The Recessionista Reviews the H&M Conscious Collection + Fashion Star Spring 2012

Pictured: H&M Spring Fashions in store.

Since today was Earth Day, it seemed like the perfect time to stop by my local H&M store to check out the new Conscious Collection, made from recycled fabrics.  Last year’s Conscious Collection was all about clean, bright whites.  This season, there are many bright and colorful prints. I didn’t see any of the full length, Conscious Collection gowns, including the white strapless gown, priced at $299.00, but there were plenty of cute low priced tops, shorts and the cream dress (pictured above) that really looked great.  I don’t know how long these garments will last, but I am still hearing white dresses from last season’s Conscious Collection, and they have held up well.  Several of the lace overlay dresses in peach & pink are really great looking. I particularly liked the chiffon dress in the collection, it’s better looking that the pictures.   I saw several items from the Fashion Star line while I was at the show, and I was disappointed in their execution. For the money, I think the Conscious Collection is a better investment than the Fashion Star line.  The Fashion Star Episode 6 Dress Designed by Nzimiro looked good on the rack, but it’s difficult to try on as it really should be two pieces, but the pieces are sewn together so they won’t get separated in the store.  That makes it really hard to pull the dress on.  The entire line looked like it ran small, and was very much juniors sized.  I know it sells out after every episode airs on the East Coast, and with typical price tags of $19.99 plus TV hype, it’s easy to see why it sells out online.  However, in store, it’s much less impressive than the pictures.  From what I saw, the Fashion Star H&M stuff was not very exciting, so the east coast can have it.  I no longer feel deprived.

Pictured: The Recessionista’s Top Pick from this collection, the chiffon dress for $24.99.

To my surprise, these was a small rack of returns from the Marni collection at my local store.  I ended up buying a multi-colored Marni  in fuchsia, yellow and green top for $59.00.  I think it’s been long enough now, that if the eBayer sellers haven’t been able to reap the profits they expected they are returning the items to H&M for refunds.  My local store (which didn’t originally stock the Marni for H&M collection) has maxi dresses, shorts, skirts and tops.  So if you like Marni, look for those returns.

If you’re an American Express cardholder, you can save on the Conscious Collection and other H&M items via Twitter. Tweet #AmexHM get $10 back 1x on next $50+ purchase in US stores with a synced Card til 4/30. Click here to learn more.