Blackburn + Sweetzer Has Moved

Not that I have no expectations for the fast fashion collabs, but I think we’ve learned through experience that it’s incredibly difficult to bring a designer-level quality of design and craftsmanship when targeting the masses and keeping the price tags way, way down. I was extremely curious to see the Rodarte for Target collection in person. While some pieces looked very cute online, they also looked very young, and I wasn’t convinced via images that the quality wasn’t crap. You just have to wait and see with these things.

I arrived at the Target at La Brea and Santa Monica around 10:30am Sunday and the section was well-stocked, but without any accessories. The collection has a number of pieces that impressed me and, in fact, looked more expensive in person than in the images.

More of the collection this way…

The tulle dresses and pink floral print dress (well-lined) with full skirt and black halter have a vintage-y appeal and really are adorable; the raw tulle-edged lace blouses and cardigans fit well, and I could imagine pairing each with something much pricier from my closet; and then there’s the beige and black lace-print dress, also tulle edged, and gathered at the waist, which I know I will wear year-round (breezy with sandals in the summer or with tights and boots or heals in the winter). I tried the tulle overlay skirt in navy, which I pondered, but decided it was a little too young and I likely wouldn’t wear it much. I didn’t try the Grey Ant-esque braided denim, but a friend bought a pair of the shorts online, then subsequently tried them on in-store and said she was happy with her purchase.

Overall, the range is young, but I was happy to find a few select pieces that I genuinely liked, fit well, and thought I would get good use out of. The construction also seemed elevated as compared with a number of other Target collab lines. I do like the ‘vintage find’ feeling of the collection, and though not anywhere near the stratosphere of Rodarte’s breathtaking edgy confections, I do think the Mulleavy sisters were successful at infusing their point of view through a mass market lens.

» Target—Rodarte Drops Dec 20, Then For Spring Comes Liberty of London, Cynthia Vincent, Eugenia Kim, Zac Posen