Oh, H&M, how I love thee. Home of the $8 sweater and the $20 pair of jeans. Home of racks and racks of cheap clothing that would have looked positively awesome on me when I was 14, before I had breasts and hips and body fat to take into account.

So I’m thrilled to see celebs like Nicky Hilton and Nicole Richie and Mischa Barton show up to celebrate some manner of dumb holiday promotion at H&M, even though we all know that the outfit Nicole Richie is wearing right now retails for more than the entire second floor.

Also there: Mena Suvari, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Ryan Cabrera, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mandy Moore, Jessica Stroup and Garcelle Beauvais.

At the DSquared party last night.

Also there: Christina Aguilera and Nikki Richie.

If you, like me, have been waiting anxiously for the opportunity to drop $70 on a Native American-style bracelet designed by a socialite — who is, uh, native to America? — you can finally breathe a sigh of relief!

Nicole Richie’s jewelry line, called House of Harlow, is now available at Kitson and online.

In fairness, most of the pieces are under $70, and some are as low as $12.

None really stand out as being particularly attractive to me, though.

Nicole Richie continued her hippie vibe as she was out in West Hollywood today.  My worst nightmare is coming true; I think that atrocity on her head is from Mischa Barton’s new headband collection.

What do you think?  Is the headband thing catching on?  Would you wear one?

Nicole Richie may still be an untreated alcoholic with a propensity toward unnecessary roughness while intoxicated, but at least she’s taking time out of her busy day to stand by signs to help a very important tax write-off social cause.

Nicole and Joel did some promotional work on Monday for Marble Slab Creamery the Text CHILD to 90999 campaign, whereby you can donate $5 to the Richie-Madden Children’s Foundation just by sending the aforementioned text message. It’s billed to your phone, which is actually quite ingenious and awesome, and I’d think more of it if I had any ability to take Nicole Richie seriously when she’s still out getting wasted and violent, albeit in lower-profile situations than she did previously. It’s still irresponsible and totally unacceptable, Nicole. Get some help.

Who would’ve thought we’d ever see the day?

Mary-Kate Olsen and Nicole Richie, both smiling for a photograph, and neither looking like they might blow over if somebody sneezes.

MK’s little rat-tail braid?

Is another story.

But, in general, they both look great, and really healthy, and that’s great to see. I was tired of trying to decide which of them to put more money on in the company’s bi-monthly Death Pool. Now everything just goes to Amy Winehouse.

At the Proenza Schouler show at NY Fashion Week.

The once-again super-skinny Nicole Richie is hardly on the radar these days. The only time we seem to get new shots of her is when she goes to driving school. I wonder if that’s because she alerts the paparazzi when she goes to driving school so that we can all see she’s fulfilling her civic obligations, or because the paparazzi know her driving school schedule. I hate that I care.

Anyway.

Here’s Nicole going to driving school.