No Thankyou. I'd rather rock it in Target! My views on the epidemic that is designer rip-offs.

Me in High-School!
Picture credit to www.zazzle.com.au

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhh....

Sometimes you just get really mad and need to rant. Sometimes you feel the need to make other people listen to your rant ( I did this a lot during High School when we were given the opportunity to write essays on anything we wanted; seriously I think I have an essay about every issue I feel strongly about, thinking that my 800 word paper would make a difference to Circus Animal Welfare, Vegan/ Vegetarianism, Poverty, AIDs, Music rights and the issue of today's blog posts: Cheap rip-off's of designer clothes, bags, perfume and the brands in general). 

This particular issue makes me very mad. Many a time I have come close to actually arguing with people who insist they are selling you 100% authentic items for approximately 10% or the recommended retail price. Please. But yes, I hold my tongue. I shake my head in disapprovement and laugh in disbelief, but I do not make a scene. But do you know how hard that is? So here will be my "scene". Over the Summer, I was at a local market in a town where I holiday every year. These markets used to be full of hand-crafted goods from lollies and cakes, to jewellery, quilts,bags and books. But over the past 3-4 years I have seen a massive decline in the hand-made and original products and a steep incline in cheap merchandise that is available in stores. 

Sure, its just a market, the locals are just trying to make a buck. But when I saw a supposed MAC brush set (50 pieces) for $50, I stopped in my tracks in horror and an old lady* crashed into the back of me, not expecting my sudden stop. I couldn't help myself but play dumb and innocent and walk over to the stall and ask the keeper if they were real MAC products he was selling. I thought I'd give him a chance to be honest and say 'no, these aren't real, which is why they are so cheap, but they still work fine as makeup brushes'. But no, what did he say??? "Yes. 100% authentic". My blood was boiling now. I picked them up, carefully examining them. 

Me: "And what fibres are the hairs made from?" 

Fake MAC man: *Heard me* *Pretends he didn't hear me* *Looks over at another customer* *Looks back*, ... "Just those?"

Me: *Huge gasp (in my head only of course)*. I will not be any part of your fake MAC dealing black-market scandal. (Again, that was in my head). "No thank you. I thought MAC full-size brushes could only be purchased separately. Only the SE (Special Edition) brushes came in kits?".

Fake MAC man: "No, they are real"

Me: "Oh" (This time I gave him attitude. You know, head tilt and arrogant smirk?)

Heeeck No!

I walked away from this stall, I didn't buy anything. I didn't tell all his unaware customers that he was selling fakes and they were being ripped off. (Except for the ones that could see that I knew better and asked me). The thing is this. If you buy/ sell fake or mimicked designer items, you are taking away all of that credit from the designer. They had to work hard and innovatively to be the first to design that item. And then have someone steal their design, and their deserved credit and even profit. Don't get me wrong, I know we can't all afford real designer pieces. I would have to sell my car to even get a real Chanel bag, but that doesn't mean I would ever be seen with a fake one. I would rather wear a bag from target, than a cheaply manufactured designer copy-cat bag. And same goes for all designer products. At least stores like Target are honest in that they aren't selling "Chanel" or "Gucci" bags and purses or MAC brushes. They are selling their own and other individual and brands that have their own name and do not steal off others. 

If honesty and integrity isn't enough to convince you to spend your $50 on a Bluebird bag rather than a fake Louis Viutton, then think about this. The high-end designers are at the top of the food chain. They decide what will be the trend. What colours, what cuts, what textures, what looks etc. Then, these features trickle down through the waterways where we end up with garments and products featuring all of the designers key elements, but NOT their name. Remember that scene from 'The Devil Wears Prada'? That's what I'm talking about! 

(Miranda and her assistants are deciding between two similar belts for an outfit. Andy sniggers because she thinks they look exactly the same.)
Miranda Priestly: Something funny?
Andy Sachs: No, no, nothing. Y'know, it's just that both those belts look exactly the same to me. Y'know, I'm still learning about all this stuff.
Miranda Priestly: This... 'stuff'? Oh... ok. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean. You're also blindly unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic "casual corner" where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of "stuff."

* Don't worry, the old lady was my Grandma and I picked her up and dusted her off and she's fine! 

And just for the record, (because this is what I wanted to stand up Fake MAC Man's table and broadcast to the community)...

1. You CANNOT get a full authentic MAC brush set in full size. Occasionally MAC come out with brush sets which have a few brushes in them, but these are SE brushes which are Special Edition, and only travel size. Additionally, these brushes are factory-made rather than hand-made like the full size MAC brushes. 

2. How can you expect us to believe that we can get 50 full-size MAC brushes in a leather pouch for $50, when each individual MAC brush retails at over $45? This is such a cheeky thing to do to consumers who don't know any different. They deserve the right to make a conscious decision on who they give their money to. 

3. MAC full-size brushes are made of a mix of real hair and synthetic fibres (depending on which brush, and for what is its purpose) and are of excellent quality. You will never see a real MAC brush that has flimsy hairs falling out, or loose barrels (where the handle is glued to the metal which hold the hairs). this is a dead giveaway for a fake and cheaply made brush. 

Just No. -_-

Rant over. Thanks for listening guys! I hope I have at least inspired one of you to make a stand and help out the designers that we can barely afford :) xxx

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