So yeah. Not sure if you heard but this little Italian brand debuted yesterday at Target. No? You didn’t hear? HAHAHA. Of COURSE you heard! You and 1000s of other people because ladies and gentlemen, it wasn’t just a sale. It was INSANITY.

I went to my Target (OK, who are we kidding…I went to TWO Targets) to check out the Missoni scene. And I do mean scene. Target opens at 8:00am. I arrived around 9:15am. I was actually a bit embarrassed, thinking, “Sheesh, I’m going so early!”  I eagerly walked inside, anxious to see the prized garments, only to find….

Nothing. There were literally TWO sweaters swaying in the breeze. As I stared at the empty racks I foolishly thought, “Maybe I’m so early they haven’t put anything out yet?” Ah, little Alix. How naive. A woman strolled past me with a cart PILED sky high (chatting loudly on her phone to a friend, “You want baby stuff? They got baby stuff.”) I then realized I was horribly late to the party. I dashed around the store in hopes of finding some straggler items.

Scarves/hats/gloves? NOTHING.
Bedding or dishware? NADA
Purses? Silky scarves? ZILCH!

A lone zig zag tumbleweed rolled on by….

It wasn’t entirely a bust. As I raced around, I scooped up some tights and socks. Found a couple of rogue scarves in the wrong section…..grabbed a pair of the sassy flats. As I circled around , I discovered some people had put things back, so I was able to snap up some knit tunics and tops.

I saw the luggage which was dreamy and actually very well made, but at $149, for a smallish suitcase…I passed.

They had laptop cases and stationary stuff and lots of little girl and baby things (REALLY cute, though pricey).

As I wandered around, I passed several other women, each with only a few items in their cart. We late comers formed a sort of fellowship….chatting about how crazy it was that nearly everything was gone within an hour. Another woman joined us with a semi full cart and we eagerly peered inside as she shared things we never even got a chance to see. (“Oooh, the glass vase! It’s so pretty!”) One woman said that she was at another Target and the women were positively vicious. Another chimed in that someone tried to steal things out of her cart as she tried on a few items. My friend Tracy (aka Shutterbean) texted me that there was a man with FOUR shopping carts filled with Missoni goodies. Now friends, that’s just wrong. What happened to people?

(Yes, Tracy texted me a photo of the FOUR CARTS.)

I was so discouraged by the behavior of some people. If you buy everything because you want to wear it/use it, more power to you. But those people who greedily grabbed EVERYTHING just so they could resell it on eBay? (Hello Four-Cart Meanie, I’m talkin’ to YOU!) Not classy. Not cool.

Missoni Mania was so out of control, the entire Target web site crashed. THE ENTIRE DAY. I am a huge Target fan, but I have to say they didn’t plan for this very well. Not enough product after the HUGE HUGE hype (ads running pretty much EVERYWHERE—print, TV, web, videos!) is kind of a no-no. I also feel like they need to implement some rules to prevent the crazies from grabbing every stinkin’ thang on the rack (say, “you can not purchase more than two of any one item”).

As I chatted with the Sisterhood of the Traveling Zig Zags (my fellow Target shoppers) we discussed how we couldn’t even really enjoy the experience—it was so nutso you just frantically grabbed what you could.

I decided to snag a mess o’ stuff and suss it all out at home. Here is some of what I grabbed from the slim pickin’s. (And I’m not keeping it all, just so ya know!)

This sweater is really thick and soft and well made…..but i’m not really an earth tone person. We’ll see.

I looooooved this. The sleeves and back are really cool, the front is semi sheer. So pretty. But it made my arms look like Popeye. So it’s going back.

Tights and socks? Cute, cute and cute. (The far left is a scarf from the little girl’s department. Not great for snowy days but for fall and our California winter it’ll be perfect!)

Weeeeeee! The flats! The black and white shirt is very fun, but crazy. I am not keeping it, but I think it would look really cute under a jumper or little sweater vest.

This sweater dress is the grooviest fabric and very soft. I’m not sure it looks that cute on me, so we’ll see.

I really love the flats. Super cute. But in my insanity I grabbed a half size too big. Boo!

My mom is awesome. I called her up to tell her about the maddness. Being a fashion plate of the 60s and 70s, she of course knew Missoni and said she’d check out her Target. She called me up while in the store and said that amazingly they had LOADS of things! (Alas, no throw blanket) We had a laugh attack as I basically guided her through the store (“So the suit case…let me know what you think! No, it’s not with the purses, it’s near the sporting goods and menswear. Yeah. Oooh, they have the umbrella? No way!!”) We had a blast virtually shopping together. I’m sending her some of what I found out here, and she has a bunch of things she’s sending me. Including the flats IN MY SIZE! Yay mama!

Soooooo, did you check it out? Was it all gone or did you score some fun goodies? Here’s a hilarious account of the mayhem at one Houston Target.

Oh, and you know, if you run into that dang throw blanket….let me know!