Friday, April 27, 2012

Replica or Boutique?


If you live in countries like the Philippines, you’ll be seeing plenty of stores and shops that carry replicas at dirt cheap prices that are difficult to distinguish from the authentic. One question you would always ask yourself is whether or not to get that Louis Vuitton imitation.
Designer items with logos in plain sight are status symbols. You have them, and people think you’re filthy rich. In contrast, if people see they’re fake, well, that’s a different story. That brings us back to the question of whether or not you should buy imitations.
First off, buying knock-off hurts the economy. The people you buy from do not pay taxes. You also hurt the sales of the fashion house that your purchase is ripping off. Believe it or not, knock-offs bring down sales and profit. Second, you might not be aware of it, but experts know how to tell fakes from authentic. It hurts your reputation if people find out you’re donning a fake.
Come to think of it, buying boutique items are pretty much more practical than knock-offs. One reason is that knock-offs still fetch a hefty price. You pay for the brand name that you are imitating. Moreover, since they are very affordable, you are sure to find other people with the same item that you purchased. You lose your uniqueness in fashion. Boutique items, on the other hand, come in a dime a dozen. Due to the budget restrictions, products are not mass produced. What’s best is that more and more items look thousands of dollars more expensive than they actually are. 
So the next time you think about purchasing that imitation (or what we FiIlipinos call “Class A”), think again. There are plenty of alternatives that you could buy at a cheaper price instead of that expensive knock-off that screams “FAKE.” 

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