FAKE designer bags!!!!

[PursePrincess]

What is more sad: buying a fake bag because you can't afford the real thing, or putting yourself into debt because you buy into the idea that you are a more stylish person for spending $2000 on a bag? Yes, you are buying quality with the real thing, but trust me when I say that the designer companies are laughing at us all the way to the bank everytime one of us falls for their marketing campaign.

I am not directing this answer at you personally, I am sure you are good about money, I just meant this in a general sense.[/QUOTE]

Hi darl...you made a good point as well,coz i know lots of people are in debt in the name of fashion...i agree ,especially where i live.south east asians are the worst.
but what i dont know,i wont judge(i wont even try or even want to see their bank account),i can only comment on what's obvious.if there's a person wearing a fake,then you knoe what i would think about them(its hard to be non judgemental about it),but the sad thing is nowadays,there's a lot of people who dont really know/realize theyre wearing fakes coz they're just ignorant about fashion.so sometimes i really shouldnt judge.
oh well,as i said,to me fashion is not about how much the things i wear cost.there's lots of stylish things to wear that wont break the bank.better than wearing a fake or being in debt

 

[jujulabee]

First kudos to TL and the other posters who have made substantive points on the idiocy of judging people based on what they choose to wear.

One issue that isn't addressed is that none of the snobs are actually aware of the fakes that are passing among them because a good fake is almost impossible to detect under normal circumstances -- like any good alien invasion, we live and breathe amongst you.:

I find it laughable that anyone thinks that the "quality" of the so-called "luxury" brands justifies the price. As several people have suggested, read Dana Thomas' book on the mass merchandising and manufacturing techniques of the "luxury" brands. Purses and other accessories are massive profit centers with highly targeted marketing campaigns selling a life style. Hermes is the last of the luxury brands to actually make its products the "old fashioned" way -- but even still it is preposterous to believe that the end product reflects the actual manufacturing/marketing costs in the same way as other commodities.

Harpers is a rag that exists on the advertising dollars of the luxury brands. As such its "editorial" pages reflect that -- terrorism and child labor -- There is no substantive evidence that the factories producing the replicas are "different" than those producing any other products in China -- why would the conditions be different?

As an aside, there is no such thing as a fake car -- the closest I have seen were kits that turned the hood of a VW Beetle into a Rolls Royce but no one did that attempting to fool anyone.

 

[PursePrincess]

i agree with you also on that one....what i meant luxury are hermes,bottega yummy leathers,and such.i dont call prada nylon bags luxury only because of the tag and label.
oh i'm sure many of the posters here,especially those are the hermes thread can smell a fake birkin from a few meters away....

 

[mkd1187]

Nike, Juicy etc hire illegal aliens from Mexico to work in their factories.........

Oh yes - all the undocumented Mexicans..... in CHINA!!







ig....nor....ance...

 

[PursePrincess]

and i'm sure most of the people here are not idiotic you know,they know what they're talking about,they also know what's worth it and what's not.they're just NOT into Fakes because they dont wanna lie to themselves and others.,and what's more important,they value people's rights,its the same thing as piracy IMO.

 

[Gonatcha]

there are actually a LOT of people in this world who are FAKES,because i consider people who are wearing fakes are fakes themselves.they're lying to themselves,and they "attempt" to lie to people too pretending they're wearing the real ones just to look cool and "rich".how sad........
i know lots of stylish people who are not even wearing any expensive designer items.i really admire them for that.
on the other hand,i see a LOT of "unstylish"people who are wearing luxury things and look cheap.
at the end of the day...all you have to have is style.you cant buy style.
so i really dont hate people wearing fakes for any reason,i dont feel threatened or intimidated by them,...i just feel sad for them B)

Well, I have a fake and it is not beacause I want to "look cool and rich"
I simply love the design but couldn't afford the real deal at the time.

I would like to turn it around: how many with authentic bags do you think buys them only to "look cool and rich"?

 

[jujulabee]

i agree with you also on that one....what i meant luxury are hermes,bottega yummy leathers,and such.i dont call prada nylon bags luxury only because of the tag and label.
oh i'm sure many of the posters here,especially those are the hermes thread can smell a fake birkin from a few meters away....

BV bags and Hermes are to a great extent marketed in a completely different way than the rest of the luxury brands -- which are geared towards mass consumption albeit at a high price point.

A friend of mine is very very rich and somewhat of a handbag freak -- owns multiple Birkins, Chanels, Lana Marks crocodiles in various colors. She bought a replica BV Cabat and was quite satisfied with it -- obviously not quite as soft to feel as the authentic but one is $4500 and the other is approximately $200. On a certain level, what's the difference between a Cole Haan woven bag and a replica of a BV? The BV is identical in quality but less than the Cole Haan.

Most of the replica bags I have gotten have represented an amazing value for the money -- the quality is as good as most of the "bridge" line bags that sell in department stores for between $300 to $500 -- and many compete successfully with the authentic bags -- because the authentic bags are so mediocre.

 

[mkd1187]

I don't like knockoffs - but I feel as though there is a difference between some of them. No one buys a LV monogram bag knock off because they like the design (then again most people that buy the real ones dont buy it for design). I have seen some Balenciaga/YSL knock off bags that some people buy - not even knowing its a knockoff - because theyre not into fashion and it does not have a logo on it. I think thats a lil different.

 

[mkd1187]

^ a good example is your friend's BV bag you mentioned.

 

[jujulabee]

BV bags and Hermes are to a great extent marketed in a completely different way than the rest of the luxury brands -- which are geared towards mass consumption albeit at a high price point.

A friend of mine is very very rich and somewhat of a handbag freak -- owns multiple Birkins, Chanels, Lana Marks crocodiles in various colors. She bought a replica BV Cabat and was quite satisfied with it -- obviously not quite as soft to feel as the authentic but one is $4500 and the other is approximately $200. On a certain level, what's the difference between a Cole Haan woven bag and a replica of a BV? The BV is identical in quality but less than the Cole Haan.

Most of the replica bags I have gotten have represented an amazing value for the money -- the quality is as good as most of the "bridge" line bags that sell in department stores for between $300 to $500 -- and many compete successfully with the authentic bags -- because the authentic bags are so mediocre.

Too late to edit -- what I MEANT to say is the replica BV Cabat is at least as good as the Cole Haan and less money.

And I would doubt ANYONE who was completely unaware of branding would instinctively choose any of the monogram bags -- Per Dana Thomas, Vuitton sells for 13 times its "cost" -- frankly it is difficult to believe that some coated material with a few strips of leather could possibly "cost" even $100 to make -- unless "cost" includes marketing, overhead, distribution as distinct from pure manufacturing costs.

 

[Jungla_Juana]

Is it so hard to just say that you are disgusted by fakes just because you don't like seeing people carry cheap copies of the bag you paid a lot of money for? (many people on this thread have previously expressed this and it is a completely valid opinion)

hI jungle...i just want to comment on this statement.....

at the end of the day we came to tfs for the love of fashion rite?
i love the things that i bought not because of how much they cost....i love how they look like,and how they look good on me,and the amazing quality of a REAL designer goods(i can sleep on my smooshy bottega bags)they're pure heaven.i buy cheap stuff too because of the way they look,if they look stylish enough for me,i'd buy them.
BUT I WILL NEVER BUY FAKES
its not the money i spent on the real thing that bothers me whenever i see people wearing fakes.....honestly and truthfully...i'm not only saying this....i havent found even the best quality of fakes as good as the real ones.
and aside from the "Crimes behind the making of fakes",i really value and honour a designer's right,because i'm a designer myself.
what bothers me is and make me feel sad at the same time is,there are actually a LOT of people in this world who are FAKES,because i consider people who are wearing fakes are fakes themselves.they're lying to themselves,and they "attempt" to lie to people too pretending they're wearing the real ones just to look cool and "rich".how sad........
i know lots of stylish people who are not even wearing any expensive designer items.i really admire them for that.
on the other hand,i see a LOT of "unstylish"people who are wearing luxury things and look cheap.
at the end of the day...all you have to have is style.you cant buy style.
so i really dont hate people wearing fakes for any reason,i dont feel threatened or intimidated by them,...i just feel sad for them B)

\

Hello PP, thank you for your viewpoint... this is what I was referring to in my post you quoted. (I'm sorry if it came off as a wrong assumption)
You dislike fakes for very valid reasons.
I agree with you, trying to be superior because you have a designer bag is very sad (be it a replica or an authentic), even more if it is a replica and you try to show off and look "rich". I completely 'get' how people's hate for replicas can be sparked in this way... who wouldn't get outraged at a lady that gets all up in your business with her bad "look at me" replica in the crook of her arm, thinking she's tricked you into thinking she's full of money because of it? I certainly would.

But not everyone who buys replicas is like this. That's why I get angry at blanket statements like "people who buy replicas are trash" or "support organized crime". I do have replicas, but I buy them to satisfy myself and my fickle handbag obsession that changes every couple months, and not to try to feel superior to everyone else or to 'show off' (I would like to add that the city where I live is pretty oblivious to those brands anyway).

I think leyla put it best: so, as a conclusion, who cares as long as you are happy with your bag?!

anyway I thank everyone who chimed in in a civil manner and gave their opinions respectful of others

 

[CherryBomb01]

^^Great post Jungla. I can totally relate to the fickle handbag comment.....lol.

People really should worry less about other people and what they do and wear. It's hardly worth the time thinking about it let alone getting all high and mighty. As long as YOU'RE happy with your choice of handbag, who cares?

 

[tlloveshim]

Great discussion. Got a little heated but I think it has still managed to stay civil. In the end, no matter what your stance on replicas we are all on the planet together and not one of us should be looking down our noses at another because of level of education, economic standing etc. It's a flippin' bag for goodness sakes and what's more important, a bag or a person?

Thanks for a great discussion to those who have exhibited great class regardless of what side you stand on.

 

[PursePrincess]

I would like to turn it around: how many with authentic bags do you think buys them only to "look cool and rich"?
[/QUOTE]

theres many of them too i'm sure....but now we're discussing fakes not the real ones.....,and i was just expressing my dislike on fakes.
i dont think theres anything wrong for people to buy real stuff if they can really afford them,
actually i only came to this thread coz i was looking through my user cp,i posted a comment here a long time ago,and i saw jungle ju's comment,and just wanted to respond to that......

Hi jungle ju,i can see your point,about what's d difference between a cole haan a n a fake BV,d difference is one is piracy and one is not,its as simple as that.i'm in a design school,we get pissed if theres a copycat in our class,i cant imagine if the whole world is making copies and gain great profit out of my design and name.to be honest with you,i'd rather buy a cole haan,cole haan bags are great too,not as great as the real BV,but they're great for such reasonable price

 

[PursePrincess]

and i agree with leyla too,i buy what makes me feel good,cheap or expensive.....

 

[socaligurl80]

I must admit I have a couple replicas as well, that I recently bought right after I joined this site.
IMHO some bags are really not worth the price and I refuse to pay outrageous prices for bags that I will use for a month or so and then leave at the back of my closet.
Do I feel bad about doing this? Certainly I do, and why? Because I know it's a replica and I feel "inferior" when walking side by side with someone who has the authentic version of my rep. But does it make me feel good? Oh yeah, I smile to myself thinking I didn't have to sacrifice my bank account to pay for that bag, and I can easily change styles without having buyer's remorse.
As for the quality, well..
My dior pink boston with the flower aplique and number one incrusted swarovski crystalled bag's canvas is now so horrible there is NO way of cleaning it and therefore unwearable.
My Dior Rasta Canvas Messenger bag's zipper broke only 3 months after use, and the strap grabbing metal thing broke on me while on a trip only after 9 months of use.
My gucci Messenger bag's zipper broke only after 2 months of use. My LV epi bag's straps fell over 2x alreadyand My list goes on and on and on... This is why I decided to buy reps and not worry about my bags breaking on me.

 

[Phylicia04]

"i'm in a design school,we get pissed if theres a copycat in our class,i cant imagine if the whole world is making copies and gain great profit out of my design and name."

At least you know that you have made it!

Im not going to say yay or nay to the fake bag discussion, because honestly I could really care either way. I cant afford a BV and especially not a Hermes, so instead I buy nice L.A.M.B bags, and yes I do have a few fake bags, mainly Marc Jacobs because I dont have that kind of money to spend on a bag and I love the design. But I do see how makes people angry, and if I worked in the fashion industry and they were my bags I would be pissed too!

 

[nyc_art_style]

Guys... this isn't a debate thread. Debates in here in the past have gotten ugly and have been too time consuming to keep cleaning up.

This thread is to show horrible fakes. (Credit your photos!)

can we go back to this please

I came in here for a good laugh and all i got was this very long debate. ( there are some very good points though.)

 

[coldxwater]

...and what's more important,they value people's rights,its the same thing as piracy IMO.

Well, I'm a happy media pirate, and if I could figure out a way to torrent handbags I would. I understand if you think I'm immoral, but I'm also an example of why appealing to intellectual property rights might not be an argument that works for everyone.

 

[sofabar]

I don't know, I'm pretty iffy about the fake bags. I feel like they only sell the older versions only, and the ones I want are never there. Yes I have bought knock offs. So I don't have a problem with it. I think it is totally unfair designers have to be ridiculously expensive, so really I think they deserve having copy cats. Plus they are already super rich anyways the designers, what does it matter? Designer wear is only for rich people, and you are crazy if you are on a normal budget and just payed $500 dollars on a pair of stupid shoes or whatever. I don't even think if I was rich I would buy designer stuff, I would feel bad, because here I would be spending $200 bucks on a pair of shades while millions of children are starving.