J. Crew like a lot of retailers in the women’s space sort of fell on its face somewhere around the second part of 2010, making downward adjustments to quality in the face of rising material costs. Not suprisingly as a result the stores look like hell. At the time it was publically traded on Wall Street, went private, cleaned itself up and now we’re seeing via catalogs and store visits that it’s clearly once again hitting its stride.

The image above is from its February catalog, which includes the announcement of “The Cashmere Shop” at its online store. Cashmere is hardly new for J.Crew but when this company is working, its catalog images makes you feel like, oh wow, even though we’re facing Spring, darn, I need that short-sleeved cashmere camisole in my life not to mention that minimalist green and navy striped silk blouse and chiffon skirt!

See the blouse and skirt on the next page.

A lil’ candy to make your Monday a bit sweeter. This will also appear during the Super Bowl–during the 2nd quarter to be precise.

Todd Oldham joins forces with Target to create the “Kids Made Modern” arts and crafts collection, launching May 20th. It’s inspired by Oldham’s book by the same name and includes printed-duct tape, a 64-color crayon, a “Moon Rock” jewellery kit (one of 5 or 6 kinds) and a comicbook kit <–(so awesome), and a watercolor pallette with artist-quality pigments, plus more.

But wait! On a total sidenote when did the always loveable Todd Oldham go lumberjack on us?? Not that he’s still not tres adorable, but wow, where have I been?? See a screen capture on the next page.

A walk through of the upcoming Target x Jason Wu collaboration showing details and pricing on tops, dresses, skirts and bags, courtesy of Fabsugar.

In celebration of the re-opening of its store in the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Chanel is offeirng an exclusive set of bags exclusive to the location. Note the dice! See four more styles at Purseblog.

Christian Louboutin is asked five questions by New York boutique department store Bergdorf Goodman and charms with his easy manner and just-so French accent. Below are the questions along with snippets from his responses.

What’s your most cherished NYC secret?: The restaurant Quality Meats: “….I’m a meat lover……”
Whose closet would you like to raid?: Loulou de la Falaise: “…She’s been having 30 years of fashion history and so many colors and so many accessories….”
What must have can’t you live without?  I-phone:  ”….It’s difficult because I feel like it’s like an addiction, but it’s definitely, it’s the only addiction that I have so I think I’m fine with it.”
What is the one style you never want to see make a comeback? Clogs: “…for one reason, I love shoes and there’s a thing I love about shoes and it’s the sound of shoes……hearing the sound of a clog is really not nice, not pretty, it’s an ugly sound….”
What is your worst childhood fashion memory: A ski suit: “….I had this incredibly puffy, bright red, ski outfit….”

If you’re a fan, he will be making an appearance at Bergdorf’s on January 31st on the second floor. Click here for details.

Target has restocked some of its Missoni collaboration sweaters and a few are even on sale. The one on the left is marked down to $34.99 and the one of the right is now $27.99. Take that all you Ebay mark-up lunatics!

No doubt in a quest to get back some of the cool cachet the chain is viewed in the industry as losing over the past few years, Target has announced that it is lauching a concept called ”The Shops At Target,” which will import the look and merchandise of various boutiques into the big box chain’s doors.

The “The Shops At Target” launches May 6th, and according to Fashionfoisgras so far include The Candy Store in San Francisco, Cos Bar cosmetics shop in Aspen, Polka Dog Bakery’s dog accessories, Privet House home products in Connecticut, and The Webster in Miami. Not sure what the set up will be or what Target stores will be partnering but will be interesting to watch.

If you’re hankering for some of the super femmy full skirts and dresses that were a big theme on Spring 2012 runways, we’ver rumaged through Etsy’s closet (which sometimes made us weep and not in a good way–will hippie looks NEVER die?) and found the best ones, all handmade, customizable and considerably cheaper than LV’s version.

Melissa Tabor’s tweed v neck, priced at $250 is above (love the models snobby look!) and there are seven more on the next page, complete with store url and pricing. Enjoy!

By Brooklyn-born artist Jean Michel Basquiat, a “King Alphonso” coffee mug and plate (see next page). Always conflicted over the idea of putting images of great art on mugs and keychains. I guess why not. Available at Colette.