The Recessionista Reviews Maison Martin Margiela for H&M

Quirky, bohemian and playful.  These words describe H and M’s Maison Martin Margiela collection. Tonight I attended the preview in Los Angeles and I was more impressed than I thought I would be.  The clothes in the women’s collection  were made of gorgeous fabrics offering a comfortable fit with their loose, predominantly over sized design.  Only the jackets offer streamlined tailoring.  My favorite item on the rack, the striking blue dress, was hard to assemble.It wasn’t easy to know how to put the dress on and button it.  In the end, I gave up and left it behind.  When a dress is over $200, it needs to be easy to put on and wear.

Pictured: The blue horizontal dress is a gorgeous dress if you know how to assemble it.

Surprisingly, the pieces I set out to buy were not the pieces I ended up with after a visit to the fitting room.  The pieces I fell in love with were the black glove clutch (pictured above for $149.00 US), the navy turtleneck sweater tunic dress ($149.00) and the men’s shirt with black tie applique.

Pictured : My new Maison Martin Margiela for H&M clutch with glove strap

I liked the white puff coat, but for $349.00, I just couldn’t put my money on it.  Especially when I still have my Norma Kamali sleeping bag coat from Walmart, for a fraction of the price.  Some of the pieces are just too out there, like the candy wrapper bag or the handcuff bracelet, to justify the price tags.  the maxi dress with a dress superimposed on it was better looking than I thought, but for $99.00, I didn’t think it was a must have.  A better looking dress is the elegant red dress with the draping on the front and the back.  The plexi wedge shows were good looking but they didn’t look particularly well made for the price.  If you wake up early tomorrow, my advice is to go for the handbags, the tailored jackets,the red dress, the men’s luggage/bags and the inexpensive men’s teewith the silk screen hearts for $34.95.  There’s a lot to love about  Maison Martin Margiela for H&M, and overall, the collection is well done.   If you shopped early this morning, let me know what you think.  Click here to read my tips for shopping the collection.