Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Review: McQ for Target


People are hating on the McQ line for Target and I completely understand their grievances.

My personal complaint is that the website advertised the release date as March 4th, which is the date it was released online, yet the line hit the actual Target stores March 1st. I feel that was completely misleading and they really should have had both dates be the same. Frustrating.

People are saying that the clothes look cheap.

99% of the line does look pretty chintzy. However, you have to realize the clothes ARE cheap. The most expensive thing in the Target line is $130, while, right now, on Net-A-Porter, the most expensive McQ piece is $845. Remember the Target line is a diffusion of McQ line, not the Alexander McQueen label. There is a difference between the two lines. If people were expecting the Target line to look more like Alexander McQueen's namesake label then there is obviously going to be quite a difference and greater potential for disappointment. Having said that, as far as design goes, the Target line is surprising faithful to the current McQ collection and is being offered for approximately 1/10 of the price. ( Compare for yourself: Target vs Net-A-Porter.)

Are you going to get the same quality? No. Are some of the Target pieces overpriced for the quality? Yes. Yet I wouldn't completely dismiss every piece in the line. Trying something on in harsh florescent lighting in an ugly dressing room that smells like B.O. is not going to make you feel magical. Imagine what the pieces will look like in a normal setting. I would also advise against wearing head-to-toe Target under any circumstance. With the right pairing of higher end accessories that you may already own, you could easily dress up the McQ for Target pieces.

Others say that the clothes are ill fitting.

The cuts are based on Junior sizes. The clothing may fit a petite woman but even then there are issues. I am usually a size 0 or 2 but in the Target line I'm a 5. Good thing I'm not hung up about numbers. Very rarely is ready-to-wear clothing truly ready-to-wear. I need to take most of my clothing to the tailor to ensure a proper fit. Every body type is different and you are completely in the right for NOT buying something that is ill fitting or just plain wrong for your body type. The same can be said for color, not everyone can pull of bright pink or gray depending on a persons skin tone or hair color or eye color. Or you may just not like those colors and that's okay too.

The bottom line is the tag line "Design For All" is bit misleading.

Price wise, Target makes designer clothing more accessible, but that doesn't mean the pieces are for everyone. If you are the kind of person who would wear the original McQ line if you could afford it then there are some pieces in this line that you might fancy.

7 comments:

Lainey said...

These are all things to assess before I go to target and pick up one of their pieces. So, thanks for this review.

Erika Obscura said...

I'm glad I could help! :)

SnapandPrint said...

Great review!

I passed on the McQueen Targetr stuff because of the odd fitting clothing. It just cling in the wrong places and was loose in places where it was suppose to cling.

The only things that fit were the cheapest looking ones.

It was so disappointing.

Erika Obscura said...

I'm sorry you were disappointed, but there are plenty of lovely things out there for you! Thank you for inspiring my post though :)

Vintage Lollipops said...

I just previewed the line yesterday, and admit, I wasn't as thrilled as I thought/hoped I'd be... only walked away with one piece. Sigh.

Erika Obscura said...

What did you end up getting?

Vintage Lollipops said...

Hi babe.

I actually tried on every piece but only kept the t-shirt... of all things. xxx