I never get off the subway to shoot someone's photo but for this girl I did.
I love how polished this look is, the only thing that was slightly better when I first saw her was that her jacket was buttoned which gave slightly more shape at the waist - actually I first thought she was wearing a skirt -how the sturdy wool jacket balanced the fluid movement of the skirt was just brilliant.
As polished as this look is, the best part is that the dress is H&M and the jacket is vintage. As much as I love "designer quality" I don't think any amount of French seaming or high-twist wool or $30 per yard fabric could have made this look seem any more refined than it already is. Sure you could change a design detail (nip in the jacket, add a pocket or take away a pocket) but you wouldn't have to change the price point to do that.
Often magazines do "The Look for Less" stories which ,to me, has the effect of saying - if you can't afford Marni then settle for this H&M knockoff but I know a lot of women that would love to look this well put-together at any price.