


I'm a sucker for puffed-sleeve tops, so it's no wonder I fell in love with this t-shirt. The zipper has a little heart, and the fabric felt pretty good. I'm not quite willing to pay $14.99 for it, but the price is certainly very affordable.


I was also very impressed by this blazer. Tres chic! I found that everything Issac Mizrahi seems to run big, at least for me, so it was refreshing to see a blazer that comes in a true XS. The edges of the button are red, orange (I think), and green, respectively counting from top to bottom. The fabric felt pretty luxurious, as opposed to the stiffness and wrinkly-ness of some IM blazers. At $40, it's much too steep for me, so I'll be lying in wait. I won't be able to make another trip to Target for another month, but hopefully there'll be something left for me then. Navy blue is nice and classic, but for the more adventurous fashionista, a bolder version is available. I would never be able to pull that off, but it looked great on the store-poster models.


I really loved the yellow hobo...lots of room inside, very bright and bold, but not too challenging to pair with outfits. At $35, it's waaaaay too pricey for me (remember that I'm the type of person who waits till bags are in single-digit territory). The $30 apple canvas sling is much less utilitarian (looks like dual purpose laundry/punching bag to me) but no less adorable; it's probably more suitable for someone who is more adventurous with street style.

The Target I went to doesn't have a whole lot of stuff; maybe it's still early and not all the products are introduced in stores. In the meantime, you can look at the website and ogle at all the wonderful accessories that may land in the brick-and-mortar near you very soon (I particularly like the cuffs). However, remember to control yourself: you probably don't need the stuff NOW, so wait until it's 30% off before indulging. If things run out quickly at your local store, try another one in (I hate to say this) a more low-income area. Please don't misconstrue this as snobbery, as I grew up in a low-income household (and I'm damn proud of my community). There are a couple of reasons why low income areas may still have popular items: 1) Target prices are still high for most of us, even when things are on "sale," and 2) generally speaking, people are not as concerned about designer fashion as those in more affluent locales. This is simply based on my observations of the Target I usually go to and the ones in neighboring middle-class towns. Unfortunately, these facts speak to greater social problems that I'm not going to get into (particularly bullying in high school, where many unpopular kids are made fun of because they're poor and/or don't wear "cool" clothes). This blog isn't about social commentary (I've got my friends and another blog for that), but I hope that as much fun as you have with "obsessing" over fashion, take some time to reflect on more important things.

It Pays to Wait: Target

What a difference a week makes!

I went to Target last week, hoping to score some shoes. While commiserating over how the shoe aisles were picked clean, I came across a lovely metallic green satchel that was exactly what I have been looking for: cute and spacious enough for a sweater but not too bulky. Alas, it was still somewhere in the $10-15 range; with recent unexpected expenses (and an expensive ski trip coming up), I decided it wasn't worth it at the time. I don't go to Target often enough to get a feel for their price-reduction schedule, but since there was a relatively large quantity of the bags, I decided it was safe to wait at least another week.

It paid off in a big way.

I didn't expect prices to plummet in a week, but that's exactly what happened. The bag ended up being $6.24, leaving me with enough cash to buy a few other things that I needed. The few dollars I saved really went a long way. I was also amazed by some home goods that went to 75% off...I've seen such big reductions at Target before, but they are never this prominently advertised. Some stylish Michael Graves lamps dropped to $6-20, depending on the style. I saw other lamps for $4--better than Ikea lamps of equivalent price. There were other great deals too, but I just can't remember right now.

Here's the bottom line: if your coveted item is in sufficient quantities that it won't be likely to run out within a week, AND you have enough time to make another trip, just wait another week. You'll get a lot more for those few dollars saved. However, if there's only a few left, you really want it, and you're willing to pay that price, just take it. Yes, it'll probably get marked down further, but the odds of you being the one to score is slim.

Shopping From Your Closet

Buying into the vintage craze? Well, there are ways you can join the craze without the buying part. Start by looking in your own closet. That's right, Ms. (or Mr.) I-Have-Nothing-To-Wear: you may have cool-again old clothes buried somewhere in your closet, in a suit case, in storage, or many cases, at your parents' house. Another source of vintage is your parents' closet. As hard as it may be to believe, your parents were young and hip once. They followed trends, some of which have been revived. However, in my opinion, trends come and go for a reason--some trends vanish more quickly than others because they were bad ideas in the first place. Hence, you may need some creativity to rework old pieces to give them a modern twist. You can see how these two principles operate in the following anecdote:

My roommate recently started wearing some cool clothes that I haven't seen her wear before; as it turns out, they used to be her mom's. That inspired me to dig for my old clothes at my parents' house. I wasn't at all fashionable back in the day, but there were a few key pieces that got lots of compliments on; those were the pieces I was looking for. I didn't have time to dig very deep, but I found a long black vest I haven't worn since high school. Vests are back nowadays, so I decided to take advantage of the situation. I was never into vests that much--just wore them because my mom said they looked good on me--and after I buttoned up the vest in the present day, I came to realize that I still don't like them. However, I found a way to rework it into a fitted long tunic using a brooch. Now, that's an outfit I approve of.

When you dig through your closet, you should perform a concomitant function: permanent purging. If you've rediscovered something you love right away, run with it--wash it, create new outfits with it, put it on a hanger for easy access. However, while some old clothes can be saved, others should go gently into the night. How do you tell when to give that old pair of pants the ax? Think about why you kept the piece hidden in the first place. Is it because you never liked it in the first place? Take a look at it now--if you still don't like it, chances are you never will. That should go into the donation bin. If things are really tattered, don't throw it into the trash just yet. If it's cotton (e.g., socks and shirts), save it--it's always good to have a bag of rags hanging around, especially for routine cleaning and plumbing disasters. Old t-shirts and pants are also great as prototypes for DIY projects (such as stenciling; I'll write about it sometime in the future). If there are interesting prints or appliques on clothes that are declared unwearable, you might also want to cut those out prior to disposal; they may be good for simple DIY projects in the future. If you're lukewarm about it, put it aside but in a visible place; if you put it back in the location from whence they came, they'll continue to be ignored and, worse yet, take up valuable space. Think about ways you can update the piece with layering and accessories, like the way I handled my vest, or maybe even a trip to your tailor. If you can rework an old piece to your liking, great; if not, it's time to let it go.

If you need help reworking old pieces, get some ideas from fashion magazines/websites/blogs. One of my favorites is StyleDiary. The editorial articles are great, but my favorite feature is the massive collection of personal fashion diaries posted by ordinary people, demonstrating how they wear their clothes to go about their everyday business. I'm always amazed by different styles from around the world. So many people got their clothes from thrift/vintage stores (or their moms, sisters, and friends) and whipped up incredibly stylish outfits. I even get inspired by outfits that I personally would never wear. Once you take a look, you'll understand why looking fashionable doesn't necessitate spending.

Planet Lulu loft sale in Hollywood

After feeling unimpressed about the last Planet Lulu online sale, I had some reservation about going to the loft sale in Hollywood. The pros: not too far from where I live, there's a "large" parking lot where I could park for free (which is almost impossible to find in Hollywood), and it's fairly close to the Hollywood/Highland MTA Red Line station (great if I didn't feel like driving). The cons: who knows if the lot is "large" enough to accommodate all the shoppers? How good are the deals? I certainly don't want to get there only to circle like a vulture for anyone who is leaving. If things are going to be expensive, then it's not worth going no matter how close it is. I have lots of things I need to do, and I know that shopping takes at least a couple of hours. In the end, I thought it's best to go now, when it's early in the semester and I don't have that much schoolwork to worry about. Going against my instincts, I decided to drive there. I'd rather circle a little while for parking or even pay for it than to walk 5 blocks to the Metro station, wait maybe 20 minutes for a train, tack on more time for the ride, and then spend another 10 walking to my destination.

My gamble paid off. The sale was held at the United Methodist Church a block from Hollywood/Highland, and there's a good sized lot with plenty of compact spaces. There weren't as many shoppers as I thought, and when I got inside, I found out that it's an anomaly indeed--the people who worked there were expecting a crazier scene. The sale started at 10am, but I got there around 11 because I didn't wake up as early as I hoped. Even though it wasn't "crazy," there was a lot of people. Aisles were narrow and people were squished in between. There were racks of 213 and a mix of Picalina, Park Vogel, Ella Moss, Abaete, designer yogawear (can't remember the brands), Scanty pj's, a few Lily McNeals, etc. Tables along the wall had kids clothes, t-shirts, flipflops, handbags, and jeans--lots of Oligo Tissew, a smattering of 575, Grass, Blue Cult. I picked up a pair of really cute Mella flipflops for $11--a bit overpriced for flipflops, but then again that's how much you'd pay at places like PacSun if you were shelling out full price, and it's better quality too. Other than that, I didn't find anything impressive on the first pass. Things were either not in my size, not my style, still too expensive for cheap ol' me, or the cheap price is synonymous with cheap look/quality. Was it a mistake to come here? Nonetheless, I stuck around. This was a chance to try out different sizes of different brands of jeans, then look for them on eBay later.

There was a communal dressing area enclosed by curtains, so no one had to try on clothes between aisles and cause even more congestion. The dressing area was bordering on crazy, as tons of clothes were abandoned and newcomers try to find a spot to get naked. The people who worked the event came around regularly to collect things that people didn't want, which was nice; mounds only exist because the workers are outpaced by customers who didn't clean up after themselves. There was a bunch of your standard $5 from Kmart/Target/wherever cheap mirrors around for people to admire themselves.

After I got out of the dressing area, I made a second pass through the racks and the unwanted items hanging next to the dressing area. By then most people were gone, so the scene was no longer chaotic. Indeed, my "second pass strategy" worked. I figured that during my first pass--when customer traffic was at its peak--most things would be taken off the racks even though people weren't buying them. At the time of my second pass, most items would have been hung back on the racks. I was really loading things up on my arms--a pair of size 24 Joe's priced $13.99(!), size 24 Citizens of Humanity cords, a Mason skirt, a Joie skirt, a pair of Alice+Olivia pants, size 2 Frankie B jeans marked $29, more jeans and pants, then I ran back into the dressing area. I literally had to squeeze into the Joe's but alas, after buttoning up, there was a huge gap at the waist. If it fits, it would have been a really good deal. The Frankie B's and COH cords didn't fit either (it didn't have a tag, but I'm assuming it also would have been a great deal). The only thing I retained out of the pile was a fun pair of Alice+Olivia pants. At $30 (from original retail of $170, which was then reduced a couple of times for sales at various places), it exceeds my usual $20 limit on pants, but a) it's hard to find pants that fit, and b) I didn't have a pair of black pants that weren't dress pants, so I let it slide. The pants were really long, but I think I'll either fold up the hem or shorten myself. I'm not willing to spend another $10 on the tailor. Besides, the pants are black, so mishaps won't be apparent.

I don't think I'll go to another Lulu sale, at least in the near future. To be fair, the prices are pretty good for designer clothes, but I can get much better deals at sample sales. What I liked is that there are certain gems for certain people (particularly those who can fit into size 24's comfortably); there were some 213 samples under $15, but I was just not interested in them. Hence, Lulu sales are best for those who don't have the opportunity to go to sample sales held on weekdays. If you go, bring a few friends with you: some of the Oligo Tissew jeans were 3 for $99, which is really good for designer jeans.

Addendum: For those of you who stumbled onto my blog while googling for "Planet Lulu," here's the hyperlink to what you're really looking for. Hope that helps!