Rainy Day Fashion Round-up: Rain Gear and Budget Designers

Pictured: Däv rain gear, from the rain center of the world, Southern California.

Hello from Los Angeles, the land of the never ending rain storm! We’re on Storm Watch 24 X 7 here at The Recessionista. The street is flooding, tornadoes have been sighted and the surf is way up—to the point of overflow. Time to check out rainy day fashion accessories. I’ve been checking out the above items from Däv rain boots. This company based in Oxnard, California offers rain boots & accessories that are affordable, fashionable and unique. Really unique. Check out the Peacock and Leopard umbrellas. My favorite item is the English sketchy lace boot with fleece lining. This looks like a perfect fit when living in California mirrors the north of England. I could use these to wade in the flood waters outside my front door.

Pictured: Dav English rain boots. They are fashionable and practical with the warm fleece lining. Price: $85.00 US.

Pictured: The Dav Peacock umbrella looks worthy of the V&A museum gift shop. The price is $32.00.

The Dav items satisfy my desire for fashion while I try to stay dry. Also on my rainy day radar, pictures from the upcoming Zac Posen for Target and Jean-Paul Gaultier for Target collections have surfaced. (No pictures from the Liberty of London collection due in March have yet surfaced.) Both collections feature raincoats. Below is Zac’s interesting yellow-fireman raincoat with an oriental flavor.

Pictured: A sneak peak of Zac Posen for Target due in stores in April. (picture from NBC New York)

Pictured: A few looks from the upcoming Jean Paul Gaultier (JPG) Target line, featuring a tan raincoat for $59.99 in stores March 7th. (picture from Refinery 29)

For more pictures of the Zac Posen and JPG lines, check out the Target-Addict. Target Addict had got the full run down plus more pictures. Personally, I’m not in love with either collection. I need to see the fabric and the cut of the garments on the racks to see if they are worthy of my hard-earned dollars. But the hype machine is already hard at work. The hype is like a siren’s song to all fashionistas who dream of owning a Zac or JPG garment, and think they can get the real deal at budget prices. Unfortunately, that is not always the way it works. The pieces are photographed on beautiful actresses and models and shine from the pages of Vogue, Glamour & Elle as the real deal. Savvy shoppers see the beautiful photos and start to get out their crowbar to open their wallet. Then reality sets in. The pieces arrive in the store and you realize, it is s not what you saw in the magazine at all. I’m all for affordable fashion, but not when the fit is poor and the fabric looks cheap (Rodarte.) Especially when there are better quality items from the designers high-end collections over at Loehmann’s, TJ Maxx and Macy’s plus the designer shopping clubs (Gilt, Rue LaLa, Haute Look, Ideeli, Beyond the Rack and more.)

Meanwhile rumor has it that the Target Go franchise will keep going with New York designer, Tucker by Gaby Basora . She may be signed as the next Go designer to launch in summer 2010 (source: NBC New York, Fashionista.)

Pictured: Lusty worthy, I love the gathering on this collarless Tucker jacket.

Gaby’s not yet a big name brand, so it’ll be interesting to see what her style for Target might be. I do like her line and comfortable styles. If she doesn’t command the salary that Posen or Gaultier get from Target for being such big names in fashion, then maybe, just maybe, the budget can go into the clothes and producing a quality collection. Hopefully that is not just a rainy day dream.