OK…my calendar was marked for weeks: I knew September 13 was D-Day, as in the day to get my azz on a line, either in person or on the web, to cop the wares from the Missoni For Target collaboration. The iconic design house and the larger-than-life retailer both dropped hints for months, and every major September fashion issue featured at least one piece: a cosmetic case here, a sweater twin set there. By the time the television ads began to air, I can honestly say that I was near salivating at the thought of chevrons and zig zags becoming my new “style” signature.
Then Fashion’s Night Out hit, and the pop-up shop here in NYC remained an enigma: I was denied entrance due to alleged “sold out” status after only 6 hours of retail traffic. After pouting a bit in FNO disappointment, “a minor hiccup,” I thought; the launch date was still on the horizon, and with a “Tar-jay” Red Card account on my side, I was confident I’d get mine, in due time.
Tuesday, Sept. 13th, I awoke at my usual time, around 6:30 a.m. I didn’t have alarms or reminders set. I checked Twitter to find that there were die-hards who tried at midnight — something I’d not even thought of (…what the hell? It’s not like these were Jay-Z tickets or anything) — but much to their dismay, most were not successful at placing orders. I logged into my Target account around 7:15 a.m., and smiled at the Missoni smorgasboard that seemed to unroll before me. I surfed around, very non-chanlantly, putting things in the online cart, then, “oh no, girl; you don’t need that,” taking them out again…just meandering around the site the way one strolls down Main Street in the Hamptons on a summer Sunday afternoon. I’d worked my way up to eight items in the cart and decided to leave it at that and checkout when, right after I’d entered my credit card info, the site crashed! White screen. ”Internal Server Error.” WTF?? I refreshed. Same screen. I used the “back” button. Twice. Nothing. I opened a new tab and logged onto the site fresh. Nada. Now, my cheeks were getting flushed. I picked up my mobile and checked the haps on Twitter. The tweets all started asking the same question: ”is the site down for maintenance?” “What’s Target doing?” “Did we crash it?!”
I looked at the clock. It was 8:04. Awwwww, lawd!! Did shoppers storm the site in sync with the stores open time?? All I had to do was place my order by 8 a.m., and I probably would have been cool! Damn, this CAN’T be happening!!! I checked the tabs I’d opened again, and then opened three more. I was logging onto Target.com from window to window, over and over. Now, it seems, Target web masters were clued in, because the cute little Bullseye doggie was now on the page, with a little tool box by his side. Great. What a Mess-oni.
But one little saving grace: every time I refreshed, the cart icon on the top right of my page still had a number “8” on top. I’d logged in to shop, so: Were my items still in the cart?? Would they be there when the site came back up? Ah! I can’t quit this now!
The power of social media had me hanging on through 11 a.m. on this Missoni-mission; I was fed constant updates through @TargetStyle and @Target (who, by the way, replied to my tweet directly, saying they were working on the getting the problem fixed). This helped me keep hope alive, and also slightly entertained by the irate tweets and eyewitness accounts of women everywhere - and clueless guys - who were experiencing Missoni fights, heartbreaks or victories that morning.
When I was able to hit the site at 11:15, my cart came back up, less 4 items, but I didn’t dally: I entered my info tout suite and placed the order. Before I even checked email for the confirmation, I quickly opened another tab to the site, chose more items (some were same pieces in different sizes - hey, this is still cheap stuff, you never know what a real L is like), and was able to place another order. My confirms came, I finally breathed and was able to get dressed and leave the house before 1 p.m. Missoni accomplished!!
Since that day, I received notes from Target almost everyday: ”your order has been delayed,” “the orders has been partially shipped,” etc. And I’ve actually been to a few stores, and was able to come up on various items in-store. Of course, I’ve seen women break out their togs already, and I must say, one girl at the DMV wearing the dress I ordered had me worried (“Oh, God, it’s gonna look like that on me?!”) But, I finally have received all parts of my online orders, and I must say, I’m quite pleased. Check out some of my Missoni swag below. Now, my concern is working this in with my many real Missoni pieces so I don’t see myself coming down every street.
Future classics?
Don’t hate!
For the home.
Winning!!
