Name that Knock-off

Test your knock-off knowledge here.

See if you can identify the manufacturers of the following shoe styles.

I’ll give you a hint.   

They are not: Marc Jacobs, YSL, Dior, Prada/Miu Miu, Gucci or Givenchy.

Check your answers at the bottom of the page.:

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Answers Below:

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Miu Miu Deja Vu

I loved the Miu Miu “Pop” brogues that came out last fall. With subtle color-block styling, including topstitching and wingtip styling, it was a wonderfully feminine version of a classic menswear shoe. (See Manolo’s take here):

There are a few isolated sizes & styles available at Net-a-porter and Bluefly- but Bluefly is already selling out some styles even as I am writing this, so these will not be around for long, even at discounted prices that are still around $500.

These were apparently too original to stay original.   I am in true awe at the sheer mass of imitations that have spawned from these fun and elegant originals. 

Be warned, some are quite cute, but others border on a level of “What were they thinking?” that leaves me shaking my head in confusion.

So, in no particular order:

Contestant #1 –  Guess by Marciano “Yerex” $125 at Shoes.com & $129 at Zappos.com (Not too extreme, and I kind of like the slender heel):

Contestant #2 -  Two Lips  “Cotton Club” $79 at Shoes.com and Zappos.com (Not sure I’m really ‘feeling’ the antiqued/brushed metal finish.):

Contestant #3 -  Hale Bob “Imagine” $87.47 - $124.95 at Endless.com, Heels.com & Shoes.com. (I’m okay with the metallic color balance, but the red is just too much for me.)

Contestant #4 – Dollhouse with the “Warhole” and “Rembrandt” styles $69.99 at Heels.com for either style. (Honestly, I do like the blue combo as it has enough differences to make it a nice variation on the original idea.)

Contestant #5 – Bamboo ‘Hanete01′ $34.99 at Cutesyshoes  (I can’t ever see myself wearing this cotton-candy color combo.):

And, no,  I have not forgotten Steve Madden, master style imitator; He has an honorable mention for the “Specs” which have apparently sold out at most online retailers.

So, how do we feel about these?

An end in sight for designer deja-vu?

The Senate is considering a bill that will protect designers from having their creations copied by knockoff companies. Senator Schumer, the driving force behind it, is trying to extend copyright protection to fashion.

‘Designers spend countless hours doing and redoing, testing, creating, thinking, and then some counterfeiter comes along and just takes it away,’ said Mr. Schumer. ‘It’s plain and simple.’–reports The New York Times.

If that happens, I wonder, how would the likes of Steven Madden or Jessica Simpson survive?

Bettye Mueller ‘Pearl’ Pumps, $385 at Nordstrom

What do you think about this? If you are enjoying the benefits of high street creations, which allow you to pay $300 less for a relatively identical style, would you be against this law? Or do you see a problem with what amounts to intellectual theft? Or do you think it would be hard to make the argument that a knockoff is a knockoff if some little detail is changed? It’s a tough one–give us your opinions in the forum!

Style Alert

I know stores are starting to move into fall merchandise, but it’s hard to think of fall when it’s nearly 90 degrees (as it has been in the Northeast for the past few days), and I’m still mainly wearing my summer shoes.

It was only this weekend, in fact, that I was passing through a DSW and saw this Cassie flats by MIA.

 They’re cute, no?  And I reminded me that it seems like I’ve seen that style EVERYWHERE.

Colin Stuart makes a patent version that I saw in this month’s Lucky magazine (which I now can’t seem to find anywhere online).

And my favorite version is by Steve Madden, a company I’m not much into in general.  But they’ve got a section of their website where you can take a basic shoe design and choose your own color and material options to snaz it up.  And on that DIY section, there’s the Eleve, which, for $100 you can choose to have completely flat, with a tiny slice of heel, or with a little kitten heel.  You can pick all the customization options, and come up with your own version of this popular style.  For example:

A Do It Yourself option is always fun, and a great way to get the perfect shoes to match an outfit without having to move heaven and earth to find them. 

Designer Shoe Déja Vu: Jeweled Ballet Flat Edition

While perusing a sale at my local DSW this past weekend, I came across the Kizmit jeweled flat by Steve Madden ($56):

Cute, no?

And I kept thinking, ”Where have I seen this shoe before, and for more money?”

Was it the Party jeweled flat by Kate Spade ($259)?

No.

It was the 6108 jeweled flat by Sigerson Morrison ($394)!

Want to snatch up this cute style for cocktail parties? Don’t want to spend nearly $400? Then grab Steve Madden’s version (also available in additional colors at Amazon for $79).