Sunday 19 September 2010

Fake designer bags - your views?



This is a post i feel compelled to write, and i would love to hear all your views on the subject.
Ok, here goes..

I BUY FAKE DESIGNER HANDBAGS

Ok, now that is out in the open, lets get down to what really bothers me.

There seems to be a massive stigma around buying fake designer handbags. Almost Nazi like. People react with such fury and have such a 'hoity toity' view on people who use fake designer handbags.
Most of these people will say it's due to them being illegal, or that it's because they are produced in awful conditions, mostly by children.
Now, i am in NO WAY condoning this, but before people get high and mighty, let me ask you this question:
Do you shop in Primark? If you answered yes (which i'm guessing most people will), have you ever wondered who produces the unbelievably cheap clothes for that store? That's right - children from 3rd world countries, forced to work in appalling conditions. But you will all still shop there, right?
In fact, most of our produce, be it clothes, electricals, shoes, etc, will all have been produced by factory workers in 3rd world countries, some of them children.
Please understand, my point is NOT to say 'oh well, everything is produced in this manner, why worry about the fake designer handbags'. No no no. My point is that deep down, i don't really believe that the people who take such offence to others who use fakes, really care about the conditions in which the bags are made.
In my personal opinion, people take such offence because they have maybe saved to buy a beautiful genuine designer bag (and good for you) and they get pissed off when they see other people walking around with a £20 rip off version. Lots of fakes are so good, you cannot even tell they are fake, so it's understandable that people would get pissed off they have paid £400 and up for virtually the same bag.

But let me tell you why and how i buy fakes.

1) i am EXTREMELY fickle. I will obssess over something for say, a month, googling pictures (most recently it's been the Chanel 255 flap bag), drooling over images of the bag. I want it now. I need it now, etc etc. But i am a mother of 2 young children, and there is no way i could EVER afford it.
So i found a knock off one on Ebay. Paid £17 for it. And although i love it,and wll use it for ages, my initial desire and lust for it has worn off. So thank f**k i didn't pay £2000 for it, or whatever the price is.
2) it is not just designer stuff i get this with - it's anything. It may be a pair of boots from River Island. My desire for a designer bag has really nothing to do with it being 'designer' per se, it's just another thing i am obssessing over at the time.
3) I have never bought a fake designer bag direct from a seller, just from someone selling their fake on through Ebay.

Right now i am obsessing over a Louis Vuitton Speedy 35, which i MUST have, but can't afford, so i will find someone selling on one of their fakes on Ebay. I can guarantee i will be 'over' it in the next month.

And on another note, i couldn't care less if i am 'harming the designers'. Jeeeezuz, do you really think bloody Coco Chanel or Louis Vuitton care if some mum of two kids in croydon buys a knock off bag for £30 from ebay?? i don't think so. They are far too busy living it up in Paris, or Milan or wherever.
For me, it's not about the status the designer bag gives me, it's just because i like the bag. In fact, i have only recently (i'd say in the past year) bought any 'designer' bags and i am 30!
This post is purely because since entering the world of fake designer bags, i have (well, online anyway) encountered such absolute fury from people who think anyone sporting such fake goods is the devil incarnate.
But if i want to buy a fake, that's up to me.
If you think it looks cheap and tacky, and you saved up £400 for yours, well good for you.

Now i know the whole issue goes much much deeper, but i'm just so so shocked at the views people have on fake designer goods.

So, in conclusion, i owuld like to leave you with these two points...
In your opinion, what is the more socially and economically damaging of the two? What really makes you feel just so disgusted at human kind and how messed up the world is? when there are starving children in the world, this kind of greed is allowed to go on?

1) i buy a fake Chanel handbag from Ebay for £17

2) Victoria Beckam owns a Mulberry handbag in every colour to the tune of 1 million pounds (this is true)

Answers on a postcard please

4 comments:

  1. i sooo agrree with you. some people cant event tell the dif between realy and fake and i to this day dont no why people go omg u bought a fake x

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  2. I have the up most respect for you posting this and I have never even read your blog before. People who have this 'I'm so wonderful and better than you' attitude and look down on people cause they buy the fakes are so full of crap. Fashion comes and goes. Why max out your credit card or go bankrupt just cause you want a Chanel purse. Buy the fake. Still have enough to do other more important things with. And, suck it up people! You're not OMG!AWESOME! Just cause you have a $2,000 bag and I have a $30 one that looks *just* like it. *high fives you for your blog post*

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  3. Ahhh thank you so much! i really appreciate your comments, both of you!
    It really annoys me, i have to say :-)

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  4. Great blog! but i really struggle to find fake chanels on ebay, what do you type in?

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