First Post!

Doors opened yesterday just after 9a.m. at h&m in Dundrum. Obviously the staff was anticipating a minor stampede caused by waiting shoppers (myself included). I came with a plan, having looked at the collection online for the past few weeks and, of course, it all went out the window the moment I hurried through the door. I bundled 10 pieces into my arms in a frenzied 10 minutes, including a shameful tug of war for the above dress (which I won!)

Sizing was, according to one of the assistants, a little on the small side. Mannequins which usually wear size 8(UK) were fitted with size 12-a collective sigh of relief all round I think. Not all the clothes displayed online were in the store and were instead split with the newly opened h&m next to the Gaiety.

So, the lowdown: how good are the clothes? Well in honesty they're pretty average. Previous designer collaborations have been a bit cheaper to the pocket and don't even get me started on the ridiculous sterling-euro conversion rate. I bought the black polka dot cardie and the navy shirt, as well as the popular white ruffle shirt as a gift. They were all priced between 40-60 euro.

The bold, often daring designs of Rei Kawakubo have been toned down somewhat for such a mainstream store and perhaps disappointingly so. The quality and cut of the clothes are good. The colours are what you would typically expect from Comme des Garcons collections. I have to say I found the amount of polka dots adorning most of the clothes a bit much. Many of the pieces were identical bar colour. Stand out pieces, for me, include the dropped-crotch pants and the disassembled blazers. Perhaps more of the unusual was needed to create something truly special. However the collection does what it says on the tin by introducing Comme des Garcons-lite to the masses.