So many women nowadays have forgone true style for fake fashion!
They fake their hair, their nails, their breasts, they fake friends, orgasms, and finally their designers.
We all know a girl (or several girls) sporting counterfeit luxury goods. The prime offenders; Chanel and Louis Vuitton. I remember two years ago, being so sick of seeing fake Chanel anything (bags, wallets, jewellery, and the like..) and just when I thought fake fashion was on it's way out, I'm bombarded with more falsies in my face!
I'm sure they do this because they assume that no one will know the difference. However, anyone who's into fashion enough to care that you're wearing designer duds in the first place is most likely into it enough to know the difference between a real and a fake!
Remember on
Sex and the City when Samantha Jones sported a fake Fendi to a party at the Playboy Mansion? It was lost and she accused a bunny of stealing it. She told them to look inside so they would see 'made in China' on the tag. The bunny opened it up and exclaimed, "See? Fendi!" Imagine Samantha's embarassment!!
The thing about wearing a fake is that even if no one else detects your falsehood, YOU know you're wearing a fake. It doesn't have the same allure as a real designer piece. You don't feel the same 'je ne sais quoi'!!
It isn't very hard to tell the difference between a real and a fake. Most are blatantly obvious while some are almost uncanny to the original. Quality is usually the top indicator and usually there is a very important detail missing. Often the colour scheme will be off a little bit or the design will look somewhat "off". A fake bag will often have PVC trim instead of genuine leather. Also, the logo will usually be slightly different, often backwards or upside down. If you want to know if something you're buying is genuine, call the retailer and find out the original price. Most designer labels never have wholesale, factory rejects, clearance or discounts!! If you want to be absolutely sure, buy it from the designer store itself!
If you’re looking to buy a fake, just consider that your $50 deal comes at a much higher cost. Child labor, sweatshops, and human trafficking are only a few of the social costs of the black market, and a few of the most obvious reasons fakes are never in fashion. It’s easy to overlook the fact that your cheap knock-off comes at the expense of a designer’s intellectual property (who cares if Kate Spade isn’t earning your money?), but that’s not the only thing sacrificed in your pursuit of a deal.
Child labor and atrocious working conditions, not just for the bag but its parts (fake leather, lead-laden metals, labels, etc.), are high costs to pay. And what about the effect fakes have on the economy? In the United States alone, there are 750,000 jobs lost to stealing intellectual property! For more info, check out
Harper's Bazaar; Fakes Are Never In Fashion
Don’t get me wrong, there are luxury manufacturers who have taken advantage of cheap outsourced labor too! In doing this they have lowered the quality of their goods while raising prices, and committed other social sins. It’s not always public knowledge when luxury manufacturers are guilty of this, but keeping your wits about you will help in doing your part!
Many smaller scale labels do create designer inspired pieces. They look like part of a current designer collection but are not claiming to be the designer label itself. I do believe these are respectable items to wear as they wreak less havoc on your wallet. They are usually decribed as "inspired by" and are usually an ode to a designer as opposed to stealing their designs completely.
Fake fashion is about as classy as fake nails or fake breasts.
The only forgivable fashion fake is fur!
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