Targét’s Next Collaboration

Hello-Hello, and welcome to a new week. Please accept our apologies for dropping off the radar like a stone for being absent, not only have we been insanely busy at The Prepatorium, we actually enjoyed a quick getaway to a stunning retreat.

Planet Prep Intergalactic Waystation & Spa

It was simply wonderful to spend time away from the daily chaos routine, especially with a host and hostess that were beyond gracious.  Even though we were behind enemy lines.

Planet Prep Intergalactic Waystation & Resort

But…we managed to completely neglect our responsibilities here on the blog, that wasn’t such a good thing.

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Today we only have one tidbit to share, word of yet another collaboration from Le Boutique Targét, this one with designer Prabal Gurung. Below, a look from the upcoming line.

Prabal Gurung Facebook

The designer has been worn by notable names for years; Michelle Obama, Sarah Jessica Parker and Zoe Saldana are just a few of the celebrities seen in his creations. One such individual recently seen wearing a design from Mr. Gurung, the Duchess of Cambridge, more commonly known as Kate Middleton.

Prabal Gurung Facebook

She wore his silk/wool boatneck sheath from the spring 2012 collection at a function in Singapore last month.

What Kate Wore

Back to the upcoming collection, more from Vogue:

Now, nearly four years after launching his own label, Gurung’s time has come, and on February 10, 2013, his 80-plus-piece collection of clothes, bags, jewelry and shoes will hit stores.

Target’s news release offers a little more insight into pieces we can expect to see and prices.

Standout pieces include refined dresses, mixed-media skirts, edgy blazers and striking shoes. The collection ranges in price from $19.99 to $199.99 for apparel and $12.99 to $39.99 for jewelry, handbags and shoes.

From a calendar perspective, the launch will follow Target’s collaborative effort with Neiman Marcus for the holidays, a collection from several high profile designers that debuts December 1st. We’ll profile that line later this week.

Popped or Not, Nantucket or the Vineyard?

Hello-Hello and happy Monday.

For those who don’t summer an entire season at the shore it is once again that time of year, friends and families are packing up and heading off for for a few days at the beach. That makes a story in today’s Boston Globe perfect reading, it looks at two of our favorite places.

Via Weather-Forecast

“Islands Apart” considers the age-old debate about which is the preferred island: Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard…? The story suggests that perhaps sentiments on the topic have intensified.

“But what has changed, natives say, is how rabid the rivalry has become off the field, especially among the summer people… who care very much about what their island choice says about them.”

Now, we don’t come from the school of “let’s pick where we summer based on how it will impact the way people think of us”.  IOHO basics like proximity, history, ease of access, and weather make more sense when determining one’s vacation spot, no? Nor are we sharing our personal preference between the two islands (full disclosure: yours truly grew up summering on the shores of Lake Michigan, these two lovely spots are merely places we have been fortunate enough to visit), but we can say many of the observations made by residents and visitors in Billy Baker’s article ring true:

“Both islands, of course, are summer paradises of great natural beauty. They are also very expensive, very exclusive, and very preppy. Nantucket, the broad-brush argument goes, is just more extreme in all categories. In other words, many Vineyarders say, “snobby.’’

One point made in the article involves simple geographic distinctions:

“Martha’s Vineyard is much larger and more populated, with six towns that have distinct personalities; while Nantucket is just one town. The Vineyard is also considerably closer to the mainland. The traditional ferry takes just 45 minutes to arrive, and well over two hours to get to Nantucket.”

The story hones in on an aspect of the rivalry that may be easiest to envision, fashion differences between ACK and the Vineyard, more specifically, brands.

“In Vineyard Vines, a self-described “preppy’’ clothing store that began on Martha’s Vineyard and has now spread to other Sperry meccas, including Nantucket, pastels, braided belts, and shorts with whales on them rule the day.”

And it’s here where we get to a hot-button issue for many Princess readers, the article quotes a VV assistant store manager, Julia Graham:

“It’s basically the same style,’’ said Graham, who is from Greenwich, Conn. and has been summering on the Vineyard her whole life. “But in Nantucket, they pop the collars up.’’

The popped collar, even for a girl from Greenwich, is a thing, a symbol, the epitome of the preppy snob. Except that on Nantucket, many wear that exact stereotype as a badge of honor.”

Full disclosure #2: your trusty correspondent does not ascribe to the popped collar practice.  With no disrespect to those who do, we never have, it is more-than-unlikely we ever will.

Murray's Toggery

When presented with Graham’s assessment, John Murray, the latest generation of his family to own Murray’s Toggery Shop in Nantucket, the birthplace of Nantucket Reds – perhaps the quintessential preppy trouser – did not dispute the pop-collared joke.

“I’m OK with that,’’ he said. “We like to think of ourselves as more sophisticated.’’

Via Damee NYC

Your thoughts? Is one or the other considered a favorite?

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Also today, a quick update on this weekend’s Red Cross Ball in Monaco. Below we see newlyweds Prince Albert and Charlene, behind them you can just about see the Prince’s sisters, Princesses Caroline (L) and Stephanie.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Princess Charlene wore a deep fuchsia gown by Akris, as well as a custom-made necklace by Van Cleef and Arpels.

Reuters via The Daily Mail

As an update to our post that shared some of the rumors about the couple’s relationship and marriage, the Palace says those reports are untrue; the couple is suing L’Express, a French magazine that printed allegations about the Princess trying to flee the country just days before her wedding. Hmmmm.

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Finally today, an early look at one of the soon-to-be-released ads promoting the upcoming Missoni for Target collection.

Courtesy Image

The enormous collection launches September 13, and will be a major component of Targét’s Fashion’s Night Out event.

We’ll be back on Wednesday, until then may the sun be shining on your island, wherever it may be.

“It’s All About The Preppy” at Targét & J. Crew Collection for Fall

Hello-Hello, and welcome to a busy Thursday here at the Prepatorium. Today’s post is very brief, once again we face too much office work and too little time for bloggage. Sigh.

We begin with something that surprised us the last time we were at Le Boutique Targét, take a look at the company’s in-store marketing campaign:

Target

The “It’s All About Preppy Looks” message is seen on signage throughout the children’s department, but when shopping online one doesn’t find much merchandise described as “preppy”.  When doing a search on the retailer’s website for anything “preppy” only five items are returned for that search term.

Target.com

It doesn’t mean the pieces the company is pushing as ‘preppy’ in-store aren’t available online, shoppers will just need to know what they are looking for by style. (We don’t think that’s much of an issue for TPP readers, not too many of us shop for clothing by that search term.) It’s more of a lack of merchandising coordination, something Target is usually much better at.

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Next, we glance quickly at a few of the fall styles from J. Crew’s higher-end “Collection” line.

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Via Fab Sugar

‘Collection’ features limited edition pieces like the $995 Starlee Sequin Dress in a very pretty pink (shown on the left), and the $1495 Leopard Calf Hair Jacket.

Other Collection styles are shown below, the Double-Faced Cashmere Popover and the Albertus Swanepoel Fedora at $178. (Mr. Swanepoel is the gentleman doing a collaboration with Target later this year; click here for more on that topic.)

Here is the Capelette Peacoat, $350.

J. Crew Collection

And the Cashmere Turtleneck Sweater.

J. Crew Collection

To see Crew’s fall Collection Lookbook, click here.

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Also today, Who What Wear has an interesting piece examining “Preppy Pieces Under $100“.

Who What Wear

From that story:

“When you hear the word “preppy,” a few things immediately come to mind: pearl necklaces, penny loafers, and characters like Blane and Steff from Pretty in Pink. In other words, it conjures up a look that hasn’t been wildly popular since the ’80s—until now.”

Items showcased in the piece include a River Island Padlock Bag at $40 and a Tommy Hilfiger Web Belt, $48.

More from the story:

Whether it’s a pair of nautical-chic wedges or a polished plaid dress, these handpicked items will freshen up your mid-season wardrobe without breaking the bank, so feel free to shop today’s Under $100 story sans stress. Whatever you buy, just know that Muffy would definitely approve…

We do like the ASOS Checked Dress with Bow Belt, it runs $78.

This one makes for an interesting read. While not everything shown in the story equates to a ‘preppy style,’ we are fans of the Who What Wear approach.

G’bye until next time!

Le Boutique Targét: No Longer Cool? Also, Prep-Friendly Flash Sales This Week

Hello-Hello, welcome to a Wednesday here at The Prepatorium.  Is everyone melting all aglow in the beastly warm temps?

Via BrandChannel.com

We begin with a question raised in today’s Journal; the paper asks if the store has become “More Target Than Tar-zhay?”

A series of recent stumbles at Target Corp. has some retail experts questioning whether the cheap-chic discounter is losing its cachet.

The chain that made it trendy to shop for low-priced designer clothing and mod lamps while picking up detergent and toothpaste has been struggling to gain back its pre-recession sales strength.”

The story goes on to detail struggles the retailer is having getting customers to buy clothing and home items, two categories that not only provide higher profits, they helped set Le Boutique Targét apart from Walmart and other discount stores.   More from Ann Zimmerman’s story:

Some of Target’s struggles may also owe to the changing competitive landscape. Kohl’s Corp. and J.C. Penney Co. in recent years have taken a page from the Target playbook, adding low-price designer clothes from Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren and others.

We chat about Target with some frequency in this space, and have been vocal about quality concerns related to the company’s designer collaborations. We have also said the retailer still doesn’t seem to have recovered from Isaac Mizrahi’s departure, he had a very deft design sense that translated well for Target’s demographic. To be sure, there are still fun, fashionable items, like the Merona Rain Boots shown below.

Target.com

But the boots are not an original design, to say they are “derivative” of popular classics would be an understatement. There’s no question the collaborations have been very interesting to watch, but when it comes to the bread-and-butter styles the retailer needs to offer every day, the confident, whimsical touch seems to have disappeared. Back to the article:

“In the past year, middle and upper-end retailers bounced back while Target lagged behind. “Macy’s is winning in apparel and Bed Bath & Beyond has picked up a lot of market share,” said Ms. Shapira. Home furnishings are “doing very poorly at Target. In a world that no longer has Linens ‘N Things, you would think Target would have picked up some market share.” (Linens ‘N Things closed its stores in 2008 but exists online.)”

This makes us wonder, are you still popping in to shop at Target? Have you decreased your visits, perhaps transferred spending to other stores? Or is everything much the same?

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We have a few more retail-related tidbits, beginning with tough news for Talbots, the company’s stock was down yesterday by 40%. Women’s Wear Daily has more:

“…the company said sales and traffic have continued to “trend negative” so far in the second quarter, when it expects continuing high levels of promotion and markdown activity.”

“Increased promotional activity” is marketing speak for price cuts, while that can mean great savings for those looking for bargains at the struggling retailer, long-term it doesn’t bode well for the brand. This is how the Talbots’ home page looks today, obviously a promotion is underway:

Talbots.com

If you visit Talbots’ Facebook page you will see a broad range of customer comments on the ‘wall,’ many of them referencing quality concerns as well as design and/or style issues. Recognizing that human nature dictates negative comments will outweigh the positive, the Facebook wall still presents a capsule look at a troubled brand, we hope Talbots is able to turn things around.

Our other ‘shopping business’ headline involves Lilly Pulitzer’s new owner, Oxford Industries, that company also reported financial results this week. Those numbers were very good, exceeding already-positive expectations. Much of the increase came from solid sales at Tommy Bahama (also owned by Oxford), but Lilly Pulitzer contributed to the growth as well, here is more from WWD:

The company credited the sales growth to trendy spring and summer product, as well as to a burgeoning effort to expand the brand’s consumer base through digital and social media efforts.

Speaking of Lilly, many fans are headed to the Warehouse Sale that starts tomorrow in Pennsylvania; if not able to make that event, online discounter RueLaLa is doing another Lilly flash sale beginning at 11am (EDT) on Friday.

RueLaLa.com

For those not familiar with RueLaLa, the firm offers online-only sales; the invitation only (cough-cough) events run for a limited time, usually three days. A word of caution however, popular pieces can be gone within 2 -3 minutes once a sale opens.  (If in need of an invitation, just click here.)

There are actually several more prep-friendly events this week at RueLaLa, including a Sperry sale that starts at 11am tomorrow (Thursday, 6/9), as well as a sale of Bill’s Khakis and Atlantis WeatherGear.

Via RueLaLa

The Consort has a keen interest in the Bill’s sale, we’re guessing he will be firmly planted in front of his desktop at 11am tomorrow,  that’s when the sale gets underway.  In addition to the Lilly sale Friday, there is also a sale on Preppy Plates.  Because this could be confusing, we’ll recap the RueLaLa sales:

• Thursday sales: Sperry Top-siders, Bill’s Khakis, Atlantis WeatherGear
• Friday sales: Lilly Pulitzer, St. John swimwear and Preppy Plates

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A quick note about a new line of ties and scarves from a company called Figs. We mention them not only because they make handcrafted goods of very high quality right here in the USA…

Figs

We also mention them because of their philanthropic policies: for every tie or scarf sold a uniform is donated to a schoolchild in Kenya or Tanzania.  From a post in Valet:

“The brand’s founder, Heather Hasson, is an avid traveler and was in Africa a few years ago when she learned that many kids there weren’t able to attend school simply due to a lack of funds needed to purchase a requisite uniform.”

We first learned about the brand over at our friend Madeleine’s blog, Ms. Hasson is her cousin.  Click here to read more at Madeleine’s blog or here to see the Valet post in its entirety.

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For those seeking a little something for Father’s Day, we offer two random ideas, the first we fell upon while searching for something else entirely at Jack Spade.

The company offers several accessories with a nautical touch, including a business card holder and passport case in the firm’s embossed anchor pattern.

The second idea is one that The Consort and I love, Baseball Cufflinks created from an official MLB baseball that was used in an actual major league game.

J. Peterman

We found them at J. Peterman, at $150 they are not inexpensive, but they do look nifty.

Goodbye until next time!

An Anti-Prep Crosses the Line, We Are In the Pink & Brooks Brothers’ New Blog

Welcome to another week, we hope yours is filled with the promise of spring.

We begin today with a story you may have already heard about, we felt it merited discussion because of our chat last week about “letting girls be girls,” the egregious nature of the topic also contributed to our decision to cover this today. Below, just one of hundreds of headlines about the topic, and images of the item under discussion, they come from from the Abercrombie Kids online store:

Who Wouldn’t Get Their 7-Year-Old A Sexy Padded Bra?

Abercrombie Kids via The Daily Mail

The headline comes via Gothamist, it is indicative of the tone seen in most stories about the bikinis, although we should point out Abercrombie is not selling girls’ undergarments, but bikini bathing suit tops.  From the Gothamist story:

“Parents are outraged that the company has created a line of push-up bras and bathing suits for girls as young as seven-years-old.”

Our friends on the far side of the pond may have initially broken the story, here is part of The Daily Mail’s coverage:

“…the fashion chain was the subject of outrage today after it released a range of bikinis for eight to 14-year-olds with padded cups.

The Abercrombie Kids ‘Ashley push-up triangle’ top, which retails for $24.50, features thick padding in the cup to give the illusion of a larger chest size.”

The Ashley Bikini Top is still on the site, evidently the level of controversy has prompted the company to change the name, removing the “push up” portion.

Abdercrombie Kids

Below we see the original description of the top, followed by the description as seen today on the website.

To be fair (must we strive for fairness when discussing this company?), Abercrombie Kids describes itself as serving 7 to 14 year olds; the company could claim to be targeting the top at 13 and 14-year-old girls as opposed to younger children. But that prompts an obvious question: do we need those young ladies, at an age when one’s self-image and self-confidence are at their most fragile, having this sort of product promoted to them?

As many readers are no doubt aware, this isn’t the first time the tasteless retailer has crossed the line, here is more from The Daily Mail:

“A range of thongs bearing the words ‘wink wink’ and ‘eye candy’ sold by the retailer for the same age group in 2002 sparked a similar debate, but Abrecrombie Kids refused to recall the line.

Abercrombie: taking vulgar to new lows.

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On a more upbeat note, we turn our attention to a retailer that does offer age appropriate clothing for children; Fred Perry has launched its new Kidswear line.

Fred Perry

We liked just about everything we looked at online.

Fred Perry

We also think the young man in the photos is beyond darling, no?

Fred Perry

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We move on now to springy things, it may be chilly but the sun is shining and bright colors may help bring spring closer. We start with the Furla Candy Bags, definitely Pretty In Pink (and Green).

Furla Candy Bags

Also offering vivid colors, Kenzo, a brand we rarely talk about here on the blog, the bags look like Easter candy.

Kenzo

The handles on these remind us of a telephone cord. For the younger set, we used to use two-piece telephones, there were cords connecting the two separate parts. 🙂

Two more from Kenzo in shades of pink.

Kenzo

D&G offers shoes that also remind us of Easter eggs.

D&G

D&G actually has a variety of cute pieces for your Tiny Miss, including the Junior Shirt for Infants, the bloomers come with the top.

D&G at 6pm.com

The plaids from Vivienne Westwood are fun.

Vivienne Westwood

These next two items may be pink, but it is unlikely you will see them at The Prepatorium, below left, the DSquared2 Clear Bootie and a Roberto Cavalli boot on the right.

6pm (the Zappos discount site) has some wonderful shoes in our favorite color, the Chuches Infant/Toddler Cotton (top) and Pampili Toddler Flat (bottom) are both sweet.

They also have multiple offerings for Mom, including the Jackie Flat and the Holly Pump, both from Paul Smith.

We move over to one of our favorites, J. McLaughlin, for more goodies. Below left, the St. Kitts Rattan bag,and on the right, the Seville Print Cardigan.

Also at J. McLaughlin, the Marcy Henley top, and the Harbor Dress.

Being Pretty in Pink isn’t limited to apparel and accessories, why not put the color front and center on your tabletop? The Melamine Dinner Set in Tutti-Frutti can be found at Le Boutique Targét, along with the Set of 10 Double Walled Tumblers.

There are also a number of items for one’s boudoir, we show the Room Essential Floral Quilt on the left and the Xhilaration Floral Paisley on the right.

Our friend Erin over at Pink & Green Scene recently shared a blinding very bright pillow (L), as well as a darling little piggy bank from Mud Pie.

That may be just enough pink for today!

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We leave you with news about a storied prep brand boosting its online presence even more:

Of Rogues and Gentlemen

That is a look at the new blog from Brooks Brothers, aptly titled Of Rogues and Gentlemen.  The blog launched at noon today, with sections on topics like “Style Commandments” and “Fabrics“.

Of Rogues & Gentlemen blog by Brooks Brothers

Brooks shows its social savvy by offering content not limited exclusively to posts tied to its merchandise, offering articles like “Give Me The Keys,” about vacationing in the Keys.

Of Rogues & Gentlemen blog by Brooks Brothers

We do hope to see content directed to female interests as the new site matures, although the blog’s tagline leads us to believe we shall be disappointed: “Style Advice, Tips, and Essentials for the Modern Man.”

The blog adds to the company’s already robust Facebook following and a strong presence on Twitter.

Goodbye until next time!