In the changing room

As my office is right next to one of the busiest and most commercial Paris area, I often pop by the high street stores spread out in the neighbourhood. My favorites are the trifecta: H&m, Zara and Gap.

The Swedish chain has been providing a lot of my closet: from lingerie to office-tailored skirt and 98% of my jeans, all have the h&m tag.

I hear a lot of the same chorus about h&m's low quality and can't relate. I actually find the quality better than Zara or some pricier brands (Maje, Sandro I'm looking at you). 
That said, it's a matter of choosing wisely, you can find decently made items at h&m and to this date I never had to complain about the brand's clothes.

Lately I've been skipping the changing room step as I hate the annoying time consuming process of the ever there standing queue and learned to know what to look for in these stores:

• I always go to the neutral items first because they don't scream "h&m" or "Zara" as much as the obvious printed/flashy ones that are often displayed in ads and visible all over the net. 
• The cut has to be interesting but not overly trendy so that I don't get tired of it once the fashion wave tips.
• Then the material, I feel it and check the tag if it's synthetic and above a certain price point, I put it down. I really prefer natural materials but have a couple synthetic trousers from Zara and Gap that I wear to death so I won't swear it off entirely.

In the case of h&m, my preference goes to the Trend and Logg lines which for the first tends to deliver a "version" of designers hits with clothes that are often better cut, the second offers clothes in a preppy/boho/sporty style.

When I enter an H&M store these 2 sections are my first stops. Which is where I picked up a few items to the changing room  a few days ago.  Lucky me, barely no crowds and no queue so I decided to do this little shopping report. 

Watch out for this exclusive-almost minute by minute-post from a cabine d'essayage!

I thought this printed top (Trend) was cute. The burgundy/maroon color with white prints caught my eyes, the square cut had potential.
Not what I was looking for but gave it a try. I expected it to be longer, it's actually cropped as you can see a bit of tummy showing in the 2nd pic and the back is slit opened... It comes in a minty green/blue and white too. Cute but not for me.

 

Next, the pleated pink skirt (Trend), I've been eyeing it for awhile. I liked the Chloé like - ballerina vibe of it but pleated skirts do not suit me, I feel like I have huge matron hips  whenever I tried getting into this kind of skirt.

Well I liked this one, I didn't feel too matronly wearing it and found the colour very pretty. Maybe if it goes on sale will I get it.

The neutral linen trousers (Everyday):

I was looking for a Steven Alan replica. Ideal to wear at work and on days-off. I wasn't 100% sure of the cut so I left it. The legs of the trousers are not slim enough and that's one recurrent defect in my opinion in h&m trousers. Plus for the white one, the visible pockets in transparence turned me off.

The jumpsuit (Wateraid collection)

I  was inches away to get this one. It's very much to my taste, a great blue print color, a soft material, not saggy but neither clingy. A great Summer piece, the more I look at the picture, the more I want it, plus it helps charity. That's a good reason non? 

The blouse (Logg)

Here's the winner! I wanted to add another top that's versatile enough. Versatily is always the key word in my purchases. I want to be able to wear most of my clothes any day, any place. This light blue blouse is thinly stripped and works as a tunic, tucked in a skirt or trousers.  

Up next, my private sales/eBay booty. I know what a tease huh!