Lei Ann...Off Duty

*versace for h&m…the waiting game*

yessss…before you even go there…yes, i was one of the crazy people who lined up for the versace collection available at H&M this morning.  i know, i know…you’re sick of listening about it too.  i’m just glad it’s all over, so i don’t have to hear about it anymore either.  sorry though…you’ll hear about it just this one time more ^_^

i met up with najeema around 5:30 this wind chilly morning in front of the tent-riddled boston H&M store (looking like occupy H&M & shiz…bwahaha!).  if you ever plan to do this in the future, i highly recommend at least one other buddy to partner up with.  we waited until 6 a.m. when they began handing out the color-coded bracelets.  if you don’t know how the shopping system works, here’s all the info.  according to the color chart below, we were the 6th group to go in & luckily with a designated shopping time of 9:45, we gleefully went off to panera bread to grab breakfast, some hot tea & sit in a warm booth until the feeling came back into our toes.

since the versace men’s section opened at 8 a.m. & there was no bracelet restriction to shop that selection (plus najeema was interested in a certain pink pair of men’s pants), we went in with the “general” shopping public.  unfortunately, they also only let a certain amount of people in the store at a time, so by the time we got there, the racks & shelves were bare as the desert.  poor najeema…that store didn’t even get the men’s pink suit at all.  she waited for nothing :(  undaunted, she still hung around to get something from the women’s collection like a trooper :)

we meandered upstairs where the women’s versace stuff was (since the salespeople were nice enough to let us wait inside instead of freezing outside) but still had to wait for our colored bracelet group time.  unfortunately, we watched 2 groups of 20 people go before us & i began whimpering while watching the fully stocked section dwindle down to just a couple of racks & display cubes.  i watched my hopes for one of the belts & dresses fade away & same for najeema’s chances at the scarves :(

i think the only saving grace & a wonder that i got anything at all, is probably the fact i wanted the items in what i called “throw up bright floral” colors…hahaha!  i never even saw the studded leather jackets or dresses.  i’m sure those were the first to go…IF the store even got them.  so, lucky for me, i did get the crazy floral leggings with different colored legs that i really actually wanted & also the palm print leggings. however, my eyes almost bugged out of my head when i saw the ONE item on the top of my wish list that still had the last remaining in my size…the floral denim jacket!  i snatched that puppy up right quick & shoved it in my shopping bag…almost in disbelief!  since i liked the floral prints & compared to starting at $149 for the dresses, getting the same type of look with the $29 leggings & $69 jacket made more sense to me…plus those are more versatile to style than just one dress that i’ll wear to a wedding or something & then never wear again.

so, in summary…was it nutso to wait at 5 a.m. to shop for cheap(ish) clothing just because it had a designer label on it?  heck no…5 a.m.? that’s not even super early.  don’t a lot of people wake up that early for their normal jobs?  so i miss out on 3 hours of sleep on a saturday :)  that’s what an afternoon nap is for.  NOW…if i was waiting in front of H&M since 8 a.m. yesterday morning (a whole 24 hours ahead of the opening time) like the 2 first girls in line, then that’s CRAZY!  hahaha!

thanks again to najeema for taking the above picture of me & hanging out this wacky morning.  hopefully, tom ford will be more successful for her ^_^