gift guide 2012: a first look at the target + neiman marcus holiday collection

There are two types of shoppers in this grand world of ours.

The Target Shoppers and The Others.

I feel bad for the latter, I do; they’re oblivious to the wonders a Target brings. You can get lost in a space and continuum once you’ve stepped afoot into that place with everything at your fingertips, all at incredible deals. Can’t reach me? I may have stayed a little too long browsing the clothing racks or health food aisles. Maybe I’m slinking around their home goods aisle for a chaise I don’t need (yet), or sniffing about the beauty aisle for masks and lipsticks and fun makeup bits. You’ll just have to come see for yourselves…

Did I mention I was of the former camp? I’ve been hounding over their collections with designers for a while now, so when whispers about a Target & Neiman Marcus collaboration reached my eavesdropping ears, I was the teensiest bit excited.

(Teensiest. Ladies don’t scream with excitement, they simply set their iCals to remind them of release dates so they wake up bright and early and caffeinated for a proper shopping spree. Right?)

I’ll be so forward as to call it a revolutionary partnership. I love the idea; the concept is brilliant. By now you all know of my appreciation for the democratization of fashion – this Target x Neiman Marcus collaboration is doing exactly that. Twenty-four of America’s most talented designers, all members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), are brought together for a limited-edition holiday collection to be released December 1.

Thus, I was floored when Target x Neiman Marcus sent over their look book for an exclusive first look at their upcoming collection. I’ll have you know I was itching to write about the collaboration the past two days the moment I laid eyes on the first look. School comes first, unfortunately, so a few days fashionably late comes my edited guide to the favorites and best-of’s in the collection. These are the things to look for and snatch up (quickly!) for you and each special someone in your life.

Without further ado, ABC’s Holiday Gift Guide. Feast your eyes.

.   .   .

For the girl you know who wakes up fabulous and lounges about the house in a silk robe and satin slippers, who is never not perfectly coiffed and finished with a beautiful lipstick. Pumps and skirts are the glamour goddess’ go-to; perfectly paired accessories are her weapon of choice. Cocktail rings, statement necklaces, metallic details are her signature, and a fresh copy of Vogue never leaves her bedside table.

Perhaps a Marc Jacobs pouch for a little holiday-themed sparkle as a thank-you to the hostess or as a glam girl’s stocking stuffer? A girl can never have too many bags to store her essentials and knick-knacks. A pair of studded leather gloves from Brian Atwood to slip into come the snowy months? Blistery winter cold never kept a girl from looking good. But the ultimate gift of decadence is the Altuzarra. A gorgeous lacquer tray with a croc-embossed surface simply oozes luxury, and when holding a set of old-fashioned shot glasses and a shaker, her mini-bar will have rivaled that of the Ritz.

She’s your modern-day Wonder Woman sans the garish red-white-blue get-up. No, no bodysuits for her (those are saved for Halloween or the bedroom, kittens!) – though she is a believer in a great pair of Sri Lankan or Celine cuffs – but a great power suit or sheath dress is her uniform of choice. Here is a woman who does it all: attorney-at-law, editor, or public relations director by day, and miss do-it-all whenever she’s not on the job. Before you’ve had your first cup of coffee she will have been rolling up her Diane von Furstenberg yoga mat from a 5 a.m. Bikram session. Seven a.m. and the city-chic sophisticate is at her office armed with a Eddie Borgo letter opener, e-mail open, and green juice – ready to start the day. 

Tell me she doesn’t deserve an Oscar de la Renta in the crook of her arm.

The sci-fi queen is the IT girl and freelance web designer who, as a girl, watched Star Wars with her best guy friends. She was a blogging maven before it was the chic thing to do, fiddling with cascading stylesheets and up-to-date posts on SETI as a tween. By night she’s taking astrology classes just because, but those beloved ironic graphic tees aren’t cutting it anymore. They might work for empty lecture halls, but for those conferences followed by soirees on the weekends? She needs a Skaist-Taylor faux-fur vest to throw atop tees and skinny jeans (which goes even more beautifully over a black floor-length gown).

Her webpage might be top-notch and updated for the holiday season, but that tree up front? A bit lacking in pizazz. A few Rodarte ornaments and rolls of wrapping paper are sure to make her smile – she’ll be nostalgic for those pre-Wordpress days when she tip-tapped eagerly away on any report of extraterrestrial happenings.

Dark locks, thick lashes, leather jackets and a killer ankle boot, always. She’s dangerous enough on her own, but those red lips are painted on, she’s a femme fatale. Sideways smiles don’t necessarily make her some social butterfly – though it does win her a spot in a more than a few poor blokes’ hearts – she’s more of an introvert. She’s a mystery, this girl, with her perfect posture and moody tendencies, the intellectual type who quotes Voltaire, and the one you go to when you need advice straight and true. We all have that best friend: the one the girls would love to hate be simply can’t, and the one every boy can’t seem to keep their eyes off of.

A tube of luxe red lipstick as a stocking stuffer means you understand her well. NARS Red Lizard or Shanghai Red, Chanel Gabrielle, MUFE Moulin Rouge, or Guerlain Gigolo are infallible options she’s sure to love. She’s not the squealing type, but surprise her with a Prabal Gurung cape and she’ll embrace her inner superheroine; gift her a ruffled Robert Rodriguez blouse and you’ll know without doubt that’ll be her favorite top for years to come.

(It most certainly is mine… hint hint.)

For the eclectic artist or the girlfriend you watched season reruns of Gossip Girl with. She was Blair Waldorf before Leighton Meester ever was, the one who clipped Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren and Kate Spade campaigns for her dorm room walls. But from the steps of whatever high school or university she ate her yogurt, she’s graduated to her own office. Colored tights and Marc Jacobs mouse ballerinas are to be donated; she needs a grown-up version of the prep queen she used to be.

It’s like Target & Neiman’s read her mind (and yours). ‘Tis the season to be jolly and fanatical with prints! Perhaps a Thom Browne blazer for an update? (Get her boyfriend or brother a matching men’s version and you’ll have scored brownie points). A Carolina Herrera stationary and Tory Burch lunch box set will amp up her back-to– school work game, and a pair of Derek Lam slippers for the office will make her chic and comfy.

Did you hear? Proper princesses wear Jason Wu these days; stuffy ball gowns were for Cinderella’s days. It’s an ode to Michelle Obama, their idol and First Lady. A classic red dress for Christmas Day, or a printed dotty number for all those holiday parties in between. Paired with little patent shoes, white tights, well-brushed curls and a genuine excitement over Santa’s mystery visit Christmas Eve will have you doubled over and overwhelmed with sweetness. Happy smiles, hands sticky from being Mom’s kitchen elf, hanging last minute Jason Wu ornaments for the tree in the foyer. Death by cuteness? A possibility. Just be sure to snap photos to remember those moments forever.

It’ll take all my willpower to not pick up a dress or two for some future daughter or niece years later.

Don’t think I forgot about the boys in your life (how could I, with a title of ABC?). Dapper Daniels are the mature men deserving of a little indulgence or two. Shower them with a men’s skincare set or grooming kit. A Don Draper-worthy Rag & Bone flask and set of shot glasses, so he can wind down by the fireplace with a cozy Rag & Bone sweater. Sunday night football, accompanied with man’s best friend.

There’s nothing like a guy who knows what’s chic and what isn’t, and while this one might not have a clue, thank god he has you to help him along the way…

. . .

Available Dec. 1 at all Target and Neiman Marcus stores, on Target.com and NeimanMarcus.com.

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{product images c/o Target & Neiman Marcus}