{FILE UNDER: FASHION} stages of 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target "midnight" shopping

Hey girl, you wanna buy something at midnight? LOL get comfortable and join the club. Image via: Target.com

For those of you who don't know, the Phillip Lim for Target collection went on sale today. This makes it a great day for many reasons, but mainly we commoners can now get these babies for $34.99. Any sane fashion follower had this same thought, and I had never before attempted to be one of the crazy determined shoppers ahead of the curve on one of these things. When I logged onto my computer and pulled up Target.com at 11:27PM on September 14th, I didn't know what the next (typo-ridden) FOUR AND A HALF hours had in store for me (and Stephanie).

11:30PM-12:00AM, Things started out optimistic, or at least hopeful:

As you can see, I was pretty naïve in thinking I could be asleep with my beloved items before 1AM. I began to worry after some brief research findings (one article on CNBC).

At last! It was 12AM, 9.15 had arrived!

12:00AM-12:30AM, Updates from the #philliplimfortarget search feed on Twitter started flooding in, revealing that select items were starting to be available one by one. Meanwhile, my page stayed steadfast in preview mode (see picture above).

12:30AM, Things started to get desperate. The whole situation began to feel like sartorial hunger games. Meanwhile, my Chrome browser had the Target home page, the Phillip Lim for Target launch page (still in preview), the Phillip Lim for Target hashtag on twitter, three tabs of Twitter members who were tweeting links to items as they became available, Target, Target Style and 3.1 Phillip Lim twitters open. I also had a Safari window open in case there were problems with the site on Chrome. Meanwhile, a "test" link that loaded what looked like a live launch page began to circulate, but the page wasn't actually working. It felt like things were going to begin to happen at any second. Like I said, desperate.

1:00AM, Little progress had been made, but as we settled into the reality of the situation, we attempted to rationalize.

1:15AM-2:00AM, Still little progress. As items that we didn't want continued to go up with no desired items in sight, real frustration and exhaustion began to set in. There were items that were available that I liked, but I didn't want to worry about my shopping cart automatically emptying (like people were claiming was happening), and I wanted to hold out for the items I was really there to buy.

2:00AM, After frustration became too exhausting, reasoning attempted to return, as did hallucinations of victory I did not yet know whether or not I would/could achieve.

2:30AM-3:00AM, As the rumored/desperately desired "launch" time approached, Chrome started playing games and causing panic (but only for me, it seemed). Target Style's facebook started sharing links to available items, but not all of them ended up being available for purchase quite yet (read: "BOOM" sweatshirt fakeout). 

3:00AM, As the need for rapid communication increased, we moved to GChat so she could send me the link to the sweatshirt (which ended up not being live, despite Target Style's claim). At this point, I was switching between multiple tabbed browsers on both Chrome and Safari. 3:00 came and passed, and still the collection was not live on the website in full. People on the west coast who were just tuning in became as angry, frantic and desperate as exhausted east coasters. Waiting around began to seem futile. Around 3:15AM, exhaustion overtook Stephanie. I, on the other hand, have walked with the memory of the Spongebob Squarepants episode where he is waiting for the bus at Rock Bottom. Every time he walks away, the bus comes and as he returns to the stop, he misses it. I would NOT let that happen to me. I would forage on alone in this manic internet shopping world.

3:20AM, An all-caps tweet indicated that the first mini satchel was live! But it was in taupe (which I didn't even know was an option). Out of desperation, I clicked the link, added, selfishly, only one to my cart and checked out, successfully purchasing it and the animal print sweater. I texted Stephanie in case she would hear it/might still be awake (no response). When I tried to buy another, error messages started to come up. I was conflicted, not knowing if Stephanie wanted the black satchel, or nothing.

3:45AM-4:05AM, The Twitter hashtag feed was going CRAZY with people demanding the Pashli in anything but taupe, thinking they deserved it because they waited so long. Links to the full handbag collection began to circulate, but clicking on most of them came up in an error page. Frantic refreshing, even more so than earlier in the night, began. The only thing Target had to say to me was "Sorry, something went wrong here." A refreshing of the hashtag Twitter sometime between 3:55AM and 4:03AM exclaimed that the black satchel was live! Swift clicking got me two in my cart. I went to check out but.....I couldn't completely give up on my BOOM sweatshirt prospect.

I had been refreshing the link ever since it went up, even though it wouldn't let you select a size or add it to cart for some time. With two black mini satchels, however briefly, safely in my cart, I decided in a last desperate effort to refresh the sweatshirt page. Size choices were available! Most of the collection must have gone live with the black mini satchel. I chose 2 for the cart, added it, and checked out in record time. My second confirmation email of the night could barely slow my overactive heart and shaking hands. Shopping adrenaline is real, and I had achieved crazy shopper success after much determination and persistence. I could barely believe it and kept checking the confirmation emails to make sure I had done everything right in the rush. Then to deliver the good news!...and sleep.

After seeing the lines and hearing the stories from the crazy rushes this morning, the 4.5 hour stressful process was definitely worth it. At least the overnight mania happened while I lounged in bed. Can't wait for those beautiful boxes to show up at my apartment!

welcome to my closet, beautiful creations.

All images via: Target.com.

Yeah, I know I have the same purse in two colors now. It is what it is. And what it is, is AMAZING. The struggles of a ridiculously fashion obsessed and sore losing commoner. Sigh. 

And so is the story of my first ever attempt at arriving first like a madwoman at one of these limited stock, widely publicized fashion events.
-E