ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

       For as long as I could remember I have been a believer and ardent follower of ‘buying look-a-likes’ as opposed to ‘knock offs’ (fakes). Having attained the ability to tell the difference between a fake and the real deal, thanks to the Tyra show, common sense and of course being duped into buying a few fakes along the years, I realized that look-a-likes had more to offer. The thing with look-a-likes is that they can look exactly like or be similar to that ‘IT’ bag, dress, shoe… but are made by a different designer/ company, most likely a cheaper Designer/ retailer. Most look-a-likes tend to be the poor man’s version of the expensive stuff, with the main difference between them and fakes being the use of the look-a-likes’ maker’s name as opposed to the high end designer’s name. So if ‘Jane’ makes an item that looks like a ‘Dior’ item, the label on the item reads ‘Jane’ not ‘Dior’, that way the consumer knows that they are buying  ‘Jane’ and are under no illusion that it is ‘Dior’. But the greatest thing about look-a-likes is that they tend to be of good quality, now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t say they would be exactly the same quality as high end designer, I am just saying that you will get your money’s worth, as opposed to buying a fake overpriced bag whose zipper breaks off, or stitching comes undone after a few carries. This is mostly because ‘Jane’ cannot risk getting complains or losing a customer because of a poor made product; unlike whatever unknown person made the fake item.

Louis Vuitton bags ... the fake is on the left. China is planning to wipe out its fake goods being produced. Photo: Jerry Galea

     Armed with this “wisdom” and beliefs, I walk around judging peoples handbags with ease; “fake”…  “Fake”… “FAKE!” and occasionally “Oh my… “Real!” I have shameless rolled my eyes at young girls totting their ‘Channels’ (poor dears) and equally as shamelessly hugged a tourist’s Hermes carry on. I have always wondered to myself what exactly would make someone knowingly carry a fake bag, and with pride?! Then just recently I fell off my high horse. It all started a couple of weeks ago, when I attended a service launch at a spa, as all in attendance sat listening to a tutorial on the benefits of…. In came a late comer. She made her way to an empty seat while I ogled, mouth open an’ all, at the master piece of a bag she was carrying. The minute the speaker was done, I made a dash for her, and I couldn’t help myself but gush about how much I loved her bag. I had seen a couple of them in magazines and t.v, on the arm of some A-list celebrity or a fashionista and now here was one in all its glory, close enough to touch. But wait! I thought the zippers are supposed to be labelled or of better quality...and what fabric is that on the inside? Surely that can’t be a $3000 bag! And for sure it wasn’t, it was a fake!

  

 See a couple of months back I had experienced that feeling that every fashion lover gets when they see something they want, a kind of love-sickness, I was ready to scheme to get that bag. That is until I got on the Designers website and saw how much it cost! I realized that I had 3 options; steal the bag, rob the bank or wait until one found its way to Gikomba or some other 2^nd hand place.

The bag

  The first two were illegal, not to mention absurd and let’s just say I had at least a couple of years for the third to happen, if I was lucky! So yeah, I had given up on ever owning one, that isn’t to mean I didn’t want one.  Oh I wanted one, and come to think of it (Eureka!) now I could have one!

  “It’s a fashion faux pas” I thought to myself “and even I would be ashamed of myself” I continued, as I walked into the entrance of a bootleg handbag shop.



By Jiji Kariuki