Dragon Tattoo Jeans, For The Psychopath In You

Lisbeth Salander is, according to Stieg Larsson’s novels, “a pale, anorexic young woman who had hair as short as a fuse, and a pierced nose and eyebrows.” She’s hostile, she had a highly traumatic childhood, she’s completely anti-social, she once set a man on fire. Her unflinching ability to exact physical torture upon a man who’s raped her makes her a heroine of sorts, but also, let’s face it, a sociopath. And as we all know, sociopaths make excellent, hip sartorial choices! Hence the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo collection for H&M. It’s pretty funny to see “designed” hacker fashion: The jeans come already distressed, to save you the trouble of getting in a scuffle with a kid and subsequently hitting him with a baseball bat. Convenient! There’s the requisite hoodie, of course, some spiky earrings, pretty hot leather-looking pants and a tank with a Swedish proverb. But would the avid motorcycle enthusiast actually buy pre-scuffed boots if they weren’t vintage? It’s a bit strange for a mainstream mall-store to promote someone so counter-culture, but better a Swedish brand for the Swedish heroine than, say, American Apparel. But isn’t it a little weird to get excited about dressing up like a fictional rape survivor? Then again, Superman’s afraid of a rock and Batman has some kind of compartmentalized personality disorder. Most heroes have issues.