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In all of the six years I worked at Target, I never once referred to it as "fashionable". I may of referred to it as "shit" for making me work every Sunday, but certainly not "fashionable" (OK, except maybe the once when Gail Sorronda for Target was released - I wasn't at all keen on Stella McCartney or Josh Goot). Nevertheless, I have a soft spot for Target and so I followed dozens of families to the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival 2009 Target Rocks Womens and Youth Wear parade on the last day of fashion week.

To kick off the parade, we were treated to a little entertainment. Miss Tina Arena herself! ... how lovely for the mums. She does have one heck of a voice though and I'm pretty certain she looked me in the eyes at one point. I'll just add that to my list of brushes with fame for the week, shall I?

The first fashion show, 100% Fabulous, released Target's womens fashion for A/W 09. I would descibe the show as being divided into a few parts: winter, day, evening and work wear. It was all very typical of Target's past winter wear, but as I'm sure we've all noticed, Target is slowly but surely modernising their fashion and getting just that little bit trendier every year. They even played remixes of old music like Elvis and Dolly Parton! Woo!

The winter fashion included obvious pieces, such as trenches, gloves, coats (albeit in new textures such as patent and sometimes worn in new ways, such as dresses), boots and patterened stockings. They had attempted the woman-meeting-man-for-secret-affair incognito look with an australian frock, big sunglasses, long trench coats and plenty of tulle covering the model/secret affair woman's face.

The day wear took me back to, well, every other year in Target's history. All heavy knits, layering, blazers, ponchos and the like. It was a touch more cowgirl-inspired this time around, with jeans tucked into boots, plaid, satchel bags and denim hot pants. Guess we gotta give it to 'em for latching onto a fashion trend for 2009. The second section of day wear was very earthy and Indian tribal, with tassels, corduroy, clashed patterns, shades of brown and weirdly enough, a hanky tied to the handbags and wrists of the models. No you might have misunderstood, I said HANKERCHIEF. Like a check grandpa hankerchief. Couldn't they find a scarf back there, or something?

I was a little disappointed with the work wear. It just looked very... repeated. There was nothing new. Plain colours like grey, white, black and pinstripe (as usual) provided base for wool vests, pleated dresses with fashion belts, cap sleeves, 3/4 suits. Nice little touches like draped scarves were added though.

For evening wear, it was mainly satin gloves, silk neck scarves, leopard print and plaid. It was very reminiscent of old-Holywood glamour and pretty girls with beauty spots and suitcases going on holiday.

After a short break, the second fashion show, 100% Electric, began. This one was for the Target youth and was waaay more fun. Instead of models walking, there were professional dancers, bmx riders, gymnasts, break dancers and crumpers. Why walk when you can crump? Meanwhile, Marilyn Manson, Basement Jaxx, and MGMT blasted from the speakers. The fashion included the military trend, ripped jeans, plaid, fur lining, leather jackets, paisley, jewel colours, heavy knits, trench coats, Gossip Girl-inspired blazers and waterproof jackets. The hair and makeup was worth a mention, starting with big 70's hair and natural makeup and ending as almost heroin-chic, with dark eye makeup, greasy hair and black beanies. At the very end, when I thought the show was well and truly over, about five million kids stormed the venue from every possible entrance and danced on stage to The Presets. I actually felt a little jealous I wasn't in the show. Haha.

It was probably a smart move on Target's behalf to focus more on the entertainment factor than the actual fashions becuase regardless of the clothes, the fashion parade was pretty memorable. Although I wasn't so pleased with the 100% Fabulous show, 100% Electric was the perfect show to let LMFF 2009 go out with a BANG!

Photo: www.zimbio.com

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