Day Fifty Seven - Spot The Fake

Yesterday in the local paper there was a story about a Birkin bag by Hermes being handed into a charity shop (among many other 'good' items) from an unknown donator. The bag was brand new and when they realised how much they retail for, they put a price of £350 on it (it had previously been priced at £150 and had been sitting instore, unsold, for 4 weeks). The charity were hoping that the bag would start a bidding war and make them lots of money. Now, two things ran through my head when my Mum read the story, firstly 'how can they tell it isn't a fake?' and 'how can they tell it's unused and brand new?', then I looked at the picture. It's handles were wrapped in plastic! Plastic! Eeek, that's why they knew it was unused and that's how I knew it was a big ol' fake. To make matters worse, todays paper reported that they have since sold the bag for a 4 figure sum. They again printed a (bigger) picture and although it's a nice enough bag, it's clearly not authentic. It's stiff, looks like it's made from any old croc-effect patent plastic and still has the ghastly plastic covered handles. I feel terrible and what about the lady that donated it? She must know the truth and will be too mortified to tell them.

Anyway speaking of fakes. Do you recognise these shoes? You may remember my J-Lo grey winged 'Kata' shoes a few weeks back. These are by Zoe Footwear (?) and although there are several obvious differences (not to mention the quality), their 'inspiration' is clear. Of course I don't mind fakes and replicas (hello! studded Primark/Gucci sandals ring a bell?) as long as I know that's what I'm buying and it's not being illegally passed off as a luxury brand. I'd really like to go into this in more detail when I get my Pink Haired Princess blog back as it's uncanny the amount of brazen faced 'businesses' out there selling fake Louboutin heels and Chanel bags. Not to mention that most of the profits from such companies are reportedly funding illegal operations. Beware buyers!Electric blue winged peep-toes Zoe Footwear.