Month: September 2014

Liberty of London Love

When we went to London last year on our family vacation, I met up with a friend who introduced me to the Liberty department store and Liberty Art Fabrics.  I completely fell in love and since then, I’ve been noticing Liberty of London prints everywhere!  Funny how that happens!  It is definitely a very specific look and not for everyone, as it is kind of old fashioned, but I love it in small doses.

Liberty of London Interior
Liberty of London Interior

The Liberty department store was really cool–shaped like a ship and had a whole floor devoted to haberdashery–mostly fabrics and notions.  The neat thing about Liberty prints is that they are used by many different companies.  Hello Kitty, Peek Clothing and even Target have all done collaborations with Liberty.

Hello Kitty Liberty prints
Hello Kitty Liberty prints

Liberty of London sold bolts of fabric in various Hello Kitty prints and Sanrio made special Hello Kitty items with the prints.  They were so cute!  I wish I had the talent to sew something special with the fabric for my daughter but alas, my sewing skills leave much to be desired!

Peek O'Keefe Dress - Liberty of London print
Peek O’Keefe Dress – Liberty of London print

I’ve seen that Peek has used Liberty of London art fabrics for the past few years that I have known about them.  I don’t know if its a permanent thing or not, but I’m glad they are an option!  Peek clothing looks really well made and has cute designs.  It is a little more expensive than what I normally buy for my toddler but I would definitely splurge on a special outfit.

Liberty for Target
Liberty for Target

The Liberty for Target collaboration happened a few years ago before I had ever heard of Liberty (and was not paying too much attention to Target designer collabs!) so its a bummer I missed out because there are some really cute items in apparel and home.  Fingers crossed they might do a return collection someday?

Have you seen Liberty of London prints around?  Do you love it or is it not really your style?

Altuzarra for Target starting September 14th!

Has it really been a month dear friends?  I sincerely apologize for the lengthy absence but things have just been SO hectic for us at home. August is family birthday month so the whole month gets consumed by party planning and execution!

I recently read about Altuzarra for Target and it seems like another exciting designer Target collab.  The entire lookbook has now been released on the Target website here.  Take note that some items will be online exclusives at Target.com, some items will also be available on net-a-porter.com (for shipping worldwide!) and some items will be available in store.

Here are a few of my picks.

Altuzarra for Target Look 1
Altuzarra for Target Look 1

I *love* swiss dot fabric and the collection uses it extensively! This dress looks really pretty and I really like the wide belt.  I’m thinking even if the dress doesn’t fit my petite frame, I will pick up the belt since I’m in need of a cute wide belt.

Altuzarra for Target Look 23
Altuzarra for Target Look 23

The blouse under this jacket uses the swiss dot fabric again and I’m a sucker for a cute blouse using swiss dot!  I will definitely be picking up the bow neck blouse.  The blazer has an adorable peplum back but I find it hard to shop for blazers that fit so I’ll have to probably order it and decide once I try it on.

Altuzarra for Target Look 14
Altuzarra for Target Look 14

The purple orchid dress is so pretty!  I think the material will make the dress special or will turn it into a dud.  Can’t wait to see it in person and decide.

Shopping tips for Target designer collaborations

I’ve only shopped 1 other really highly anticipated Target designer collaborations (the 3.1 Phillip Lim collection) and here are my best tips based on my shopping experience.

  1. The collection will launch sometime after midnight online.  Don’t expect the items to instantly show up at midnight!  Target’s website got really bogged down with all the traffic from that previous sale and was a bit buggy and took a little while to update.
  2. Check Twitter for the official hashtag #AltuzarraForTarget.  A few links to items were posted on Twitter before I could find them on the official designer splash page.
  3. Click through the category page (e.g. Handbags or Shoes) instead of the official designer splash page.
  4. Target imposed limits on how many items each person was allowed to purchase.  In this case, it was 5 items from the line and 3 of the same item.  So if you’re planning to purchase many items, you’ll need to split your orders up.
  5. Make sure your credit card information on file is correct to help speed up checkout since items can disappear from your cart at any time!

Are you excited about this Target designer collab?  Has anything in particular caught your eye?