12.26.2008

H&M Offers Something For the Fashion Challenged.



I was browsing on the Internet for new clothes for the upcoming season, and I decided to trek on uncharted territory- the land of H&M. While yes, the chain store has received world-wide fame for being known as a low-cost, always-on-trend retail store for the fashion conscience, yet budget driven consumer, I myself have never found the desire to delve into its world. Maybe because, to me, it is "too" trendy, and never tries to create its own trends. I figure a store brand with as much popularity and influence as this one, could by now branch out and start creating trends instead of following them. They do, after all have a very large and dedicated fan base. After such ventures as joint collections by Viktor & Rolf, Stella McCartney, and even Madonna, they have the youthful fashion base wrapped around their well-oiled finger. But I digress. As I was shopping on their site, I stumbled upon a section entitled "Dressing Room", an inventive and useful tool to organize and create wardrobe ensembles from their large selection of clothing. It gives the shopper an entirely new way to see the clothes they want to purchase, and to see what works with what, and more importantly, what does not. Want the neon turquoise tights? Great. Want to mix them with the blue cocktail dress and fur coat, to come off as edgy and youthful? Sounds good on paper, but when thrown on the cyber models, a different story appears. This helpful little tool can be a second opinion for a shopper, and can really help the not-so-fashionable consumer brush up on their skills to make better outfits. It serves as a personal model to each item you select, and does it in an honest way, where that everything you select does not come off as something worth purchasing. The shopper can even create an online account for free, and upload a photo of themself, to make the model an almost-exact replica of their own likeness. Very fun, and of course, very modern. The dressing room is in every store or boutique we shop at, and H&M simply asks "Why should online shopping be any different?". Its a genius attempt at catering to their fan base, and in my opinion, should in fact be a new requirement for all online shopping sites.





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