I may be in the minority on this, but I find shopping at the major fast-fashion chains (you know, the one with the initials and the other one that starts with a Z) utterly draining. Seriously, the stress level starts to rise the second I step through those glass doors and start people-dodging. So it was with a spot of trepidation that I booked an appointment with a personal shopper to comb the racks of Eryn Brinié, the latest addition to "Recession Row"—that pile-up of Old Navy, Payless, etc., on lower Broadway in SoHo. 
Happily, I was in for a pleasant surprise; the 3,700-square-foot space, an import from South Korea that opened in late August, has a decidedly soothing vibe. No million-decibel techno blaring, no tangles of clothes piled from floor to ceiling, no fitting-room lines stretching from here to Texas. When I showed up at my appointment, an adorable salesperson led me to a huge assortment of looks (the majority of the merch is priced below $150) she'd pulled in advance. Although some of it was a little too filmy, floaty and Japanese-y for my stuck-in-Nineties-minimalism taste, plenty of it worked. After a lightning-quick 40 minutes, I nabbed seven pieces (three dresses and four tops) for a grand total of $509 and sailed back out into the sunshine—migraine-free.
Below, a few of the store's upcoming holiday
looks.
Finally, Civilized Fast Fashion
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