Missoni baloney

If you haven't heard, Target just launched a huge collection of products -- women and kids clothes, housewares, and accessories -- from the fashion house of Missoni, who are well-known for their signature striped and geometric patterns.

Or as my friend said "Whoa, that's busy!"

I'm not an overwhelming fan of their stuff, however I did score an actual Missoni a couple of years ago at TJ Maxx's Runway section that I love.

Awesomely unflattering photo stolen from Mom-101 and Mainline Mom

I was more curious to see the line from a Cool Mom Picks perspective, and because I think Target has done something so brilliant by bringing in big, well-known designers to create more affordable pieces.

That being said, I'd probably be more inclined to buy something for myself rather than my girls, who don't need a $20 pair of leggings from Target.

$5 - yes. But I'll take my $20 to a place where I know the leggings will last longer than a few wears and washes.

Then again, I'd rather spend $50 on something from Banana Republic or J. Crew where I know it's not going to be trashed after a couple of weeks, which has been my sadly consistent track record with Target clothes.

But alas, we attempted to feature the line on our site but couldn't even get onto the Target website because it had crashed. And apparently the same had happened in stores as well: people waiting in line and clearing the racks, not for themselves, of course, but rather to put all the items on eBay and make a buck. 

Now I'm not against capitalism or eBay, but when I see people who don't necessarily need the extra however-much money selling tons of items for way higher than the purchase price, I have to raise my eyebrow.

Aside from the sheer trouble of buying, photographing, and then shipping the items (mom of 4 kids talking here, I guess), I just can't really imagine taking such advantage of peoples' crazed desire to get their hands on something especially when I wasn't as equally desperate myself for the cash.

Are people dumb to pay $100 (or more) for a $50 dress -- from Target, no less? Yes.

Are people equally as crappy to try to make money off other peoples' desperation and stupidity? Yes.

I get that money is money, but to me, it looks a little different and doesn't quite smell the same, when you scored it by trying to take advantage of someone else. Even if they knowingly and willingly spend it.

Comments

[Tara]

My question is, why blame only the scalpers? Don't they need willing, albeit crazy, buyers to make their efforts worthwhile? If people would stop buying into the "I MUST have it first" mentality, then shirts, dresses, and even Elmo dolls sold at 10x their value wouldn't be an issue.

[Mary Anne]

I happened to be in the store to look for something that was on clearance a few days before when the line came out. OMG. the lady in front of my in the check out line spent over $500 on the stuff. The cashier said that her total wasn't as bad as the first lady to come through his line that morning...over $800 spent. I am sorry, but that is ridiculous!! I have better things to spend my money on than this stuff.

[Ivy]

This is the spirit that built America, people. Although snatching gaudy-but-trendy clothes from racks doesn't quite sound as lofty as building the first railway, the profit spirit is what is at the core. If you stifle it, you get socialism/communism, or any flavor of such (as a side note, having lived in a communist country most of my young life, it is not the cool utopia that Che Guevara t-shirts make you belive it is). You cannot expect people to respond to the profit incentive in one situation and not in another. You can moralize about it, of course, and decide what is classy and what is crass, but the truth of the matter is that people, or those people, not us cool moms, will always respond to the profit incentive, and they should. That is why you will always see this behavior when demand exceeds supply. If you don't, that is the time to start worrying about this country and what will become of its future, since the entrepreneurial spirit is the reason why we enjoy such high standards of living.

Target has hit a goldmine with the idea that fashion is craved by lower-income people and they will overpay for it (even if the markup is not quite as large as otherwise).

My husband refuses to wear anything name-brand unless compensated for it (he thinks only dumbasses provide free ads). I found the idea to be way more original than Louis Vuitton purses, and very much in line with my econ profession, so this is how we live....clueless to the existence of Missoni, and the Target debacle....

[Stacia]

Unrelated to Missoni, but as far as the taking advantage of people thru ebay thing - I saw this happen ALL.THE.TIME. when I worked at Starbucks. I was there when the insulated cups that looks like sbux cups first came out, as well as for the second launch. Luckily they make plenty and are pretty much always stocked in stores now, but the first few times they only made a limited quantity and most stores only got that first shipment and would never get anymore. People would come to the stores when shipment arrived, buy all the cups (priced at 12.95) and then sell them on ebay for $50 or more because people wanted them and would pay out the nose for them.

If you're able to buy 20+ cups at one time, I'm betting you don't need the extra money you're making on your ebay profit. simply ridiculous.

And I've never really been a fan of the "designer" labels at Target. they're either plain odd, or only work for those waif-like indie girls. I'll stick to buying the $12 graphic tees which have lasted me years :)

[laura]

I had to maake a Target run the day the line debuted and I was overwhelmed by the number of people snatching up the ...crap. Personally I did not care for pretty much most of the line. But what struck me at that moment is we live in a small town which means pretty much everyone around here is going to be decked out or have their homes decorated with Missoni for Target. It was then that I definitely said "no thank you", picked up my prescriptions from the Target pharmacy and left.

[The Mommy Therapy]

I am baffled by this entire thing. I am an avid Target shopper, so avid I have recently banned myself from shopping there since I can't seem to leave with $100 worth of "essentials" every time I go.

I don't understand buying anything marked up and on Ebay that someone purchased at Target. I especially don't understand buying Missoni for Target on Ebay for marked up prices.

I need an advil just to look at a sweater. Some pieces are cute, but not desperate to have, crash their site and attack the store cute. As usual, people are nuts...or just staring too long at those patterns.

[Olivia]

I agree. Yes, it's capitalism at it's most basic, but it's just kind of crappy to grab gobs of a reasonably priced item and turn around and sell it for twice as much. It leaves a lot of people not being able to afford that item now. Which, isn't the end of the world, but it's just greedy, ya know? And sheer greed like that turns my stomach.

Anyway, I don't like all that missoni stuff so I really don't see why people want it so badly.

[Julie Marsh]

Personally, I object to such shenanigans on both ethical and economic bases. I can dig buying stuff on sale and selling it on eBay at or around the retail price, if that's how you want to spend your time. But scalping mass produced merchandise or being the desperate buyer? (Or getting into altercations over it, as I read about on Twitter?) It's another example of our culture of consumption.

To wit, in the picture above, I'm wearing a $5 thrift store dress that I bought in 1990. And I had no clue that Kristen's dress was a real Missoni.

[Liz]

Almost every woman I know was going crazy over that stuff and (small voice) I really don't like Missoni. I don't think it's attractive at all. Yet, I felt inclined to try to buy something simply due to the herd mentality. I wasn't successful due to the site problems you mentioned above, but only later did I snap out of it and realize I would never have wanted that stuff if there wasn't so much buzz about it.

[Karen]

I'm with you on this one, too. It gives me an uh-oh feeling. I see the point that someone made about the market, but this is over-the-top.

I will say, though, that with the exception of 90% of the D-Signed Disney line for girls at Target (tacky. It's spelled T-A-C-K-Y), I've had fabulous luck with their kids' clothes.

[The Muskrat]

I don't know what these things are, but I think letting the market determine how badly someone wants something such that they can pay more for the item is good. Sometimes that's the only way I can get good seats to a college football game or concert. As for some article of clothing sold at a discount store that was likely made in China? No, I won't pay a premium for access to those.

[sue {laundry for six}]

I'm not a big Missoni fan either, but my Target was completely cleared out by 9AM. There was a woman in line ahead of me with over $400 worth of it in her cart who was on the phone with her credit card company because her charge was declined. Absolutely insane.

[Team Suzanne]

I, too, find the hoarding and profiteering distasteful. But, more than anything, I love the phrase "Missoni Baloney" and will be actively looking for ways to incorporate this into my daily dialogue. Perhaps I'll use it whenever I feel my eyebrow start to raise, which is always a good indication that there is some baloney happening.

[SelfishMom]

I don't really see anything wrong with picking up a couple extra pieces to sell on eBay while grabbing the goods for yourself. The people who irk me are the ones grabbing everything they can just to sell it, with no interest or appreciation for their own part. They're like ticket scalpers.

[The Dalai Mama]

I couldn't agree more. I think Target has done a great job of "re-creating" themselves as a different kind of discount store. But why on earth would you pay more for discount clothes--regardless of who the designer is? People wouldn't be selling them online if people weren't willing to pay for it. Are we that into Status? Do we really need over-priced discount clothes to make us feel more valuable?

[Larisa]

Agree! Even though I'm so fashion-challenged (as you well know, that's what happens when you're pregnant or nursing for six straight years) and sleep deprived I barely knew about this and therefore couldn't care less about a new fashion brand at Tarjay, this is one of my pet peeves. It's like the feminine version of ticket scalpers, which also burns my butt. And yes, I know, supply and demand, but which comes first is akin to the chicken and egg debate, to me at least.

[Adventures In Babywearing]

I will defend the $20 leggings. Ivy grassed up the knees and they washed up just like new, so. :)

Steph

[Heather B.]

Everyone had me all nervous that Target was going to be complete mayhem. Up in Albany, NY? It was empty save for a few moms on the phone with their daughters and myself. I scored the flats in a size 11 which is a miracle.

That said, there should be a limit or something. Based on the horror stories I'd say that Target needed to be better prepared.

[divrchk]

I totally agree. While I didn't rush to the store or website and didn't need anything from the line, it would have been nice to walk into the store a few days later (the sale was supposed to run for 6 weeks!!!) and check it out. I think that Target should put a limit on how many of an item a person can buy in future limited edition sales.