Saturday, October 25, 2008

Another November, Another H & M Designer Collection


Thank goodness this Rei Kawakubo Comme des Garcons collection holds little that I covet, unlike the Viktor and Rolf collection of 2006, and the Stella McCartney collection from 2005.

LQ took the hit for the Stella as I couldn't get out of work the day it was released to select downtown H&M locations. There was a call, with LQ breathlessly giving me a play by play. I heard her laughing and the describing of a sort of shopping pandemonium that I only guess would rival that of the Thanksgiving weekend in the States. I put in an order with her, but everything had been picked-clean. I got a lovely souvenir hanger, though...

Then there was the Viktor and Rolf debacle of 2006. I was working across the street from the Eaton Centre when the collection "dropped", and thought I would stroll on over a little after 10 and pick up a couple things I had picked-out online. I walked into the store and there weren't that many people- I was sure I would pluck something good. But all that was left were some size 14 wedding dresses hanging on the wall. The store had been pillaged! I walked-around, looking for discards around the store- it was a warzone in there. Women were working in twos; one would gard a pile of clothing for the companion to try on right there in the middle of the store by blanketing it with her body (I saw more than one instance of this) and then they would switch. When they were finished, they left what wasn't being purchsed for the carrion feeders to collect. I, sadly, became a vulture that day, and impatiently waited around for the fashion gluttons to finish trying everything on already so that I could find the blouse I so wanted. Instead, after asking a couple groups if they were finished, I walked right out of the store, embarrased of my mania.

A couple weeks later, upon entering the uptown H&M, I noticed a large rack with a bunch of returned items- bad or impulsive choices made by a fashion-maddened crowd. I picked-up one great piece, notthe one I reaaaaally wanted, in my size, and have worn it about three times. Checking out the upcoming Comme Des Garcons collection, I'm not sure I will be doing anything heroic for this...

No comments: