The fake, the real & the inspired...

So the fashion cycle goes… The head designers of every major fashion house previews their stuff on the catwalk, fashion editors influence the public on what we should all wear for the upcoming season, the designs hit the designer stores, the chain stores copy what they think is the best of the season and offer it to the general public to buy. Every season there are ‘IT’ bags, ‘IT’ shoes & ‘IT’ clothes.

But to stay on top of a trend do we buy now & wear forever or buy now & wear for one season only? And more importantly do we buy the real, fake or inspired version and how much capital should we fork out each season?

The Real

Yep it everything always looks stunning on the catwalk, possibly cos it is worn by supermodels... but I already want everything from the Marc Jacobs RTW 2011 Spring collection after seeing the show... the colours used, the lightness of the flowing silk halter dresses, the revival of the 70s, the gigantic flowers..... love. I forecast major outlay in my expenses for financial year 2011 already. Well worth I say, Marc Jacobs can be worn season after season.

Ever since Decarnin became designer for Balmain, I must admit I lusted everything that was on that Balmain show too. But seriously to spend an obscene USD4,000 on an extreme shoulder padded suit jacket to wear for ONE season from the 2009-2010 Spring collection? In real time we are only in Nov 2010 and who’s wearing them now?? Emmanuelle Alt surely isn't wearing hers anymore. I heard that there are extensively long waiting lists for those jackets in Land’s End store (in Sydney Woollahra) but no one would want to be caught wearing theirs now & look like a loser? As much as I love Balmain, I say stick with the Stella, YSL or Smyth suit jackets with no major shoulder pads & you could wear these for decades for a third of the price.

I love what Phoebe Philo has done to reincarnate Celine as a whole but not everything in her collection is fashionably worth it. Take the striped red & navy cotton long sleeve dress that Katie Holmes wore to the premiere of ‘The Extra Man’ in NYC July 2010. IT WAS A COTTON T SHIRT DRESS that costs USD2000 (there is currently one available in DJs in Sydney). I appreciate that the quality of the cotton is probably perfect but in terms of the occasion you can wear it to…. Not really to work in an investment bank cos it looks informal, not really to a premiere (Katie was blasted by fashion critics cos it was not special enough), not really to a party cos it’s not sexy enough, not really for everyday wear cos well, would you go grocery shopping in a USD2000 dress?? Lesson to learn here.... cool designers still will have at least one item in their collections that is not quite right.

I used to be an IT bagoholic. Then one day I realised that seasons go by so quickly that the return I get on these IT bags were not so great. What is the fashionable value of an ‘IT’ bag with high capital outlay when it no longer ‘IT’? Let me see… the no longer ‘IT’ bags sitting in my wardrobe… the black suede Gucci bag with the bamboo handle that was deemed so hot when Tom Ford bought Gucci back to life in the 1990s, the must have Prada bowling bag that I saw a pic of Elle MacPherson carrying & had to have back in 1999, the Fendi baguette… remember the baguette frenzy? I went crazy too when I first saw these & bought all I could afford back then. I mean USD 1500 for a denim bag??? What was I thinking??? I also invested heavily in a Selleria mama baguette. Deliciously red leather strap with hand stitched flowers on it and it was 1 of 100 in the world…. How happy must I have been then… and how about now???, the Murakami LV speedy on white leather with multi colour LV logos from the LV 2006 collection… I remember how Vogue Australia persuaded me to buy it, they showed the bag with a background of jelly beans in the magazine… it was so cute… I had to have it. I have not used the bag for over 5 years. Damage done? Over USD10k worth of funds tied up in illiquid stock.

On the upside, there are still forever ‘IT’ bags in my possession… a 1950s rigid Kelly bag, a couple of forever loved Birkins, a Chanel 2.55 reissue, some Jamin Puech totes, a black Bottega clutch, the Marc Jacobs Sophia bag with the divine gold chain handle, a couple of vintage 1920s totes… money well spent.

The lesson here... when buying the real, choose items that have an 'IT' element (think quality of fabrics, the fit, the cutting, the style & the design) but not something that screams 'that is so a last season 'IT' item' & ask yourself if you will wear or use it again in 3 years time.

The Inspired

Most ‘inspired’ items are found in the fashion chain stores or small upcoming designer boutiques. It’s not a fake but you will notice the elements that the designers here use have been taken from the major fashion houses. I reckon that it is more fashionably acceptable to wear or own something that is fashionably inspired because it is not a fake or an imitation, it is just another take on a designer item.

Salma Hayek to the Paris fashion shows with her husband in 2010) at Portmans but translated to a jacket format. Is it the same as the real? Nope… but it is an interpretation as such. You really can see the quality difference. I mean, how well can anyone interpret an Alexander McQueen dress??

 I bought a pair of Vivienne Westwood inspired pirate boots a few years back because I couldn’t get my hands on a pair of real ones. I saw a pic of Kate Moss with hers & I wanted it so badly. Quality of materials & craftsmanship wasn't bad & cost was around USD400. I did get good comments about them whenever I wore them. The problem was that it inspired me to get my hands on the real ones because I knew that the real ones would be even better if the inspired ones gave me that much satisfaction already…. I recently bought the real ones…  double damage done….

The fake

When you want something you can’t afford or when you know you can get a similar looking item for 1/100^th of the price, do you settle for a fake?

Living in a world where we are surrounded by constant luxurious wants do we settle for 3^rd  best? How many websites are there that sell fake Manolos, Louboutins, Jimmy Choos, LV bags, Hermes bags nowadays?? I myself am tempted to see what a fake pair of Louboutins look like in real life. Will people know the difference & more importantly will I feel just as good as if I owned the real?

I believe fakes are good for the fashion market. Obviously only the most wanted items are imitated so it is a sign that the item would be out of fashion very quickly. Imitators just want to make a quick buck. Another way to look at it is you might want to test the look of the bag or the satisfaction of owning it & just want it for the season then why waste thousands when you can buy it for a hundred?

A few rules for buying fakes…  make sure you do research on the real deal first (check out the detailing, the quality, the style & sizes available). Nothing worse than using a fake that screams nothing but FAKE…. You want it to look as real as possible… & be prepared to accept that the quality of a fake obviously will not be as good as a real. It will brake or fall apart much easier. Remember the reason why the real deal costs so much is the quality & the design. 

To remain fashionably stylish we must always keep up with the trends, there will always be trends that will never die & trends that will die before Vogue tells its readers but if you find the balance between the real, the fake & the inspired, you may be able to reach nirvana with your wardrobe.