One of the stores that opened since I was last in London ,and one that I'm looking forward to checking out when I'm there, is H&M's new venture...COS. I know that for people who live in the UK this may be a bit of a yawn; yet another line of inexpensive, fashion-conscious, basics but, speaking as someone who's based in the U.S, I need all the help in that area that I can get.

The U.S. options in this category are, after all, severely limited...apart from Club Monaco it's pretty much a wasteland if you've looking for something "designed" yet subdued. So I'm hoping COS will turn out to be a sort of lower priced APC and, even though I'm probably setting myself up for disappointment, after looking at the website I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'll definitely be trying to find the leather jacket shown below and some of the dresses and accessories look well worth a little closer inspection. As always when looking at items online the question is, will the quality of the materials and the workmanship stand up when seen in real-life? Fingers crossed 'cos I have a basic need...