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Cheap or cheerful? Is it tacky to wear a fashion copycat?

Does it matter if you buy chain store copies over designer originals?

Does it matter if you buy chain store copies over designer originals? Photo: Getty

I found myself in a philosophical tussle in Zara last week.

I had seen a photograph of some Miu Miu ballet flats that were absolutely gorgeous, really clever, with long ties that wrapped around and under the shoes, and additional straps across the top.

They were original, quirky, beautiful. They were $1200.

I later found myself in Zara. There was a pair of pale pink leather ballets, with long black grosgrain ribbons in a size 39.

“Ah, cheap shoes never fit properly,” I told myself.

But I tried them on. They fit perfectly. They were super comfortable and pretty. And $69.95.

I picked them up gingerly and started to walk to the counter, but the thought kept going through my head: “They’re a copycat.”

A ballet shoe is of course a classic design, but the pink/black combo was clearly a not-so-subtle reference to the Miu Miu collections.

Was I happy to wear a copy? This is where the conversation with myself got convoluted.

The original Miu Miu ballet shoe.

The original Miu Miu ballet shoe.

Yes, everybody wears lower price, high street brands that have referenced (i.e. copied) the fashion shows.

Who can, or is even willing, to pay a staggering $1200 for a pair of shoes when there are bills to pay? Most people won’t even know, or care, they are a copy.

But I will know. Every time I put them on I won’t think, “Hello lovely shoe,” I’ll think, “Damn, I wish these were the originals”.

Because a very talented designer came up with the initial idea, and Miuccia Prada approved them and styled them cleverly into a show, and the real items are a thing of beauty and integrity.

Okay, they are horribly overpriced, but once they are knocked off and sold as a cheap but “almost as good” alternative, for me, they have lost their appeal.

I would rather have the real item, the piece that the designer thought about, and refined and went back to the drawing board over, and wear it and wear it until it falls to pieces than have 10 knockoffs.

I remember once walking past a Zara in Paris several years ago with a fashion editor friend. She had never been into one.

“But that’s Celine from the last collection!” she gasped as I showed her a two-toned coat.

Kate Middleton is a fan of Zara - here, she wears a blazer from the popular chain store. Photo: Getty

Kate Middleton is a fan of Zara – here, she wears a blazer from the popular chain store. Photo: Getty

She was actually shocked. She’s not wealthy but she sees no value in buying knock-offs, putting dollars in the coffers of those who are profiting from the cleverness of others.

I tend to agree. Better to buy the piece that maybe has been “influenced” because it’s a legitimate trend (the off-the-shoulder blouse, the cropped, wide-leg jeans, the oversized parka) but don’t get an exact, or obvious copy.

However, to be honest, even with all my righteous indignation, I still wasn’t fully convinced that I shouldn’t just buy the Zara ballet and say, “To hell with it”.

So I phoned another fashion friend and asked: “What do you do, do you buy the knock off because it’s pretty and you like it and it’s in a sensible price range?”

Maybe I have too many fashion friends. “God no,” she responded, “Just work out the cost per wear of the original.”

So. $1200 ballet shoes. I think I’d have to be appearing in Swan Lake nightly for the next 5 years.

In the end, I did what I always do when I cant reconcile spending the money: “You don’t need them. And anyway, they’re too young for you.”

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