H&Malice

As you can imagine, for a small-town girl like me with limited cash, H&M was one of those "must hit" stops for me while in New York City. After an exhausting (and hot) day trekking the village, my father and I finally arrived at H&M in soho in the late afternoon. He was obviously quite miffed with me because there was no place for him to sit and rest. I was miffed because the lower floor could only be accessed via escalator (I'm handicapped, I can use escalators, but they do make me uneasy especially when pushy tourists are involved). But still, I was happy to be in this much-heralded mecca of acessible fashion.

Imagine my sense of disconcert when the front first section was filled with cheesy slogan tees, maxi dresses and ruffed miniskirts not greatly superior to what you might find in Wet Seal. The back did have a few gems, but most of them were infanta dresses with a trapeze shape to them. While I wholeheartedly believe these styles look fabulous on some people, but on short, busty me, I just look like a ten year old in black nail polish. There was a layered t-shirt dress (ala Marc Jacobs) that intrigued me, but it was three sizes too big. The only option left that I found appealing was a leather skirt, but it was very abreviated, and the fabric was flimsy. At forty dollars, my cheapness overrode my impulse to buy something that my mother might forbid me to wear.

So what gives, H&M? I expected to walk out of your store, beaming with an armful of bags, and it broke my heart that I had to leave empty-handed, particularly since unlike my other nyc haunts, you have no online store, and the nearest brick-and-mortar is in Atlanta, over four hours drive from here. Are you just overrated, like the never to be spoken of again Century 21? Their incredible lookbook for fall tells me unequivocally no, and it just adds to the heartbreak. Why why WHY can't they just have online shopping? It would be so soothing to all my unease and regret of all my lack of purchases in New York City.