I haven't purchased a fake bag since 2005, but I saw a Louis Vuitton Suhali Chrome Lockit MM bag today and it was gorgeous [retail $3290 and the girl was on the bus. Dressed like money though and it was on the long King's Road so she gets a pass]. Anyone that knows the King's Road, Chelsea in London knows it's a great area for the up close and personal handbag spotting as well as shopping and eating out of course. The latter was my purpose for being there today. Lobster and frozen Margarita just lovely!!
I thought I'd take a look online and see what was going on out there in the realm of the leather handbag fakes. And if anyone thinks it's all Gucci or Louis Vuitton then think again. Prada, Versace, Mulberry, Balenciaga, Valentino, Ferragamo, Jimmy Choo and many more are all being replicated.
Replicas are so huge right now there are even blogs dedicated to them, giving you advice of choosing the right one. The rumor mill has been for years that these bags aren't even produced in Italy or France and that they are actually produced in China. I have many authentic designer clothing pieces where the label maybe Italian, French or Spanish and you'll find a lot of them are produced in China. I should really look into doing some research and find out where the Louis Vuitton and Hermes factories actually are [if I could be bothered that is].
I also read through the Internet grapevine where hackers are hired by top IT companies to make their software more secure, big fashion houses also employ some of the better factory fakers to work in their factories. All rumours and conspiracy theories surrounding the fashion houses, but there must be a little truth to some it of them, don't you think?
Don't assume replica's are solely for the poor. Mrs H used to mingle with the rich white ladies in her line of work and when it came to designer accessories even down to the diamonds, they were faking it. Fancy cubic zirconia replicas of expensive diamond rings were worn and they weren't shelling out on the designer handbags when they could get a decent replica at a 10th of the price. If you speak to a guy that sells AAA grade replicas, I bet you they'll all tell you their best clients are wives of wealthy men. I've heard it a lot, and often enough to know it is indeed true to some extent. Even Victoria Beckham has admitted to faking it before herself.So if during these economic crises, or you don't believe in shelling out 4 figures for a purse and you wish to fake the funk yet still look good, here are a few tips to get it just right.
-Don't punch below your weight. Meaning, if you live in a certain part of town and your local currency is food stamps don't try and floss with a replica of a $3,000 handbag. Know the retail of your bag. A Hermes starts at $7,500. Carrying a replica in jeans and sneakers to pick up some milk from the store on the corner is not working. If you're going to carry a bag that represents some status whether real or replica show it some level of respect please. Now if you work at say Merrill Lynch and you're pulling in $50-$80k a year then accessorizing it with your power suit to work might just work. Remember there is a time and a place for certain handbags, and the convenience store just isn't it.
-In relation to the first point, look the part. This applies for gorgeous bags in general, make an effort with the whole look. If you look like money then you look the part. From the hair to the make up, the outfit and the shoes. Just work it so when you are carrying your replica no one would even think of second guessing you.
-When searching for your bag go to eluxury or the actual website of the designer and pull up a picture of the bag. Compare the pictures back n forth to the replica bag you are looking to purchase. If the stitching is yellow on the replica and white on the real one you might go for it. I personally would not. I try to get as close to the real thing as possible. So shop around there are sites that do very very good grade replicas and you'll know in the price that they are charging for one. Pretty much avoid replicas under $100 unless it's a wallet or something small. A small purse or clutch may start at $120 or $140 with the bags around the $200+ mark. If the replicas are much more than this then either expect the grade to be excellent or expect to be ripped off. The choice is yours.
-Handbag snobbery. Now the ones who are usually the first to spout "I'd never carry a fake handbag" are usually the ones who fall into either 1 of 2 categories.
-In relation to the first point, look the part. This applies for gorgeous bags in general, make an effort with the whole look. If you look like money then you look the part. From the hair to the make up, the outfit and the shoes. Just work it so when you are carrying your replica no one would even think of second guessing you.
-When searching for your bag go to eluxury or the actual website of the designer and pull up a picture of the bag. Compare the pictures back n forth to the replica bag you are looking to purchase. If the stitching is yellow on the replica and white on the real one you might go for it. I personally would not. I try to get as close to the real thing as possible. So shop around there are sites that do very very good grade replicas and you'll know in the price that they are charging for one. Pretty much avoid replicas under $100 unless it's a wallet or something small. A small purse or clutch may start at $120 or $140 with the bags around the $200+ mark. If the replicas are much more than this then either expect the grade to be excellent or expect to be ripped off. The choice is yours.
-Handbag snobbery. Now the ones who are usually the first to spout "I'd never carry a fake handbag" are usually the ones who fall into either 1 of 2 categories.
- Can't afford the damn bag to in the first place.
- Has a few herself, but thinks that possessing them actually puts her in the realm of the big league women, whose hobbies include spending hubby's money, or topping up her tan in #3 of 10 global vacation homes. Handbags aren't a huge deal to these women most of the time and they seem in my experience and opinion the ones least likely to have an over the top debate on handbag ethics. They have a new one put by for them every week, it's not that serious to them. By the time you've discussed the "I'd never carry a fake handbag" debate Driving Miss Daisy [version 2008] has had 3 phone calls from different stores telling her, her new handbag is in. Whilst Miss Handbag Snobs are still paying off LV Epi on the credit card.
So ignore the snobbery and don't feel bad for your own personal choices. Only feel bad if your handbag looks like shit. If someone asks where you got it from you can either
- Choose to lie. and say "A gift from daddy or the boyfriend/husband."
- Say you got it from the store itself. [this may come back to bite you in the ass. If it's in season know the price, and possibly the style. if you say you got it from Selfridges, they don't stock that model and your referral catches wind, you would have been rumbled, so stick with 1 or 3. Admit or lie]
- Admit it's a bootleg and give the website or address to the person who really wants one regardless.
I've never lied about my 2. I personally know what I can afford I just chose not to pay for a real one.
-When going for a replica opt for leather. I hate canvas with a passion, it's gets too dirty too quickly and is a bitch to clean and not worth the money anyway. Grade AAA replicas should be leather unless a canvas copy, so check the description. Some are made from goat, lamb and nappa leather, very good leathers in fact the difference being the price tag and the fact it wasn't made where these fancy designers make their handbags.
-Don't go for a bag that everybody is carrying in the street at the moment. There are tons of choice. Why every bloody person is carrying canvas monogram Gucci and Coach or that god awful monogrammed Louis Vuitton is beyond me. Opt for something so different that is not going to get you caught out or even have a person guessing.
(Jimmy Choo & Miu Miu replicas)
This [below] will not necessarily make an impression. Gucci Canvas is extremely common.
-When going for a replica opt for leather. I hate canvas with a passion, it's gets too dirty too quickly and is a bitch to clean and not worth the money anyway. Grade AAA replicas should be leather unless a canvas copy, so check the description. Some are made from goat, lamb and nappa leather, very good leathers in fact the difference being the price tag and the fact it wasn't made where these fancy designers make their handbags.
-Don't go for a bag that everybody is carrying in the street at the moment. There are tons of choice. Why every bloody person is carrying canvas monogram Gucci and Coach or that god awful monogrammed Louis Vuitton is beyond me. Opt for something so different that is not going to get you caught out or even have a person guessing.
(Jimmy Choo & Miu Miu replicas)
This [below] will not necessarily make an impression. Gucci Canvas is extremely common.
(Replica Canvas Gucci)
But this just might. How many people do you see carrying one? You're more likely to get a compliment than an interrogation on something like this.
(Replica Miu Miu Butterfly Clutch Purse)
-Minor flaws. If they are going to put their best work on display online and the alignment of the label on the bag is slightly off compared to the horizontal opening of the bag [see the 'Miu Miu' alignment] then don't even bother.
If the bag has a crazy pattern on it, and every thing else you like, then go for it. A bag expert is hardly going to know the letters are all in sync or not compared to the original, these bags are usually going to be seen in passing anyway. In this Marc Jacobs example if you liked the bag compared to the original then you could definitely get away with it [although aside from the embossed letter the bag isn't crafted that well]. So even if the letters were off and the bag was AAA who really is going to know?
Things I personally do not fake in the designer realm
- Sunglasses
- Belts
- Footwear
- Clothing
- Jewellery
- Perfume
Out of all my handbags I have only 2 replicas one purchased in 2000 and the other in 2005. My handbag purchases would usually be in a sale or something like London Fashion Weekend where I got a ton of designer purses at a great markdown. However I wouldn't feel bad about purchasing a replica if one caught my eye, only if it was to grade standard. It doesn't boil down to whether you can afford one, because the average working woman can. For most it's about having something you like without sacrificing the months rent or mortgage money. It's not about what you can afford, it's about what you are prepared to pay.
Now you can rent real designer purses from Bag, Borrow or Steal which was plugged in the Sex & The City movie which are also another option to 'kinda' owning a piece of genuine couture like this Chanel bag at £125 a week or £369 a month. I'd actually go the route quite happily of a great replica, at least after I paid for it, it's actually mine. £369 and 4 weeks later it's onto another temporary borrower and I'm left with not even a fake dust bag for the memories.
Now you can rent real designer purses from Bag, Borrow or Steal which was plugged in the Sex & The City movie which are also another option to 'kinda' owning a piece of genuine couture like this Chanel bag at £125 a week or £369 a month. I'd actually go the route quite happily of a great replica, at least after I paid for it, it's actually mine. £369 and 4 weeks later it's onto another temporary borrower and I'm left with not even a fake dust bag for the memories.
Truly written like a pro.
ReplyDeleteYou are right in that if you dress the part then a replica here and there wont hurt nobody and who really cares. I dont think anyone will be that naive or shallow to let someone take the time to examine their bag to look inside for some strategically placed logo.
The whole industry is a sham anyway. There are rumors that some of these designer houses actually sell some of their items as knock offs. Nowadays everything is made in China except for one or two designers like Hermes and Louboutin even the likes or Prada and Ballenciaga are all made in China now but they have a neat strategy of making 95% of the item in China and put the made in china logo on it and send it to Italy or France and glue a piece together or add a zip and this gives them the sole right to put a Made in Italy or France on it once again. Any Designer brand run by Arnault , the CEO for LVMH is definitely mass produced because he doesnt care about the prestige of designers he runs it like a Walmart and is only concerned about margins and profits and not the integrity of the brands and with his aggressive tactics it wont be long b4 he owns 75% of the Design empire.
For men its a bit different. I can honestly say i havent adorned a replica yet in my life but for us the only replica worth the trouble will be a timepiece and its very hard to spot one as long as you dress the part because the time piece movement is pretty much made by one or two select companies worldwide so all the have to do is slap the cosmetic logo piece on it and here u havea Breitling or a Patek Phillipe or IWC at a meager price of $400 bucks but such is life.
I will say this again and again but designers arent the same anymore. I aint that old but i remember over 15yrs ago when we will walk into a Haute Couture house and select an item and the sales person will happily explain to us how lucky we are because the designer only made 5 pieces and Madonna has one, Some Oil Barons wife in Texas has one, One sheikh purchsed two for his harem and if you spend 1600 bucks on that outfit you will be the last person to own this classic piece but nowadays we even have gossip blogs that dedicate pages that show different celebrities wearing the same thing. Where is the integrity?
ITA with your comment.
ReplyDeleteFor men the only bag option I've seen are LV ones, but as women and bags go hand in hand it's an easy market and target to maipulate I suppose.
But I hear you. Limited Edition is more like 50,000 made these days. Where does unique begin and being fashionable end? People think that by carrying one of these bags already massed produced that they are indeed unique in the fashion stakes. No, when Van Cleef and Arpels design a custom piece for you or Chanel create a signature bag in your honour for you and only you then that's a little something worth bragging about. I highly doubt the industry is hurting. Those that love LV and the like will continue to do so and no good quality grade AAA LV is going to change their minds. For them it's about a shopping experience, going in store, being waitied on hand and foot and loving the whole credit card transaction process. Shoot some women love the simplicity of walking down the street carrying the store branded bag showing the world where she came from and how much she can afford. Well I'll take the $300 replica and vacation somewhere pretty with the money saved had I bought the $3,000 one. It'll be out of fashion in a month anyway.