Peter Pilotto For Target: The Strapless Dress Is Long Gone, The Shoes are Cushion-y, and More Scoop

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Still planning to troll local Targets for Peter Pilotto today? (Or, want to swap notes with someone who already has?) Here's what the whole, brightly patterned experience was like for our collaboration correspondent Alysha Kett, who was online at 1:30 a.m., on the scene at the Highland Park store at 7:30 a.m., and (of course) napping now.

1:30am: I think I set my alarm too early. Thinking on it, Target hints that the collection will be released in the morning and it's only 11:30 in California. I am settling for watching the Olympics and hounding Twitter.

1:39am: Stuff is up, but not available to be purchased yet. As I recall, this is sort of how Target does this. It's really not a bad system, I think it helps the site from crashing. That being said, when it's the middle of the night and people are tired and waiting, it feels frustrating.

2:26am: Website links are not working. I used a tip from Twitter that the mobile site is working. Bought the strapless dress, moto jacket, yellow floral shoes, black-and-white sunglasses, and red belted dress. More stuff is actually available for purchase online, but it is still hit or miss. Net a Porter is not live yet. I find the swimwear adorable, but I really want to try it on in the store. Feeling relieved about getting the dresses and jacket though. these will not last long. I was pretty torn between the romper and the dress in the iris print, I love the pattern. I ultimately went with the dress because it really is the cornerstone piece of the collection. That, and I always feel a little silly in a romper.

The power of social media is pretty evident here. Twitter people were very informative, just be careful of some of the links that people send out. One thing I will say is that asking Target Style (nicely, or not so nicely) the exact time of the launch NEVER works. They won't even give a window.

2:39am: It's officially live. Happy shopping to the night owls!

3:36am: Net a Porter is live. So far the strapless dress is all I've seen that's sold out online.

6:20am: A bleary morning to all. There are 22 items left at Net a Porter and most of the dresses, the sunglasses, and a few other items are sold out at Target.com.

7:34am: At the Highland Park Target. Not seeing anyone here. For Phillip Lim there were about 10 people. I think the 10 degree temps might also contribute. I saw a lot of people on Twitter comment about trying to shop online instead of waiting in the cold. This is also why I recommend going to the suburbs to shop.

7:39 am: There's one other car in the parking lot...

7:48 am: Here comes everyone! There are about eight other cars now, but everyone is staying warm in their vehicle at the moment.

8:14am: I've made in in and out again. The crowd picked up quite a bit by the time the store opened. A few notes:

1. The towels are tiny! Really cute pattern, but on the small side for the beach.

2. Love the shoes, cushion-y and comfortable.

3. Sunglasses were gone fast. I noticed that they seemed to have two of each size out in the clothing, and the smaller sizes went fast. Sizes go up to 16, which is an increased range from previous collections. Bathing suits were nice.

4. A lot of the print fabrics also are textured. It was interesting that the draped skirt was a lot less airy in person. I was torn on the blue flower-print scuba dress, but the cut in person would not have worked on me! I'm 5'2 and the waist sits low on that dress.

5. Color me wrong, I think there might have been more people at this launch [than expected]! Interesting, they were replenishing some items like shoes and bags, but not clothes. One of the belted dresses did not arrive with the shipment.

8:24am: zzzzzzzzzzz. Nap time for me! I hope people had success! If not, keep your eyes open for returns and decent deals on eBay!
· The Definitive Peter Pilotto For Target Attack Plan [Racked Chicago]
· PSA: Here's The List of Chicago Target Stores That Will Carry Peter Pilotto [Racked Chicago]