Posts Tagged ‘nine west’
Steve Madden, what are you thinking?
Although I do praise Steve Madden for pushing the envelope in letting their clients customize their own shoes last fall, I’m appalled that they have the galls to blatantly copy designer shoes to sell them off as their own at a cheaper price.
Repeating their offenses from Christian Louboutin to most recently Balenciaga. The pair in question came into light at the Business of Fashion blog where the sporty multi-colored pump has been grossly and obviously copied by Steve Madden. Not only that, those lacy peep toe, construction boot pumps they call “Bombb Nat Nubuck” are also a knock off of Balenciaga’s Fall 2007 line. Perhaps the sales won’t mean much significance to Balenciaga’s financial portfolio, but designers need to protect their designs from profiteering companies like Steve Madden. Even now there is barely a dent or law that cracks down much on counterfeiting, much less crack down on companies who blatantly parade these copies around proudly with their own names stamped on it as if they were geniuses. And yet, they are. Because fashion is perhaps one of the few places where this sort of plagiarism can go unpunished no matter how big the elephant in the room is.
Funny how Steve Madden is expanding to a store within the Eaton Centre soon. I used to like them for making some cute shoes, but now, like Nine West, they’re not original enough to make their own designs and resort to copying for the sake of sales. A shame.
The predicament is typical and expected though. People don’t want, or can’t afford, to drop $500-$1000 on a single pair of shoes, even I haven’t taken the plunge yet to get shoes for that price. More importantly though, I put an emphasis on durability, I’m pretty rough on my shoes as I can get them scuffed quite easily, and prancing around in heels all day is a painful venture. Perhaps I should take heed of my cousin’s advice and start looking at Naturalizer shoes for comfort and classic styles. Growing old or growing wiser?
Above is the Steve Madden’s Balenciaga peep toe boot pump (wow, we gotta find a better name for this…), and I have to admit it’s a hot shoe I’d love to sport myself – but I don’t buy knock offs (and they never carry my size anyway).
Image credit: Steven Madden
Knock It Off! No…really!
I know some of these high fashion designers didn’t invent the wheel or made the most innovative designs, but it takes a lot of galls to knock them off and sell them as your own.
Like these glittery pairs I found on Zappos.com knocking off Christian Louboutin‘s pair at a fraction of the price. So far I’m glad I have never bought any knock offs of any sort, (I love shoes, I just can’t afford them) but I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing these if I knew the real thing was out there.
Sandals by Coloriffics on the left, the real Loubous on the right.
Unfortunately, Nine West is a major convict when it comes to knock offs. They’ve blatantly copied last season’s Louboutin with the knotted slingblacks and Prada‘s blocky looking banana heeled sandal.
Nine West on the left, Prada on the right.
With fashion being disposable within 6 months time, I believe it’s time to invest into some quality clothing that are classic and never out of style, even if that means buying expensive clothing. I’m tired of fast fashion.
Image credits to Christian Louboutin’s website, Style.com, and Zappos.com.
A Slave for Gladiator shoes
Trend or not, Gladiator shoes are hot. Ever since I laid eyes on those Balenciaga knee high gladiator heels on numerous celebrities like Kylie Minogue (in her “Giving You Up” video) and Jennifer Lopez, I’ve been lusting after a pair. Chanel also made a very strappy pair last year and they were widely photographed on Mary-Kate Olsen one soiree. Alas, I cannot afford to drop $1000 on a pair, so you can imagine how much I really love Nine West.
My Perez Hilton moment. For a mere $92.95.
Image from Zappos.com
How many ways can we wear these shoes? Dress it up and go bare, chic and conservative with black stockings, fun and playful with colored stockings, great with skinny jeans, I can think of so many ways to wear it with this pair.
Alas, the fashion world is a cruel, cruel place.
Size 6 and up only.
My heart cries on the inside.
