When I first heard about the 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target collection I checked out the lookbooks, the videos and various blogs, and of everything I saw I only wanted the mini satchel with gusset (Pashli) bag. Originally I planned to head out to stores early to fight it out for one because I knew that these bags would be what everyone was clawing for. A couple of days before the launch I actually thought about it and told myself ‘who the f– are you kidding?”

I have never, with a huge emphasis on NEVER, camped out for any of the collab collections whether at Target or H&M. I go with what I know and I know that nine times out of ten if I was ever in one of those crazy shopper situations I’d be the one being escorted out in handcuffs. So I’ve just avoided it all together and went later in the day (or a few days later when everything was returned) and got anything that still interested me. The problem this time is that I really wanted that effing bag and knew it might not be restocked.

3.1 for Phillip Lim for Target

So I decided to do the online route despite my hesitation stemming from news on previous online shopping nightmares… everything sold out in minutes, extremely long wait periods for shipment and people not even receiving their products. I pushed all of that aside and vowed to stay up until midnight to get the one thing I wanted, because surely Target would make everything live at 12a on the dot right? Wrong.

I visited the site, clicked and searched 3.1 Phillip Lim and I got absolutely nothing. So I remembered, oh there’s a hashtag for that and headed on over to Twitter to follow #philliplimfortarget. I was met with a long feed of confused shoppers wanting to know when everything would be live and they wanted to know it now. Then all of a sudden I start to see tweets from a couple of bloggers with links to some clothing items and I’m all like “WTF, how’d you find that?!” So at this point this is where my next almost three hours of life was spent.

Apparently these were test links (how they found them I don’t know) but Target was releasing items at a snails pace. This I can understand since you know crazy shoppers like myself might shut the site down. It was apparent from numerous tweets that a lot of people wanted the bags but that was a long way off. About an hour in more people started showing up to the “slumber party” as one tweeter affectionately called it and we ladies (and gents) came together to make this one of the most fun shopping experiences I’ve had online (it was still stressful, I’ll get to that later) in a long time.

 

 

Realizing that the bags might not launch until after midnight pacific time everyone went to work retweeting links and helping fellow shoppers find exactly what they were looking for. I’m not sure what sold out related to clothing during that time because there were a lot of mixed tweets about things either being sold out or still available. About two hours in links for men’s items started popping up. When I tell you at 12:01a pacific time things got real… ish got real.

Mind you, people on the east coast and in central time (myself included) had been online since midnight in their respective time zones. Target was very vague on what time things would be available constantly tweeting that it would be in the “wee hours of the morning”. So at 2a cst it’s already four hours pass my bedtime and that part of me that keeps me from joining the early birds in stores started to creep up. By 12:10a the girls were not having it. Tweets started rolling in demanding bags be released, and overall frustration and brand retaliation set in.

 

 

 

 

Shop the 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target collection

This is where my frustration went to an all time high. Around 2:3o ish central time I started seeing tweets with links to the taupe mini satchel with gusset in taupe (the ONE thing I wanted). So I’m clicking all of these links and being taken to items other than what I actually want. I literally cursed my computer out. I had every browser open (Firefox, Chrome, Safari) and was logged into my account prepared for a swift check out. I kept seeing tweets from people exclaiming they got their mini satchel and I was going to be pissed if I stayed up all this time not to get this one freaking bag.

 

 

 

Finally one of the links I clicked took me to the bag and without hesitation I added it to the cart and checked out in literally 10 seconds, no joke. Shortly after that I saw tweets about taupe being sold out and people were upset about other colors not being available. A little after 3 everything seemed to be live on the site and shoppers seemed to be in high spirits.

3.1 Phillip Lim for Target mini satchel with gusset

I think that this whole experience took online shopping to a new level; it was literally like shopping with a huge group of girlfriends without having to leave the house. There was no fighting amongst each other, people were quick to help others find links and everyone rejoiced for those who snagged what they wanted. While key items sold out online, a lot of people tweeted that they still planned to check out their local Target. As for me, I slept in 🙂

See the 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target handbags

Key pieces that sold out include the mini satchels/Pashlis (as of last Sunday night all bags are sold out), the trench coats, some key pieces featuring the animal and Boom print (scarves, pajama sets, sweater/sweater dresses), the leather jacket and faux leather trim pieces. A lot of the simpler pieces seem to still be available, but in larger sizes. Many of these pieces are on eBay at jacked up prices (this is the thing that really irritates me) so if you think it’s worth it you can head over there.

I read that many stores ran out of handbags and some key items but I’ve also heard that stores would be receiving another shipment (some reporting for lastnight (September 15) or today (September 16). This is definitely a huge lesson for many ecommerce business to take away and learn from; the positive and negative. Will I do this again? That’s still open for discussion. It was a fun experience, but definitely something not to take too seriously. I will wait to see if anything goes on sale to snag some of the more basic pieces, but other than that I’m happy with my one well planned purchase. I was entertained by many of the tweets and it was fun seeing fashion lovers come together in an inspiring, innovative way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you snag anything from the 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target collection? Let me know what you got and your shopping experiences below!

Real Ish documents my real life experiences as it relates to the fashion, beauty and blogging industry.

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