would you care what people think about you wearing fakes?

[fashionistatoast]

Hello there! Would you care about what people would think if you are wearing fakes? i am an occasional replica purchaser myself, although i do have some real things, but some accessories and clothes are hugely overpriced (i feel like it is super stupid to pay £400 pounds for a gucci tshirt). I don't feel like my friends are noticing this, but still it worries me sometimes as people tend to think a lot of things. Especially if i constantly am in the environment where everyone wears real. Would you personally care about what people think? Would you continue to buy fakes?

Also, people will know your spending power from your background, job, house, car (if you have one) and other markers so it's pointless to pretend you're better off than you are.

Reminded me of a batshit woman that used to catch the same train as I. She was rude and aggressive to the ticket inspector when she didn’t have a ticket and would barge into people and start physical fights at the station.

She had had this “Balenciaga” handbag with the logo all over, it was a definite fake because Balenciaga didn’t make bags with that exact print, and the bags they did have with a similar print weren’t made in her bag’s style. Regardless of it being fake, it was just a hilarious juxtaposition to her cheap and basic clothing. Her hair too was shit, it was an unevenly bleached brassy blonde that had had all broken off - so you can’t afford a salon appointment or a £2 train ticket, but apparently you can afford a thousand pound bag?

where brands matter more than functionality.
End stage capitalism, our society and planet both fucked

I disagree with this. I have a Balanciaga bag. Its lasted years and years so far and is in perfect condition despite me using it daily. Every cheap bag ive bought off the high street to date has fallen apart within the year- the pockets rip and zips get caught/distorted, pockets end up with holes in, lining rips, stitches come apart etc etc

I will gladly pay for a quality item that lasts a lifetime than go through a high street bag every damn year, having to chuck them when they fall apart. I think owning a quality bag for life is far better for the environment than the wastage/packaging from buying then throwing away lots of cheaper bags- thats a false economy in my opinion.

There’s a whole world between a Balanciaga bag and one which falls apart within a year, it’s quite disingenuous to suggest it has to be either/or.

Nah, I never said it had to be either/or. I'm saying, if I buy an expensive designer bag and use that for a life time, then I disagree its "ruining the planet". Since having that Balenciaga, i havent bought any other bags so its reduced my consumerism! Could I have bought a good quality cheaper bag?- sure. But I wanted that one. I have the money and I love it- it cheers me up using it so in my mind, it was a great purchase.

@Geoffreythecat

That’s my mum!!! I have a well known coffee mug. She’s like. Did you pay for that?!? They should pay you for the free advertising!!!

It’s a bloody fantastic coffee mug. Doesn’t leak. I use it constantly!
I purchased my first mulberry bag and I love it

However. I brought it because I love the colour. The feel. The smell! Other than that. Couldn’t give a shit. Friend of mine gets amazing clothes from charity shops! She’s awesome. Never pays more than £10! She’s well known for being the best dressed on the school run!

I saw a bloke top to toe in a brad the other day who looked like an absolute twat! I remember thinking what DO you look like

My husband can not stand brands. Don’t think he’s ever brought one for himself. I love that about him. I like what I like. If it’s a brand. Ok. If it’s not. Ok. It fabric at the end of the day. Social media doesn’t Influence me at all!

It wasn’t a fake. But a friend of mine had a ring. Made from a necklace she had brought. It had something ridiculous like a 8 carat diamond. Set in 24 carat gold.

It looked like it came out of a Christmas cracker.....the gold was very yellow. The diamond was huge!!!! It cost 100’s if thousands. I know because she lost it on the beach and the insurance company had to pay out.

I understand the logic in paying several hundreds of pounds for a bag that will last 10 years plus...but surely your tastes change....I go off things after a year or so and no matter how good the quality the bag will still date...

I can tell 99% of fakes from a mile off, they're nothing like the real thing when considering cut, quality, fabric, stitching etc. Love going round somewhere posh and spotting all the cheap knock offs purporting to be the real thing.

I sell preloved designer handbags as a business

Ewwww no. If I couldn’t afford the real deal I would go without.

.I go off things after a year or so and no matter how good the quality the bag will still date

Same, quality is irrelevant, i wont use something i dont like just cos its still in good condition. So why spend heaps on stuff i know i will toss in a year or so

It must be absolutely exhausting being so obsessed with image

I don’t even really like designer branding so probably wouldn’t buy the fake version of them either Not sure if that really answers your question though?

I rarely buy clothes and accessories but I do like the quality and finish of genuine luxury brands as well as the aftercare/service when there is a problem. When a rivet came loose on a bag that I'd used daily for over a year, the boutique sent the bag off for repair but it happened again on the same rivet so they offered a full refund or a new replacement. And I didn't even have to kick up a fuss to get the issue resolved. Another time I dropped my sunglasses and scratched the lense really badly so I took them back to the boutique for repairs (expecting to pay, of course) but when they came back I noticed they had simply replaced the sunglasses for a brand new pair.

Made from a necklace she had brought. It had something ridiculous like a 8 carat diamond. Set in 24 carat gold

Is she Kim kardashian? 😂

well for example if you were to see me on the street how would you notice that something that i am wearing is fake?

Your first mistake was assuming that I give a shit. Or have looked at you for more than the millisecond that it takes to walk past you. And I mean that in a weirdly comforting way - to most people we are utterly irrelevant. We are the centre of our own narrative but just have a walk-on part in other people's story. They REALLY aren't thinking about what you are wearing, what you look like, for more than a fleeting second. And yet worry about what they think appears to be consuming you.

squeek
That’s rather depressing. Fast fashion is such a pollution-producing industry.

I don’t really understand going off a piece of clothing or bag that’s still in good nick and that you originally loved. Well, not past 30, I guess, because teens and 20s people are often trying to find their style.

I absolutely hate logo'd designer brands and would not be caught dead in anything with a big logo stuck to it.

Neither would I wear a rip off / fake as it would bother me immensely. I don't give a fig about what anyone else thinks so it's not about the image for me, but I just could not wear a dupe or rip off that was pretending to be something else. I would rather not have it at all in that case. My style is more minimal, pared back anyway.

Over the years I have bought my mother many lovely real leather bags and a few Orla Kiely ones (at her request) and yet 9 times out of 10 she will use some god awful fake leather, fake Burberry or Louis Vuitton monstrosity that she bought on a market stall in Lanzarote. I don't get it. But I'm not the one wearing it so it's not my problem.

Personally, I would FAR rather a genuine leather, plain unadorned bag. I have a plum leather, handmade one from a small nearby maker, which was bought for me as a gift and I have used it every single day for nearly 2 years and it is in perfect condition. I shall continue using it for many more years!

I hate 'throw away' fashion too and apart from the odd pair of tights or vest I virtually never shop in Primark as the stuff just doesn't last.

I pick fairly classic bags if I’m spending hundreds or thousands of pounds on them. They certainly won’t date within one or two years, and I’m happy to wear them even if they’re not hugely on trend. I’m not hugely influenced by what current fashions dictate, anyway - I pick and choose quite carefully and certainly don’t feel like I need to be absolutely on point with fads.

If I want something that definitely will date, I don’t spend a huge amount on it.

I also don’t wear the same bag for a whole year. That would drive me a bit bonkers with boredom I think, so I can see why some people are sick of a bag once they’ve worn it so much. I switch them out according to season, mood and occasion.

I will keep all my bag for years to come. Probably for the rest of my life, actually. If at some point I find that they no longer match me or my style or my lifestyle, I’ll be happy to pass them on to my daughters if they want them, or to sell them on, or to donate them. I’ll have had years and years of pleasure and happiness by that time.

If that’s what your bothered about then I’m sorry to tell you the people wearing the real labels can tell, and they’re probably judging you.

That’s rather depressing. Fast fashion is such a pollution-producing industry.
I don’t really understand going off a piece of clothing or bag that’s still in good nick and that you originally loved. Well, not past 30, I guess, because teens and 20s people are often trying to find their style.

Im 32 and that dont mean my likes are set in stone, my tastes still change, hell its part the reason i havent got a tattoo, i know i will like it today but next year?

I didn’t mean set in stone, more that something I bought last year or the year before I would still wear (and a few things are well over 10 years but I love them) rather than disposing of things after a year or two.

Many ‘replica’ mainstream branded fashion items, particularly bags, clothes shoes, sportswear etc are made in the same Chinese factories by the same people as the ‘real’ items. The only difference is the ‘real’ stuff goes out of one door into the legitimate supply chain, while the ‘fake’ stuff goes out of another door it the grey market,

Having this discussion with my 11 year old at the moment.

I bought her a lovely backpack for school ( Fjällräven). Experience of cheap backpacks made me think this would be a good buy ( it is - DD loves it and it's robust and really practical.

A few weeks ago she came home in tears because she is being bullied for not having the "right" bag.

Apparently it has to be a fake Louis Vuitton tote bag so DD wants to get one.

After I explained that no one outside of school would be impressed by a fake designer bag , that the production and sale of these items leads to all sorts of criminal activity including funding terrorism she agreed that it wasn't a good idea.

In the end she bought a tote bag from New Look and that seems to have been enough to shut the bullies up.

I am ,however, all for finding cheaper items in the style of brands that I like. There was a thread on here once where people would find stuff in supermarkets and high street stores that looked like it had come from Hush.

@AgeLikeWine that's simply not true. Most of the fakes I've come across have been absolute monstrosities and organised crime gangs are known to sell fakes to fund other activities. There's plenty of documentaries on the subject

You care to much about what others are thinking
That is not healthy