Remember these perfect Giuseppe Zanotti sandals (left) Shoesense blogged about?

Here is a case of designer shoe deja vu gone utterly and completely wrong. Structurally, the Giuseppe Zanotti and Steve Madden sandals are alike. That is where the similarities end. While the Zanotti sandals are in full bloom and a picture of grace and simplistic beauty, the Steve Madden sandals have dried out and wilted.

The king of copycat designer shoes does not stop there. He also has an inspired version of the famous Balenciaga lego shoes. Compared to the Steve Maddens, Balenciaga’s shoes are actually starting to look slightly normal.

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I’m not a big fan of Etienne Aigner for obvious reasons–derivative, poor quality, ubiquitous, unexciting. However, there was something about this Vicenza flat that made me stop and look:

They’re very fresh, very spring-ready, fun, and well…cheap ($69 at Piperlime).

And then I realized why I stopped to look in the first place–that’s because they’re (still) completely derivative:

….But since the Valentino ‘Wave’ ballerina flat is no longer available (and cost about $400 anyway), the EA Vicenza will have to do for now.

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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!

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The time has come, readers, to announce the winners of our Fashionista Diaries ”Designer Shoe Deja Vu” contest.

The grand prize winner is yowza, who not only got all the answers correct, but also identified most of the specific styles. Congrats, yowza!

And since there were 5 runner-up prizes, congrats also to purly, bobby_darling, referencelibrarian, madian, and sbyles.

We’ll be getting in touch with you about where to send prizes.

And for the answers, here they are, with the designer shoe in each pair bolded:

1a. Oh Deer! Chloe $96
1b. Christian Louboutin Yoyo Zeppa $640

2a. Jimmy Choo Nevada $510
2b. Kenneth Cole Reaction O’Look $83

3a. Via Spiga Neda $173
3b. Rupert Sanderson Regal $595

4a. Baci Lucky $99
4b. Lanvin Pinhole Pumps $696

5a. CARLOS by Carlos Santana Pounce $98
5b. Giuseppe Zanotti I70136 $429

6a. Givenchy Patent Trim Oxford $1,000
6b. Diesel Tiieu $120

Congrats again to the winners, and stay tuned for more upcoming Shoeblog contests with great prizes.

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Just a reminder to enter the Shoeblog Fashionista Diaries Contest. The grand prize winner will receive a Flirt Cosmetics prize pack and 5 runner-ups will receive a Fashionista Diaries beret and tee. We’ll announce the winners soon after the contest end date on August 10th.

Also, the Fashionista Diaries show will be premiering tonight at 9pm Central time on the SOAP channel so be sure to tune in.

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