Every New H&M Item That Made Me Question Whether It Was Designer or Not
Because I spend so much time studying runway collections, both current ones and those in the archives, it's not an easy feat to fool me into thinking a fast fashion piece could be designer. Nine times out of 10, even when I'm just looking at pictures online, I can spot the differences between a $1000 piece and a $10 one in milliseconds. On rare occasions, though, certain items will stump me, which is what happened when I scrolled through H&M this morning.
From tweed lady jackets and ribbed knit tops to draped body-con dresses and tailored separates, the contents of H&M's new-arrivals page, which I meticulously scanned for hours today, turned out to be some of the best, most elevated that I've seen in ages, especially given that fact not one of my favorites from the bunch costs more than $135 (and some start at just $15). Below, mosey through 30 pieces that genuinely had me thinking I needed glasses after looking at the prices—that is how expensive they appeared.
Feel free to wear this top and skirt together or separately.
Shop the matching Lace Skirt ($58).
Coming up next: Wealth's the Word: 42 Items That Don't Shout But Scream Expensive
Eliza Huber is an NYC-based senior fashion editor who specializes in trend reporting, brand discovery, and the intersection of sports and fashion. She joined Who What Wear in 2021 from Refinery29, the job she took after graduating with a business degree from the University of Iowa. She's launched two columns, Let's Get a Room and Ways to Wear; profiled Dakota Fanning, Diane Kruger, Katie Holmes, Gracie Abrams, and Sabrina Carpenter; and reported on everything from the relationship between Formula One and fashion to the top runway trends each season. Eliza lives on the Upper West Side and spends her free time researching F1 fashion imagery for her side Instagram accounts @thepinnacleoffashion and @f1paddockfits, watching WNBA games, and scouring The RealReal for discounted Prada.
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