Holy Carp! An Up-Close and Personal First Look at Rodarte For Target

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Wow. Christmas came early on Monday, when we received a tip that the entire Rodarte for Target line was spotted at a Target in the unassuming city of Eagle Rock. We made a mad dash to inspect the goods.

First off, the collection as a whole is so very different from all of the early pics. Yes, the creepy sequined ribcage dress is included, but there are a lot of things you haven't seen before. Some good, like the t-shirts and the cherry-blossom print raincoat. Some bad, like the high-waisted denim shorts with the braiding detail, or the leopard-printed lace dress with bows that make it a bitch to get zipped in bag. It's short, it's tight, it's lacy?hello, Peggy Bundy! There's also an embroidered peach number, with lace cutouts across the shoulders, that looks like your grandmother's bathrobe. Do we even need to clarify that we didn't mean that in a good way?

For us, the true winners are the simpler items, like the tees and the lace cardigans (which we bought in every color to photograph for you guys?and we may actually keep one or two of them). The bikinis are cute, but on this frigid, blustery day, they can't be taken seriously. The dresses were full of good ideas, but?so much lace, tulle, ruffly matter and cheap, wrinkled nylon. We hate to say it, but they're Forever 21 quality. (We do dig the offbeat colored ones, though.) Admittedly, some of the overall "mehhhhh" might stem from Target's merchandising, which is to say that when 1,000 of the same item are crammed onto a rack, each one ends up looking crumpled, dirty, and inelegant. Even if you put full-price, regular Rodarte dresses in these conditions, they'd probably end up looking a little cheap, too.

The prices are what you expect from this line: tees are $14.99, cardigans are $29.99, skirts are $29.99, Peggy Bundy dress is $44.99 (dresses range from $34.99 to $59.99). There were two jackets: the delightful raincoat for $39.99, and a fuzzy leopard-print number for $79.99.

There was plenty of everything, at least as of 7pm Monday night. (No accessories yet. Also, there were only three remaining fake sheepskin vests, and those were all Smalls.) Get on over there, and be the first girl on your block to get a piece of the latest Target collab.
· Target [Official Site]