When I was in Sweden, Denmark, and England in 2003, H&M was a revelation -- great clothes, stylish but very cheap. When I was in England earlier this year, they were TERRIBLE -- hideous, misshapen clothes with bizarre twisting seams, sleeves way out of proportion, and just all around fugly, like if you took everything in Urban Outfitters and ran it through a hot wash cycle. And the store was dead; all the action was across the street at Primark (also pretty nasty, but hipper -- way too hip for my old self).

And H & M clothes used to be made in Sweden where the quality of life is good. Look closely at the labels - now they're mostly made in countries with questionable labor standards.

H&M is pretty OK still, especially for "office" clothes if your job so requires, and plain $4 t-shirts... I'm pretty thin so it's hard for me to find cheap clothes that fit. Still beats the insanely overpriced garbage UO is peddling... but still, I remember it being a lot more interesting when I first saw one in London almost 10 years ago. It was far better then. Zara was a pretty good store back then too, kinda jumped the shark here in the states as well.

They'll be in every major US city this year I'm sure, and I hope they don't adopt American sizing (i.e. loose fitting, shorter inseams, etc.). I already see them heading that way. Ugh.

The one in Ann Arbor has about 9/10 women's clothes and a small wall o' men's stuff. It's awful. That, and stores here will carry 1 or 2 smalls in each size it seems since, you know, we're husky here in the midwest.

...H&M sucks, yo.

H&M is perfect for socks and underpants.

The second I move away- sunset bowl goes under and now THIS?

God hates cats.

H&M truly is the IKEA of clothes, beyond just the Swedish-for-the-masses connection. You wouldn't want to be head to toe/wall to wall in either one, but you can find all sorts of cool & cheap stuff to help you fill in the gaps.

My girlfriend is going to FREAK.

I concur about the work clothes; now that I need them I'm super-excited.

I also got a really great shirt there this summer in Vienna, so I'm excited for more of them.

Uh, how ARE things in Sleepy Hollow, there Rip? 8/10/2007 this was first reported, the only new news about this is the additional locations.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003829768_uvillage10.html

Thank GOD!

Now, if we can just get a Waffle House somewhere in the state, I never have to go home again!

Finally. A retail store that sells clothing.

Their small size for men is actually small. Only damn place I can find t-shirts that fit and button-down shirts that aren't wide enough for people twice my size.

btw, the Seattle Times had this story several months ago...

"[C]ountries with questionable labor standards" being code for "poor countries struggling to raise themselves into the modern world by competing with unfair US trade standards", like China, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Malawi, etc. Buying stuff made in those countries is the most effective way for people to fight global poverty.

Interestingly, the UK and Ireland don't have country-of-origin labeling laws, so it's impossible to tell exactly where things are made.

Sweet. Now I don't have to go to San Francisco to get shitty clothes that are cut worse than American Apparel shirts and stitched by people with broken hands.

wait, you mean Ho & Mo's? socks n drawers are about all they're good for...

H&M came here to Vancouver in September, and was a BIG disappointment.
Part of the fun of H&M was shopping alongside beautiful Swedes while I lived in Uppsala. When I went to the one here, I was just shopping alongside all these suburban Canadians- blugh!
Stay Euro, Ponyboy.

You DON'T have a Capitalism column?

Oh, I see you don't read Charles' columns either.

Old news.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/vivaciousblueprint/archives/119648.asp

hey, I mentioned the UV H&M in a slog comment just yesterday!

So what? People have known about this since August of 2007.

hm is over. period. There death came when they hired madonna for a campaign. It was like grandma was selling you her clothes. Terrible.

Quality control is nill. 10 years ago- a revelation. Today - a bore.

h&m has cheap trendy clothes for women who are 8 feet tall.

and really cute skirts sometimes.

#11 you're ripping (get it?) on the writer because he linked to another paper reporting on H&M and some other paper wrote about it first? That's stupid. It's not like he wrote: EXCLUSIVE, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING HAS REVEAED THAT H&M IS OPENING IN SEATTLE.
Unless you're the author of the first article and you want some props. OK here they are: Way to go on your H&M article. It's really been around for a long time!

oh! and i agree with Fnarf - all the clothes are weirdly misshapen, with twisty seams.

Kids clothes only, I'm afraid. Oh, and maybe a hat and scarf when you're suddenly cold and near one. I used to be with them on socks, undies, and T-shirts, too, but yeah, they fall apart faster than American Apparel and don't look as good in the first place. But for kids' clothes? Great.

sweet. I can finally stop shopping at forever21.

@26 - yup, I tried on a sweater, with the two arms of very different lengths, both more than six inches longer than mine, and one with a seam that started under my armpit and ended up directly in the front. It was the most fucked-up thing I've ever tried on; I couldn't even be sure I had it on right.

@27... agreed on the kids clothes. I always end up buying something cute and trendy-looking for my 2-year-old nephew when I go there. And, it's usually like $7. Nobody cares if it's poorly made since it will fit him for like 3 weeks or something.

@ 11 & 20 This was a press release just sent out today by H&M and is really a big deal for some of us. I think I wrote about it first. :)

@ 21 I referenced your Slog comment from yesterday in a posting on my blog yesterday.

of course seattle is getting it now. behind the curve by years.

in other news people in seattle will still dress like they are trying to create some asinine clothing collage with boots some kind of scarf and ugly oddly cut hair.

fuck it, everyone that is young in seattle and lives on cap hill looks like the same sad skeleton that wouldn't have an original though in fashion unless it came down on high from williamsburg.

I don't care about the store, I just want to see the hot girls' underwear ads. In German cities, they are plastered EVERYWHERE. These guys market like banshees.

I've read other forums where the users swear by H&M. Critical question, though : Do the men's clothes come in tall sizes?

@33, no, the Williamsburg look is the Olympia look from 10 years ago. Lots of beards.

laterite - no

and how do banshees market?!

(Internal: how come we don’t have a SHOPPING category? CLOTHES? BUSINESS? CAPITALISM?)

We do, but Charles M. usually posts in that category under its alt name, EVIL.

My wife (and the last few girlfriends before her) have raved about how great H&M is. When I finally went to the store in London I was surprised to find nothing but overpriced CRAP!

regardless of whether it is olywa or williamsburg, im tired of every emeaciated girl amd boy wear the samw goddamn outfit where the only difference is the ugliness of the sweater or fringe on the cowboy boot or shade of peacoat with hoodie underneath. fucking cap hill clones. in nyc at least you can get away from it because the fucking city has enough diversity and adults living there.thank god im moving there when im done with school. until then im going to remind everyone of just how similar people are to one another here and the real lack of diversity and choices you have.

@40
That's some Nobel-caliber agenda you got going. Respect.

Great, more of our money to leave the country.

Besides the point, but to the point: Companies who use third world labor, sell us cheap clothing, which means we then don't have the jobs anymore because our jobs have been sent overseas, and by then we NEED cheap clothing. By buying the cheap clothing, we are saying 'it's okay, we don't really want jobs.'

Tremendous! I look forward to visiting Seattle and everyone not looking like dykes. Tremendous!

@40: You don't get out into the city much, do you?

Bellevue - I popped into the H&M when I was in Cambridge, MA last year. I'm no fashion plate, so I quickly got bored and went to the Dunkin Donuts next door. I like to order my coffee there partly because - as I hope you'll appreciate - it's painful to be in line at cafes there and listen to how people order their expressos.

oh, pooh, quit raining on my parade...i'm beside myself in anticipation...i need this store to fill in wardrobe needs when i can't afford marc ecko or lucky brand...

(yes, i'm a pathetic aging hipster, but I do look cute in those faux retro duds.)

Ho & huM - more ways for PodBudz to dispose of their income, pursuing whatever crowd it is telling you how to dress so that you are accepted by imaginary friends and co-conspirators.

It's good to have an H&M nearby, and I make use of it for certain things. I agree it's a good place for cheap t-shirts, socks and underwear, but you'll be replacing them after a few months because they're already in tatters.

The problem, especially in the UK, is that if you buy your clothes at H&M you end up looking just like 75% of the other young people on the street - all wearing the same dark green army jackets, same caps, same five dresses. The UK already has a big enough problem with the homogenization of its towns and high-streets without the added drawback of everyone dressing exactly alike.

FWIW, the H&Ms I've seen in Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium and other places seem to carry the exact same stock but the people don't rely on it for all their clothing needs as much as the British do.

In related news, Tesco is opening stores in North America now. I think it's just on the West Coast of the US, but not sure about that. And they've rebranded it Fresh & Easy for American customers.

OLD ASS NEWS, GUYS.

You don't have to be a "fashion plate" in order to appreciate H&M. I just blogged some of my own comments of why I like H&M and why I disagree with some comments here. This stuff is actually hip and for the prices I don't expect it to last for decades.

Yeah, with #8 here. Considering the fleeting nature of fashion (probably particularly for girls my age, e.g. 22), there's really no point in investing a lot of money in all your clothes. Sure, I'd spend on some nice pieces to anchor the wardrobe, but H&M is pretty handy for wear that's only in for a couple of seasons or so.

surprised you don't have a Fashion column/tag as well.

Yes, the news about H&M coming to University Village was out months ago. However, yesterday's announcement included the news of the stores downtown and at Southcenter.

I have one thing to say: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!

clothes, clothes, glorious stylist cheap clothes! you bitches better get out of my way come that store opening.

hmmmmm....I'm not sure where you CAN buy ATTRACTIVE, American made clothes.

(and no, I'm not buying any of that badly made, shitty fabricked, sizeist American Apparel crap)

and besides, 12 yr old tubercular, legless Indonesian girls NEED those clothing manufacturing jobs; otherwise it's off to the Phuket sex camps...

Original H&Mecca article was about the H&M at U Village....the new announcement is that we get one downtown too so we don't have to fight with all the yummy mummies shopping at Crate & Barrel.
Anyways, knowledge says the store layout for the DT H&M is in the current Kenneth Cole space. Is KC closing? moving?
Also---for those of us who are on a plane for work all the time, this blows. my whole wardrobe is H&M from shopping in the rest of the country, now my secret is about to be blown. Primark time?

I also heard H&M is replacing Kenneth Cole on Pike. I much prefer KC. I'm sitting here in H&M wool-blend pants--well made, well-tailored--that I got cheap in Germany years ago. Lately (or maybe it's just the American stores) the bargain factor is gone and it's mostly sweatshop junk. Worse than Forever 21 even.

I prefer KC too.