Well, yesterday was one of the days women all over certain areas of America, like—um…The Southern States, any college or university that has a Greek system, members of country clubs, Philly’s Main Line, the beach-house crowd and definitely the cast of “Southern Charm”, had been waiting for since the announcement was made back in January. Target’s roll-out of “Lilly for Target”. Yes. A line of the happy, colorful, simple, summah time, clothing, accessories and home goods was being made readily-available to the masses and poor slobs like me! How delightful—made me want to grab those Jack Rogers sandals that have been sitting in a box unworn for over a year and strut around naked in them!

THE most god-awful uncomfortable sandals on earth. But they look great with those Lilly Pulitzer shifts. Very Jackie Kennedy!

Lilly would be rolling around in her grave with a Tanqueray and Tonic at that sight. Trust me!

Yes. Lilly would say to the Patron Saints of Preppy ladies “Honeys, get out the Tanqueray and Tonic makings. She’s running around naked with her Jacks on. Again. Hahahahahahaha!!” We kind of resemble each other. Sort of. OK. Delusionally!

OK…let’s do a little back-story here. I’ve always been a fan of Lilly Pulitzer shift dresses. They are quite lovely and perfect for summer. Since I’m known to be a “lazy” dresser during the warm months, I find the shifts to be a “one stop” wardrobe. I can throw one of the shifts over a bathing suit, then continue to wear same dress to run errands, or go out to a restaurant, if on vacation go sightseeing, and before my lapsed-Catholicism, stop of to attend 5:00 Mass on a summer’s Saturday afternoon!

I also love the scarfs because they are colorful, bright and can work well to bring a plain, solid dress some pizazz (OMG—did I just write that word—I’m friggin’ getting’ old!)

Scarf from the target sale and………………………..others I’ve gotten in the past.

Fortunately due to location, I’ve been able to acquire many of Ms. Pulitzer’s items at the Lilly Pulitzer Warehouse sale. But that’s another story:

Honestly, the Warehouse Sale deserves a blog post of it’s own. Later for that. However, being the giver I am, here’s the dates of the upcoming sale!

Recently, I’ve ended  up consigning some of my Lilly clothing due to my weight gain. But here are some of my older Lilly items that still manage to fit me.

My all-time favorite Lilly dress. It’s so multi-taskish. Unfortunately I can’t fit into it at the present moment. But I plan to be back in it really soon!

These are great for the Fall, Spring and Winter. There’s some stretch so they are a bit forgiving, if you know what I mean! I get a lot of wear out of them.

I’m also quite happy with my tunics. They look great with white jeans and shorts AND hide unwanted belly fat!

Oona, being a former sorority girl, has her fair share of Lilly items as well. In all honesty, she looks adorable in the Pulitzer brand due to her cute frame and her nice, straight, not-too-dark hair (BTW—if you do pray, your prayers will be answered.) Throughout my pregnancies, I prayed:

“Oh please God, please, if this is a girl, PLEASE, please give her straight hair. Also, while I’m praying, please let her hair be the texture of not being porous or coarse or frizzy. I realize that is a lot to ask for, but God, it’s me. Cathe. I only pray for deeply shallow things so I’m not making you work that hard. Thank you God”! My prayers were answered. I’m getting off topic here.

Sorry. Back to Lilly For Target.

Since Oona was here for the weekend (hmmmm…was my birthday the only reason for the visit?), we figured we would wake up early Sunday morning, get some Starbucks then head to my local Target in Oaks, PA.

Our strategy was that the Malvern and King of Prussia Target stores would be chock-full of Main Liners and Oaks was a tad off the beaten mainline track. In theory—a great strategy.

However, the sun shone into the chambre of Bonaparte and Josephine, at an early hour, so at 6:30, I was checking my tablet to view the Lilly offerings online. Target’s site crashed.

Oona knocked on my chambre door in a panic. We got dressed and left. Bonaparte thought we were nuts—the boys were still sound asleep in their rooms.

OK..So we arrived at about 7AM and three people were in line. This looked great. We debated sitting in the car for a bit, but the weather was just so perfect that we decided to get on the short line. Good thing we did.

Me. Looking like total crap. I’m probably looking for Chapstick–as if that’ll work to make me look human. To protect the others on line I tried to hide their faces as best as I could. They were so nice though! We had a blast!

Within the next 30 minutes, the line had reached halfway around the perimeter of the store. I swear to you, I was the only one of two  on that line with natural, dyed black hair (ok—so I dye it now. But truth be told, my hair was so black when I was younger that it looked navy.) Honest. I stood out like a sore thumb in the sea of various shades of blonde and light brunette heads!

The line was extremely civilized too. Oona and I had made some “on-the-line BFF’s”, like Dana, the teacher who used to live in New Jersey, and Irene who used to live in California AND Texas! It’s funny, we ladies can find out everything about each other—just give us a few minutes of bonding over something we have in common and “BOOM”—we’re practically cousins!

The managers of Target came out to give us instruction and cheer us on to get even more excited about this roll-out! We were instructed to not run or grab and to be civil. Imagine that! WHY would we need that sort of instruction?????? Our local Target also houses a Starbucks. Guess what Starbucks gave us?

Is this cute or what?? I’m sorry the pic is a bit out of focus but I drank the complimentary  coffee before this was taken. I’m caffeinated!

Complimentary little Frappuccino’s, coffee and generous samples of their lemon pound cake and cheese Danish. Nothing like fattening me up a bit before trying to squeeze into my former size 8! At 8: AM the doors opened. It was akin to Moses parting the Red Sea!

Yes. It was Lilly’s spirit, making sure those red aisles were cleared for the masses!

There may not have been running, but there sure was a lot of sprinting and speed walking.

Oona was 4^th on the line. I was 5^th! I only managed to grab two shift dresses! My first “grab” was the straw tote. I’m big on straw totes for the summer and needed figured a Lilly Pulitzer straw tote would make me look “extra special” down the shore!

Cute straw tote!

I love the inside fabric…and…

The fabric expands so I can fit a ton of stuff in here. I think I’ll use this as my “purse” when I’m in flight on the way to France!

I also grabbed a scarf in the bright pink “See Ya Later” print. More about THAT in a while. Now, I realize that I did have to go up a size and Target’s clothing runs small. I grabbed one shift in a 12 and one in a 14. OK—I only grabbed them because those were the only two shifts left. YES. The racks were completely empty by 8:10 AM.

Although this isn’t the Oaks, PA Target–the racks were just as empty by 8:10 AM. That is insane!

I met Oona by the dressing room. I don’t know how she did it, but she had the one little bikini that she had coveted since January. What a shopper! She also had an adorable halter shirt that I hadn’t noticed and two pairs of shorts.

Oona’s Lilly haul.  The yellow shirt is adorable. I never even saw it on a rack in the store! She got the bathing suit she so desperately wanted, two pairs of shorts and these really cute flip-flops! I have NO idea how she grabbed so much in such little time! What a pro!

Luckily, we were among the first to snag dressing room space. Even luckier, I was in a dressing room next to Dana (my BFF from the line outside Target)—and she had a bunch of shifts in size 10. Just what I needed! I tried on the pink shift in the size 14 but I was swimming in it. Too large.   I tried on another shift in a 12, and unfortunately, it fit. I really need to stop binging, stuffing my mouth with all sorts of food eating. Dana didn’t want the pink “See Ya Later” shift in the 10 so she gave it to me. I tried it on squeezed my thunder thighs and fat ass into it. It’s slightly tight but after ten pounds, it’ll be perfect. I figured after losing weight I can get the 12 shift tailored. It’ll still be less expensive than the retail pricing.

My size 12 shift. Hey. Marilyn Monroe was a 12 so don’t judge!

Thanks to Dana, I have this in a 10. I can squeeze into it but with another bit of a weight loss, it’ll be perfect!

The dressing room was like a girl’s dorm.   We were all trading and “oohing and ahh-ing” over each other’s treasures! It was the “Sisterhood of the Dressing Room Lilly’s”! I even managed to get the crowd laughing when I came out in my shift and said “Hey, wont’ this look darling with a pair of Jack’s and a fake tan”??

I met Oona outside the dressing room to review our purchases. I didn’t notice my “See Ya Later” scarf.

Oona had an “Opps-sorry” moment. She thought the scarf was hers and she gave it to Irene—the nice woman we met on the line (and our other new BFF). Irene gave  the scarf back to me.

Oona explained that Irene couldn’t find a dress to match the bright pink print of the one she got her daughter and the scarf was perfect.

How could I NOT give that scarf to Irene??? After all, we know I’m a total giver—right?? She has a five-year old daughter. I felt her disappointment. I guess that scarf really was a “See Ya Later”! Besides, we traded and I got a blue scarf instead!

My haul. Straw tote. Traded scarf, two shifts. Thanks to Dana for the “See Ya Later” pink shift and thanks to Irene for allowing me to be a good person and saying “see ya later” to the scarf! It was a fun day!

Overall it was a fun experience to be a part of the “Lilly for Target” roll-out. But not everyone was so lucky to come home with the booty that we came home with.

First the good: It was great that Lilly Pulitzer’s brand became more accessible to the masses. Contrary to what the “Lilly One Percent” thought. Yes. Quite a number of blue-blood Lilly fanatics were upset about this roll-out because they feel it cheapened the brand. Guess what? Lilly Pulitzer is NOT Courreges, nor is the brand Chanel. It is a high-end retail chain. If you want to be exclusive, do your shopping off of Rue St. Honoré in Paris.

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In all my trips to Paris, I’ve never ever seen a Lilly Pulitzer item of clothing ANYWHERE. Remember, Lilly is NOT on Rue St. Honore. Get over yourselves! Lilly is  a high-end retail store. Not haute couture!

Better yet, make a call to Karl Lagerfeld. OK?

My delusional buddy, Karl, will laugh at you and walk away. So please be kind and dismount your high horse. It’s a good thing that Lilly is available to all!

The clothing was of decent quality. One difference that I noticed was the sleeveless dresses for Target didn’t have those little snaps inside the dress to keep bra straps from falling down the way the retail dresses do.

The Target items lacked this little snap to keep bra straps from falling.

Still, the quality was fine for the pricing.

Target’s strategy of placing the goods throughout the store underneath the “green” flamingos was also smart. Had Target placed the entire line in one area, it would have been mass mayhem. Granted, the overall vibe of the crowd was pretty civilized; I think the product placement had something to do with that.

All Lilly items were placed under the green flamingos. At least THEY had cocktails to go along with their entertainment!

Prioritizing counts. Many carts were filled with home goods rather than clothing. Other carts were filled with children’s clothing and not adult clothing. More carts were filled with clothing—you really had to go in there knowing full-well what you wanted. The staff at Target was great! Coming out to give instruction and motivation and free breakfast was a nice touch.

The not-so-good: I read somewhere that all Target stores would be well-stocked. That wasn’t the case. There were only one or perhaps two racks of shift dresses and they were not in all sizes. I think Target could have done a better job of stocking the dresses. Knowing how popular the Lilly Pulitzer shifts are, the Oaks Target was understocked.

When I inquired about restocking, I was told what was out on the floor was it. That made me feel bad for the women who were at the middle and end of the line. There was no way they could have gotten anything. The racks were completely emptied out by 8:10AM!!! The Target site crashed. Hey, I’m not a big fan of online shopping, but I did try to go online to see if I could purchase another shift. No way. Nothing was available.

I heard many, many complaints about shoppers trying to make online purchases to no avail. Lilly for Target must have been a tremendous success for both the brand AND Target!

E-bay sellers. Yes. I KNOW there were many and there were some at the Oaks store. They were the “grab’n go” buyers. Just reaching out, grabbing clothing to put into large bags they brought themselves. Carts overflowing and leaving. It was disgusting. Last night I checked to see what was available from the “Lilly for Target” on EBay. It was horrific. Sellers advertising the shift dresses from the Target sale for $125.00 and more. I purchased four items for less than that! I’m hoping these moronic e-bay sellers are fully aware that the majority of the Lilly fans will just shrug and head to the retail Pulitzer boutiques instead. For a few dollars more a retail shift can be bought! Greed is awful and I truly hope the e-bay sellers are stuck with a bunch of unsold items.

Have a happy and sunny day!

CAVEAT—something is askew with my WordPress today. I’m unable to embed a song! I’m also having photo issues. I’ll try to fix this later!