The Coat That Ate The Girl Who Ate The Purse

Since I've been on a roll about collaborations lately, we might as well talk about another one that hit stores late last week.  That's right, the mash-up known as H&M and Maison Martin Margiela, the latter boasting fashions that seem to defy wearability sometimes.  In fact, this newest partnership resulted in a line of men and women's clothes and accessories which draw from past MMM collections.  This time around, though, the price points are much lower than the high-stylin' regular pieces.  And yet, one could argue, "Define lower price points."  Because, while the assembly of covetable items doesn't require a "K" after a numeral, I'm not sure you want to fork out $300+ for a huge coat that resembles bedding and looks like it might want to eat you.  

On the other hand, I like scary puffy coats.  Hell, I live in the Upper Midwest and winter is about to drop an arctic beat on us Northerners.

Here are a few other things I was drawn to or perplexed by:

Beautiful color, challenging draping.

They're pants!  They're a skirt!  They're skants!

I like the watch belt idea, but IRL, I couldn't find a clasp anywhere on the thing.  

This is a purse.  No, really.  My friends adore it.  I'm worried I might start gnawing on it when hunger strikes.

Speaking of devouring, here is the coat that may indeed consume me.  I'm OK with this.

I didn't even notice these flats til my friend posted a photo of them.  Me liked, so me bought.  It comes with "heels" that aren't intended for the shoes.  Uh-huh.  They're strung on a ribbon and meant to be worn as...  wait for it...  a necklace.  I can't wait to mess with my coworkers.

The guitar carryall for men.  I dunno.  I think the musicians are gonna pelt you with pennies.

So, I saw this shirt hanging out in the women's section.  It's a little boxy, but I liked the fit and slightly angular draping.  Turns out it's a dude's top.  I got my true size.  Not sure who should be more annoyed by the small fit - me or the guys.

These are awesome but they must've sold out at my store.

Again, the watch motif is cool on this oversized necklace.  But then all I could think of was this guy:

Yep.  Flava-Flav.  No can do.

So there are some highlights from the collection.  Oddly, Refinery29, which is where I grabbed these photos from, claims to include the entire inventory.  But I saw some other things, like a brown men's bag and a crazy glittery necklace for the chicks (see first pic below).  As I mentioned, I was able to pop into one of the H&M's and gaze upon things with my own peepers.  But not here in MN.  Sadly, I guess we don't make the cut for limited-edition must-have collabs like this (we got the shaft for the Marni stint, too, I think).  As luck would have it, I spent this past weekend back home in Chicago.  Where, you know, you can see this stuff for real (and pay real sales tax, unlike up here in MN...  note to retailers, people might buy more in locations where they don't have to shell out for taxes...  just an idea... ).

Here are a few photos from the IRL ("in real life") trip:

I got to keep the hangers.  Kinda arty, and if I'm gonna spend this kind of cash at H&M, I'll take 'em.

And here's my 3 picks on myself:

  Some pals love it, others asked me if I'm trying to look like this on purpose.  Granted, I don't plan to wear these all together "IRL."  But if my purchases give you pause, just wait til I get my hands on that duvet coat.  The Stay Puff'd Marshmallow man'll have nothing on me.  Nada.

What do you think?  Some good stuff from this joint venture, or does everything look like it might attack you?

Images:

All individual pieces from Refinery29.com

Flava-Flav from Wikipedia

In-store pics and weird self-portrait are my own