I headed over to my nearby Kohl’s after work last Friday to check out the newly released Derek Lam collab. I’d been looking forward to this collaboration for a while since I’ve always loved the clean lines and Americanness of Lam’s designs (you can see his Fall Ready to Wear collection here). While I still think the ongoing Simply Vera line is still Kohl’s strongest designer collab, I loved the colors and easy fits of the Derek Lam DesigNation collection.
I first tried on the striped drop-waist dress because I’m always on the hunt for machine washable, jersey dresses that look pulled together enough to wear to work. The fit was a little tight on the bottom half, but that’s probably more due to my shape than the cut – at least it looks more relaxed on the model online. If I had had more time, I would have tried a larger size. I might go back and try it out when the prices have even been cut down more.
I tried on two of the pants that were at the store, the pleated crepe crop pants and the crop pants in Nightshade. I loved the fit of the pleated crop pants and almost brought them home with me, but I only had enough money for one item. The colorful crop pants didn’t fit nearly as well and actually hit below my ankle (I’m 5’3″ on a good day) so they looked more like high-water pants than cropped pants.
What did I end up buying? This bubble-hem dress in St. Teresa Atlantic:
I love how comfortable this dress is. I’ll be able to wear it to work if I belt it and pair it with a blazer and pumps and I can dress it down in the summer with flat, strappy sandals. The main reason I decided on the dress instead of the crepe pants was because I’ll be able to wear it to the two weddings that I have to go to this spring (expect a future blog post on that).
A lot of the pieces that I wanted to try on, like this chambray jacket and this tank, weren’t at the store. If the prices drop even more, I might save up some money and purchase those items online even if I can’t try them on.
Have you checked out the line yet? What are your thoughts? I’ll be keeping an eye on the collection online since Kohl’s usually has great sales.
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Dearest Lar,
Too bad the Rhianna’s collaboration with River Island isn’t as cheap as the Kohl’s and Target collections! I know you said you weren’t crazy about the Rhianna line, but I bet you’d like the Derek Lam collaboration. There’s a mesh top and skirt in the collection online that I could totally see you wearing. Let me know if you want anything and I’ll ship it to you – something tells me Kohl’s doesn’t ship internationally.
I hope your week ends up being less stressful than you anticipate. Can’t wait to Skype you again next weekend!
xoxo, Cath
thanks so much for sharing! it’s so crazy that we don’t have a kohl’s here in the city. that was my go to shopping destination when i lived in PA.always getting great deals and fun finds. so now if i want any kohl’s in my life i have to order online.
I find the collaboration lines so hard to order online because the sizing varies so much. I forget that NYC doesn’t have places like Kohl’s – duh! I guess that’s a very small price you pay for having everything else 😛
I love Kohls, especially when things go on clearance! Oh! And speaking of, the Prabal Gurung collection at Target is on mega-clearance in the stores (not online, last time I checked). It’s been mostly picked over from the locations I’ve been to (North Druid and Sydney Marcus) but definitely worth a visit to multiple Targets to find stuff. I picked up quite a few items.
Love the bubble dress and the color is fabulous 🙂
You’re brilliant! Gotta go to Target this week. I wonder if the Edgewood one has any Prabal goodies. . .
I have’t been to Kohl’s in FOREVER, but I have to go and sneak a peek now, even just to try on those crop pants! And I love that dress you got, Cath!
Believe it or not, Lar and I worked at a Kohl’s for a summer. It was horrible! It took me about five years to ever shop at one again. Now I’ll make a Kohl’s trip maybe about twice a year. The Derek Lam dress was definitely worth it!
Next time, I won’t forget the coupons 🙂
I hope they come out with some more pieces from the collection. After looking online again, they definitely didn’t have that much in store!
I’m so glad you got that dress — it’s perfect! You look beeeyoootiful in it! Those trousers also look perfect on you, but I think the dress was the way to go, especially for your upcoming weddings (there are two? what’s the other one? I’m so out of the loop — gah how does that happen?!).
Yeah, you guys definitely didn’t miss any of the Rhianna stuff being stateside. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but it definitely only would look good on a select group of people and it was pricey ($60-200) which I think is too much for that sort of thing. It didn’t seem to be flying off the shelf when I stopped by a few days after the release.
It still makes me chuckle to think we swore off Kohl’s after our short stents as employees. Wish they had these designer collabs when we had our whopping 10% discount!
MISS YOU LIKE MAD ALWAYS,
Lar
OMG, if only! We only had Mudd jeans when we were working there!
That Rhianna line is crazy expensive! I didn’t look that closely at those prices, eesh!
I haven’t told you about the other wedding. I think it’s in June and local. I’ll tell you about it on our next Skype call 🙂