Frugal Fashionistas Crash Target.com

Style mavens looking to get their hands on the limited-edition Missoni for Target collection crashed the big-box retailer’s website today, leaving many frugal fashionistas disappointed.

Gitika Ahuja, an ABC News producer in New York City, said she was online at 6:45 a.m. ET to “get the best of the goods.”

“I downsized from 30 items to 18 and went to check out at about 7:45 a.m.,” Ahuja said.  “The system would not let me access my shopping bag or even login.  I tried to get in for over an hour and gave up.”

Target issued a statement, saying it was working to get the site back up and running. As of this writing, it remained down.

The 400-piece collection has been Target’s biggest and most buzz-worthy limited edition collaboration yet.

Items range from $2.99 to $599.99 and include exclusive clothing designs by the Italian fashion house for the retailer, as well as housewares and a funky bicycle sporting Missoni’s signature zig-zag pattern.

“The way that me & my sister have been acting about the Missoni collection@Target is HILARIOUS!!! I want it ALL!!!” actress and singer Adrienne Bailon wrote on Twitter.

It was a statement many echoed, making a Tuesday in mid-September look like an after-Thanksgiving sale.

For all those who were up at the crack of dawn, feverishly putting what they wanted in their virtual baskets, it seemed there were just as many in the brick-and-mortar stores stripping the shelves.

Seventy shoppers queued outside a Dallas Target store this morning, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Racked wrote that New York City Target stores in Harlem and Brooklyn, N.Y., were sold out in mere minutes.

Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel was even spotted at Target’s Harlem location getting her hands on some of the goods before they were cleaned out in a lightning-fast 15 minutes.

One disappointed fashionista, CHRISELLEtweets, wrote: “Instead of leaving target w/ new Missoni goods.. Iam now leaving the store with toilet paper, paper towels, & laundry detergent! Woohoo!”

People who can’t wait for Target to restock can purchase pieces from the high-low fashion collaboration on eBay. By this afternoon, the search “Missoni for Target” yielded 3,000 results, with hefty markups.

Missoni for Target will remain in stores until October 22, if it lasts that long.