|
|
Archive for the ‘Fashion Fraud Squad’ Category
They’re not normally known for their adventures in high fashion, but it seems that Dorothy Perkins have looked towards Alexander Wang for inspiration for these zippered ankle boots, which they’re selling for £55.
Now, these boots would never have found favour with The Fashion Police anyway: for one thing, they’re peep toe boots, and you all know how we feel about THAT. For another, they have that strange “boot-within-a-boot” thing going on, and we can live without that too. If these boots MUST appear on the high street, though, this is the kind of designer copycat we like: they’re not so similar that they could be accused of being direct knockoffs, but the style is similar enough to make them a good budget option to anyone who loved, but couldn’t afford, the £620 Alexander Wang originals.
We still wouldn’t wear them, though. Would you?
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Two shoes, both alike in … OK, maybe not dignity, exactly, but both alike in terms of the fact that they’re both black, both slingbacks, and both come with a little black bow in exactly the same place.
Where they differ, meanwhile, is in the fabric of the uppers, and the price on the box. The shoes on the left are from ASOS.com (they also come in nude and pink), and are £30, while the ones on the right are by Moschino, and are £250. Which would you choose, though? Would you save or splurge, or perhaps you’d prefer to keep your money safely in your pocket and buy neither?
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
One is asymmetrical, and the other has the full compliment of shoulders, but, obvious differences aside, these heart dresses by Marc Jacobs share a lot of similarities too, don’t you think?
The Marc Jacobs dress is past season, and, as such, is currently sold out at Net-a-Porter, where it originally retailed for £2378. The Jovanna dress is a more affordable option at £90, and you can but it at Oli.
Which do you prefer (if you like either of them, that is)?
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
We’re in two minds about the clear trench coat.
On the one hand, we can see the practicality of such an item. How many times have you planned a great outfit, only to have to cover it up with a coat when it suddenly starts raining, after all? At least if the coat is see-through, you still get to show off your outfit, and that could be a good thing indeed.
On the other hand, there’s something just a little bit “emperor’s new clothes” about the whole idea, and that makes us think that if we did suddenly decide we were in urgent need of transparent outerwear, we probably wouldn’t want to spend a whole lot of money on solving that problem.
For that reason, we think one of these coats qualifies as Daylight Robbery. The other… well, we just wish the other didn’t have such highly visible pockets.
What do you think? Would you buy a see-through coat (or should that be a “shoat”?)? If so, which one would you buy: Dolce & Gabbana’s, or Topshop’s?
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
We loved these nude and black Giuseppe Zanotti sandals when we first spotted them on Drew Barrymore last year, but at $650 they just weren’t destined to ever join us here at the HQ. These ‘Rae’ sandals from Topshop, however, give us a strong sense of deja vu: the colours, shape and zipped back are all the same, although there are various differences on the straps and a slightly chunkier heel. They’re also significantly cheaper than the Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, at £60. Also available in an all-black upper, these are available from Topshop.
Monday, December 7th, 2009
Fashion designers don’t only “inspire” the high street with their main collections – they also inspire them with those diffusion lines they produce from time to time, as this Matthew Williamson for H&M peacock print dress proves. It retailed for £59,99 when it was released earlier this year, but quickly sold out, although not before the likes of Katy Perry and Nicky Hilton got their hands on it
Desire Clothing’s peacock dress, meanwhile, has short sleeves rather than long ones, plus a belt the original didn’t have, but the pattern itself is almost identical. The price, however, isn’t: it’s £18 and it’s available here.
Monday, November 16th, 2009
Would you all mind just talking amongst yourselves for a few minutes? We’re busy gazing at these shoes. Both of them. Sure, the Louboutins are shinier and sleeker, but the Dune versions are only £85, which is a big saving on the circa £400 you’d have paid for the Louboutins, if they were still in stock.
Of course, quite apart from anything else, these are a good example of Shoe Porn, which means we’re going to have to confiscate them. Poor us. It’s a hard knock life, sometimes.
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Go Jane have been a little more careful than Steve Madden when it comes to “being inspired” by other designers work in the ankle boots arena: there are enough differences between their boots and the Giuseppe Zanotti originals for them to stay out of trouble, but just enough for it to be clear where the influence has come from.
The biggest difference of all, though? Well, the Zanotti boots are $1114.80 at Colette, while the Go Jane versions are just $29.40. Get them here.
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
[sorry, this image is missing]
Spot the difference?
Nope, we can’t either: which is odd, considering that the dress on the left is by Kate Moss from Topshop (the 50s-style sundress that was part of the summer collection), and the one on the right is by the Apart label at UK catalogue company Look Again. Uncanny, huh?
Ths is the second time our Fraud Squad have been called in to deal with Topshop ‘tributes’ recently, which is interesting because, as we noted last time, it’s generally designer labels that provide “inspiration” to other labels, not high street stores. If you missed the Kate Moss dress when it came out, though, and are hoping this will be a cheaper alternative, we’re sorry to disappoint: the original dress was £45, but this one is almost twice that, at £88.09.
Friday, September 25th, 2009
 Our Fraud Squad is most often called in to deal with cases of high street brands copying designers – sorry, we mean “being inspired” by them – but sometimes it’s more a case of “high street copies inspired by high street”, as you can see above.
We showed you Topshop’s ‘Cosmic’ shoulder dress on Kim Kardashian a few weeks ago, and did a double-take when we spotted what we thought was the same dress at Ark Clothing this week. We still can’t really spot the difference between these two, but there is a difference in price, at least: the Topshop dress is £38, while the Ark version is less than half that, at £16.99.
|
|
|
