Nabbing a piece of Jason Wu

Nadine Kam photos (except Target looks)
There were about 50 to 60 in line ahead of me at the Lawehana Street Target this morning, for the Jason Wu for Target debut.

There's not much that would get me out of bed at 7 on a Sunday morning, but I didn't want to miss out on the debut of Jason Wu's collection for Target. Even so, I arrived at the Lawehana Street store about 5 minutes before opening Feb. 5, so at about 50th or 60th in line, didn't get everything I wanted. It was only because I knew other shoppers there that I was able to walk away witha couple of their rejects.

After the fact, I also saw someone I knew who had put back two of the Milu scarves I wanted. Someday I'll get it right. The secret, I learned, was to roll out of bed and get in your car without stopping to put on any makeup.

Milu T-shirt.

Missed out on the Milu scarves because I went for the clothes.

I was strategizing with people over the weekend, discussing whether Wu would be a greater or smaller draw than Missoni. I figured it might be less, because his designs tend to be more fitted and less forgiving than knits, and with Missoni, there was also a housewares collection. So I was sad to see the long line, figuring they had only come for one thing. After all, who really NEEDS to be at Target at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning?

Once we got in the door, some people detoured in a different direction, so I was hopeful. But they were heading for the handbags and scarves, wiping out the stock in no time. The entire frenzy lasted no more than 5 minutes. After that, people were waiting to see what came back from dressing rooms, but most people were going straight from racks to checkout.

At least the store personnel is learning, telling people toward the end of the morning that there is a one-item limit per style in an attempt to eliminate some of the buying for resale. But of course, people who do that will just show up with a larger contingent next time.

Next up for budget fashionistas is Marni at H&M. Guess I'll be shopping online again March 8.

A girl walks off with a dress I wanted, shown below over the decimated racks. Although press materials said it would be available online only, it was in the Lawehana Street Target, and came with a black sash-style belt. One skinny size 2 shopper, who I followed around awhile, hoping she would give her dress up, had to be content buying the dress in size large.

After about 5 minutes, the racks were cleared of all but a handful of large sizes, and a few latecomers and hopefuls stood around waiting for returns that never really came because few people were trying on and just headed straight for the registers. I did manage to pick up the blue top at the right, and I knew one of the shoppers who had grabbed the matching size 4 skirt and didn't want it after all, so passed it along to me. The whole look is below:

Either the prices were higher than initially stated, or we pay Hawaii prices. The top was actually $31.99, and the skirt was $35.99.

I saw this nubby gold top on the racks but didn't go for it because it looked heavy. But then someone who knew someone I knew asked if I wanted the one she had and said it was really cute on, so I tried it on and got it even though, at medium, it's two sizes too big. It's really cute and lightweight. It's shown on the model below, but has a peplum that in the photo is tucked in.

The actual price of the top was $38.99.

This is the poplin dress that got me out of bed early, but it wasn't stocked here. I'll probably be shopping for it online now that I have a good idea of the fit.