Knock Me Off

There has been a lot of press in the past few weeks about designer knockoffs. Apparently designers are trying to get their clothing copyrighted to prevent people from buying almost the exact same thing for 1/3 of the price at places like Forever 21 (brilliantly referred to as Forever 31 by my friend Jami). A recent article in the Times showed a Stella McCartney dress next to an identical article of clothing that was on sale for $35 at Forever 21. I imagine most people reacted the way I did when I saw the picture: I ran out to Forever 21 and bought the dress because, wait, it's like identical and also, it's $35 which means you can wear it once and then use it for cleaning out the litter box.

As someone with absolutely no expertise in the world of high fashion, I think I'm entitled to weigh in on the controversy simply because, um, I wear clothes. From my point of view the issue is entirely a class issue - people who pay $1800 for a sweater don't want to see some plebeian coming out of the subway wearing the same item of clothing.

Now here's the thing: I would definitely save up money and shell out for a few pieces of designer items if there was any guarantee that I might be able to wear them for more than a few seasons. But what's the point of buying a pricey baby doll dress or designer skinny black jeans or really expensive brown chunky boots when next year people are going to be wearing mu mus or baggy green jeans or whatever?

Which is why I'm proud to spend my money on cheap clothing that will fall apart after a few washings. That, and I'm pretty much only wearing those clothes to the playground and back.