Cheryl Shops

Cheryl shops...Bloomingdales and the new H&M
I have been incredibly bored thus far this week at work, so I decided to get out of the office on my lunch hour (which turned into two hours) and check out the "private" shoe sale at Bloomingdale's. Um, this sale was not so private: signs everywhere, sale racks, women everywhere, sales clerks scurrying around with boxes and boxes of shoes--in other words, just a typical day at Bloomie's. Also, none of the shoes were particularly appealing. The fourth floor shoe department was calmer but didn't have anything exciting on sale (mainly Stuart Weitzman and Casadei). They do have some adorable new Belle by Sigerson Morrison shoes, although with the pumps in the mid-$300s and the boots pushing $500, Belle's prices are coming quickly, ridiculously close to those of Sigerson Morrison's first line. (What was the purpose of Belle again? To introduce a lower-priced line? Oh, right...) Bummed, I went back down to the second floor to check out the clothes, which I found pretty underwhelming: I think a lot of these so-called "pretty" clothes are ugly at worst, lackluster at best. And they are damn expensive--nearly everything I looked at was at least $200; jeans seem to have surpassed $150. I brightened up when I saw a huge rack of Marc by Marc Jacobs sale merchandise, which had a top I like (but at $144, it was still a bit much) and some groovy chunky, handknit sweaters. My experience soured, however, when I overheard the girl at the checkout counter, who elected not to use her $500 store credit because she'd "just write a check" for the $1,800 worth of Marc Jacobs clothes she was buying. Bitch. (This contrasts sharply with my usual Bloomie's experience, when they tell me I can save an additional 10% if I open a store charge. I have one already, thanks.) Side note: I thought Bloomie's was done with the construction on the second floor, but apparently not, as there is plastic wrap all over the place. I'm glad to know that even large corporations like Federated also experience construction delays. Anyway, I then looked in vain for a new bag; the MJ green velvet knot bag is still there (but not on sale), and everything else is totally gross. Seriously, I have never seen so many ugly bags. I think all of the Juicy Couture bags (of which there are perhaps thousands) are just plain fug. Everything else seemed to be a ridiculous color (are women really buying bright yellow bags for winter?) or O.D.'d on hardware. Also, can one buy a $200 bag that is not a knockoff of a $1,000-plus bag? Birkins, Luellas, Jimmy Choos...it's like I've seen it all before. So I left Bloomie's feeling dejected. Now I at least remember why I said I'm sticking to Soho Bloomie's.

I perked up, however, when I remembered the new H&M just opened across the street in the new Bloomberg tower. I took the Scissor Sisters song playing as I walked in as a good sign. The new H&M is huge, and it was by far the least crowded one I've ever been in--there were quite a few lunchtime shoppers, but there was plenty of physical room in which to move around. The first floor is half men's, half women's; the lower floor is men's, I believe (I didn't check it out due to time restraints); and the upper floor is women's. As usual, H&M is kind of all over the place trend-wise, but I like that, because then there's something for everyone. H&M is doing the ladylike look well (not ugly like Bloomie's)--they have lots of frilly, silky, sparkly, and/or lacy camisoles; tweed pants; cute jackets (tweed and velvet); and some great skirts, several of which are excellent Zac Posen knockoffs (pink and black, toward the back on the 2nd floor). Outerwear-wise, they had some kickass Marc by Marc Jacobs knockoffs, groovy fur jackets (faux mink or faux leopard) for $70, and a very hipster leather zip-up jacket for $80, in a gorgeous caramel color. The accessories were kind of eh, but I got a wine velvet bag with gold trim--it looks like a simplified version of the Louis Vuitton Theda, and I think it might be kind of ugly, but kind of cute at the same time. I also got two wrap tops--one bright green wool/rayon and one blue/green floral with silver lurex threads in it, very Cameron Diaz. The latter is totally impractical and will require a safety pin to prevent any "wardrobe malfunctions," but it's very flattering, and I'm a sucker for anything shiny. I was very pleased with my purchases, and returned to work to show them to everyone (and to explain why I was gone for two hours). So, I hereby thank H&M for getting me excited about clothing again.