Marni for H&M madness

If you're interested in fashion, you will know that the Marni for H&M collection hit stores today. I've never been the type to camp out for hours for any kind of retail launch (like the iPhone launches in Singapore), but I did have my eye on a few cute things from the collection. So I thought I would pop by the big H&M store on Dam Square at lunchtime, after my Thursday morning sewing class. 

Standing there with other, equally disbelieving female shoppers, I learned how to say "That's it?!" in half a dozen different languages. We all circled these two racks like confuzzled chickens until it finally sunk in: This was it. 

This rather low-level commitment is exactly the kind of attitude that leaves one staring at two sparse, forlorn racks of clothing and empty shelves. I say "low-level" in comparison to the Marni diehards who, according to Dutch fashion blog Styletoday, lined up two hours before the doors of H&M opened at 9 o'clock sharp. The types who camp out, have a strategy and brave the chaos will always be the types who are rewarded with the good stuff. And they are exactly the types who cleaned out the collection in less than two hours. Good job, people!

I just can't compete with those types, so I didn't even try. Luckily, I saw a size 40 skirt being handed back to the fitting room girl, so I grabbed it before she could put it back on the rack. It fit well, feeds my love of sparkly things and is cut in a shape that I like to wear, so it was a clear yes.

(Apologies for the low-quality pictures, by the way. I had only my iPhone with me.)

I was also tempted by the matching top (I don't know if I would actually wear them together), but alas, it was two sizes too small. 

After purchasing the skirt, I meandered down to the other H&M store at the Kalvertoren. Here, the women's collection was in an even sorrier state—it was just down to one very sad rack. In contrast, the menswear was barely touched. There was one man (French, hipster) shopping the collection versus maybe two dozen women. 

This blouse is really funny. It kept getting picked up and put back on the rack by at least six different women. Every time it landed back on the rack, there was another woman waiting nearby like a shark to snatch it up and spirit it away to the dressing room. Eventually, I had my turn with it.

My first thought: "Holy crap, it's a straitjacket." And though I love prints, this one was a little bolder than I'm used to. But after I loosened the necktie in back for a wider neckline, it looked much better on me. The sleeves could be shorter, but that's nothing my trusty sewing machine and I can't fix. Sold!

I came home with my translucent green shopping bags (very cute, by the way), not quite knowing what hit me, yet feeling rather accomplished and happy. "Well, that's that," I thought, pulling my mental purse-strings tight. Little was I to know that the Marni madness was not over yet!

In the evening, I ran into a few Twitter friends who were still trying to score some pieces from the collection. One of them was Kate Torralba, who told me to go to the H&M Netherlands site, which still had more things available than the UK or Sweden sites.

Patay!

And that's how I wound up with these silver leather sandals (a true sign of optimism about the Dutch summer) and breezy top, while Kate managed to score a few accessories. 

Now the madness is over and it's time to earn back every Euro I spent. Should I do a couple of outfit posts with my purchases when they arrive next week?