Hennes and Mauritz (aka H&M)

“I was so upset when Daddy told me I had to get a job that I went shopping to calm down”–Reese Witherspoon as Jill Green on Friends

I was having a bit of a bad day, so I ventured into the sunshine for a bit of retail therapy. I didn’t have time to, say, go to Loehmann’s to search through their racks (or the money to even think about Saks), so I settled for H&M because I knew that I could possibly find something cute and not spend a ton.

I have a dinner and a bachelorette party to attend on Friday, so I wanted to find something tame enough to go to a nice restaurant, but still flashy enough to wear for a night out.

These are a few things I tried on:

Both dresses were $39.90….and they looked it too. I passed on them.

I also tried on this saucy ‘fit:

The skirt with suspenders and shirt were $24.90 each. I think this looked better than anything else, but something about it made me feel that I might’ve been skirting the line between fashion forward and fashion faux pas (and skanky v. saucy).

Even with all the great stuff H&M had to offer, I ended up not buying anything (Maybe I had the thought of my winter coat in the back of my head)

Still there are some great things about H&M:
1. I brought 11 items into the dressing room and nobody raised an eyebrow. They just gave me a little paddle thing with “11” on it and I was on my way.

2. Is it just me or does H&M play the BEST music???? I was jamming to Ne-yo, Chingy, and Beyonce waiting in line for the dressing room.

3. They always have sort of fashion forward look. In a talk during fashion week, Andre Leon Talley said that he’d seen girls in the tents that had jackets from H&M he could’ve mistaken for Fendi or Prada. And this is from the editor at large of Vogue, people.

4. The prices! Dresses for $40 sometimes look like $40…but when they don’t you’re getting a heck of a bargain.

So basically H&M’s the bomb.
I chit chatted with someone who works there who told me that they get new shipments at 2, 4, and 9 pm everyday (I think stores close around 9pm, so come in the morning as well). Stop in at those times to catch the new stuff!

Find an H&M near you by logging onto www.hm.com.

Smootches!