People take differing views on collaborations between Designers and High Street stores. Some see it as a cynical marketing ploy by Designers to "hook" those who couldn't otherwise afford their pieces, tempting them to buy from the full collection when the collaboration is no longer available. The Designers' view it as bringing their pieces to a wider audience i.e. doing those of us who can't afford their collection, a massive favour. It's all too easy to over analyse these things!
Up until now I haven't ever bought anything from any of the many collaborations that have hit the High Street. I have witnessed humanity at its worse with people grabbing box upon box of Marni jewellery and armfuls of clothing which no individual could possibly have needed (hello e-bay let's make a buck or two) when the H&M/Marni collaboration was launched. I found the whole scene so profoundly disturbing that I left. Ridiculous as it is, I suspect that the Peter Pilotto launch wasn't much better but given that it was all conducted on-line (in the UK at least), from the comfort of my kitchen and through the well regarded Net a Porter site, it gave it a veneer of respectability!
Anyway, to cut to the chase, the reason that I was interested in this little tete-a-tete is because I like Peter Pilotto's designs. They are very distinctive and he uses great patterns and colours (kind of me to say so, I know. I'm sure he'd be most chuffed to know that I think that.) I'd heard that the quality was OK too, despite Target being an inexpensively priced store, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.
This is a typical example of a Peter Pilotto piece - Elizabeth dress (£975)
And this is what I chose....
cotton blend jersey top (£23) - nice colours, nice print, great with just about everything plain that I like to wear on my bottom half. The dresses were pretty but possibly too short for me and also having a small frame, some prints head to toe can just drown me. I knew that I would get more use out of a top because, in it's simplest form, I can just chuck it on with a pair of jeans - job done!
cotton blend sweatshirt (£30) - same as above! It could work well, it could be a disaster but I'm prepared to take the risk - all in the name of research of course. I've been after a printed sweatshirt for a while now and up until now everything has been pretty plain - so this (may) fit the bill nicely.
floral print sneakers (£30) - in for a penny, in a for a pound I thought. My Dad would certainly appreciate these if I were allowed aboard his wooden boat (cue deep, stern, voice: "no heels, no wooden soles, only rubber soles - you know the rules.") Yes, I've been made aware of the rules constantly since I was 8 which is why these are almost an exact replica of the first pair of canvas deck shoes I ever had. I don't think that I would ever wear them in a "cool" way - as in with a dress - or indeed quite possibly at all - but I'm quite excited about the prospect of them. They could well provide a moment of hilarity or two for the family!
So, did anyone else grab a bit of Pete for their wardrobe?
