I visited H0fF on a freezing Monday morning. The "express lift" to Maryland took me to the first floor and I then wandered for about 10 minutes with no idea where to find her (two floors further up, as it transpired). Several other middle-aged women were doing the same.
The most appealing item in the collection was by a mile the Siren dress. It was well-cut and classic and in a range of attractive colours - so classic, of course, that I already have about five versions thereof in my wardrobe and no need to buy another. I tried it on and it was very flattering, but women don't need that many classic dresses.
The only other thing that appealed was the armeries - when the time is right I'd return for one of those but on such a cold day, the prospect of ever wearing a sleeveless dress again seemed impossible. I liked the tights but they were around £10 a pair, so expensive.
Apart from that, I was disappointed. Garish prints everywhere, fabrics that were either silk (didn't want too much hassle to clean), or, I suspect, polyester - yuk . Far too much acid yellow, which gave me a headache. The "look" we were being encouraged to buy was a baggy, splodgy top, with belt, leggings and heels that just looked so painful they made my toes itch. Leather skirts, harem pants, printed leggings, jumpsuits, pussy-bow blouses - yuk, yuk, yuk. It all felt a bit middle-aged hen night or a bit Grazia trying to buy something horrible because Alexa Chung looks passable in it. We're not so easily fooled.
As others have said, having Mary so actively rammed down my throat in the form of the modeles backfired horribly. I'm not Samantha Brick, but I'm not totally hideous either. However, nor am I a cool, beanpole, sleek-bob type, nor am I a successful TV presenter, and the models simply rammed in that this will never be the case. I also felt slightly patronised by the idea that because Mary is funny and mouthy on telly I would want to "be" her, David Walliams is funny and mouthy and ... You see what I'm saying.
So ... in the next collection. Far fewer prints - leave them to Per Una, please. More comfortable-looking shoes. Lower prices (£80 for a swimming costume?). Less obvious worship at the Mary shrine, although I realise that may invalidate the entire point of the exercise.
Less of the - "The white shirt" stuff, , the shirts are pretty ordinary rather than being the item we've all been crying out for, and the white shirt in question is £70 - you could buy an equivalent one at Gap for half the price. Keep up the high quality (although this doesn't go brilliantly with lowering prices). More wearable shoes. A bit MORE jewellery, I only spotted a couple of pieces and I think, if well displayed, those pieces could show women how best to work an outfit.
Try to decide if you're about work wear or leisure, at the moment, it's leaning to the latter but with some boring-looking jumpers chucked in for mooching around on Saturdays, which just look dowdy. It certainly doesn't look like a collection aimed at mums - too high maintenance, which is why I'm surprised mnet is being asked for opinions.
Most of all, I'd say fewer pieces generally, the racks were cluttered and quite a few items were tucked away round the corner where I suspect they'll sit until Britain wins Eurovision (ie a long time). To continue with the Mary range you need to stay true to the spirit of Mary but that means channeling chic and sleek, in my opinion, not gobby and brash. I hope you can finesse it beause I like Mary and LOVE H of F (and while I was lost I discovered a few other gems, like the new Dickins and Jones line), and would love you to pull it off together.