Yesterday's launch of the marimekko for H&M line was like Christmas in the Spring for me, I set the alarm early and headed to my nearest branch to try everything on. Marimekko is for me - along with Vera, Pucci and Missoni one of the classics in textile designs of the second half of the 20th century, none of them ever go out of season or style. I was worried that making cheaper versions of the marimekko designs would translate to nasty materials, but over all, most of the garments were cotton. (the fabrication - as the designers call it- of a few was poly or poly blend) They had a nice range of colors for Spring/Summer, not pictured here were a few items in turquoise/greenish hues. The sizing was generous, especially since the clothes had a very retro 1950s/1960s series of cuts - wide flouncy high-waisted skirt (may have to go back to buy that one) in a red, white and black disc pattern, very Twiggy-esque a-line dresses, long tunic-y tops. The latter two were not good for my 1950 pin-up by way of generations of miscegenation body-type (34-25-36?). But other things were great for an hourglass figure.
I got:
A black and white swirl print wide-brimmed floppy hat. (pictured in pink above)
The little orange and fuschia (also a very Puerto Rican or Spanish neutral color combo for summer, somebody should study the parallels between high WASP color choices and those of us who are CPs and Latins because take a look at Lily Pulitzer.....) sun dress (bottom photo, second from right to left)
The Betty Page style one-piece bathing suit (pictured above)
The round neck, button up, super A-line 3/4 sleeve dress in a print matching the bathing suit. Now this one I was wondering about because it is awfully wide but I decided I could rock it as a matching cover up for the bathing suit - a schmatta if you will.
Buying marimekko at H&M prices: fabulous. Having the opportunity to use the word "schmatta": PRICELESS.
For more see - http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2008/03/jackie_kennedy_marimekko_print.html
