{"id":1043,"date":"2006-04-06T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-04-06T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wordpress\/?p=1043"},"modified":"2025-06-17T17:32:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T23:32:50","slug":"australian-fake-bags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/archive\/australian-fake-bags\/","title":{"rendered":"Fake handbag debate: The australian story"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

This is a guest post about Australian fake bags, written by Sara Goldstein, formerly the Bargain Queen of down under.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A couple of days ago, The Budget Fashionista asked me an interesting question: is the fake purse craze just an American thing?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fake bags in Sydney<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As one of the few Australian fashion bloggers, I\u2019m here to tell you it\u2019s not. In Sydney, where I live, fake purses are everywhere. I see a lot of Australian fake bags around town, on the arms of everyone from schoolgirls to office workers to women wearing tracksuits in the city (perhaps they\u2019ve just left the gym\u2026)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The most popular kind of fake purse in Australia is the bad fake – smelly PVC Chanel or Louis Vuitton with poorly laid-out monograms and plastic trims. Or, the occasional worn-out black nylon \u2018Prada\u2019 with fraying stitches.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While a better quality fake is much harder to spot, I see so few real-looking status bags on the streets of Sydney that it\u2019s safe to say there aren\u2019t many top-notch fakes around.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fake bags for fun<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When I was younger, I wore fake designer gear and had fun with it. I was intent on trying every imaginable look \u2014 rock chick one day, princess the next \u2014 and the availability of fakes meant I could have a good replica of a Gucci watch to complete the preppy outfits, and some Diesel-look tees when I felt more punk.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

At that age, designer items as investment purchases were out of the question: partly because I didn\u2019t have the money, but also because I could barely guess what I\u2019d want to wear next week so buying something that lasts for years was impossible.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I\u2019m not remotely ashamed about my youthful indiscretions. Experimenting with faux designer items helped me develop a taste for real designer items that I have today \u2014 and when I have the money to indulge it, the brands whose fakes I used to wear often benefit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Why say no to the fakes<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But while I find fake bags<\/a> on young cuties adorable, I also strongly believe that older people shouldn\u2019t wear them. It\u2019s not about age. It’s about an attitude change when fashion ceases to be fun experimentation and becomes a serious expression of who you are.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n
\"Fake\r\n
If you bought that bag on the street, it’s fake.<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As a young lass, I had no shame in wearing a fake Gucci<\/a> watch and never pretended it was anything else. I would happily compare fake watches with friends, and be thrilled by compliments like \u201cThat\u2019s a great copy, it doesn\u2019t say Gucky or anything!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Delusions aside<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In contrast, I\u2019ve had the misfortune of discussing fakes with older women who insist their plastic Chanel with uneven stitching and horribly constructed handles is the real deal. It\u2019s hard to explain to someone that Chanel bags don\u2019t fall off the back of trucks and they\u2019re not made in China. And, it\u2019s unlikely that the real Chanel factory makes anything in pleather.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Especially stinky pleather.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What australians think about fake bags<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So what do other Australians think of fake bags? I can\u2019t speak for everyone, but there definitely seems to be a wide spectrum of opinions. There are people who think all fakes are wrong. This is often the lady who buys real Louis Vuitton and hates seeing a hundred copies of her bag every time she leaves the house.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There are also people who think designers are just having a whinge, and they should be flattered that people want to wear their designs (even if they don\u2019t pay them for the privilege). In fashion circles, it\u2019s a topic of heated conversations; amongst normal people, it can seem like a joke.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Buy what you like<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If there\u2019s any lesson in all of this, it\u2019s to buy what you like without worrying what others will think.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n

A fake status bag won\u2019t convey a great deal of status upon you, but a real one isn\u2019t the answer to all your fashion problems either.<\/p>\r\nSara Goldstein<\/cite><\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When you carry an expensive bag, there will be people who admire and envy your good taste<\/a>, and others will think you\u2019re insane for spending that much on a bag. If you\u2019d rather wear a fake, some people will regard it as a bargain and others will see it as a crime.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Just don\u2019t expect the logo to change your life and don\u2019t expect the cheap bag to last!<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post about Australian fake bags, written by Sara Goldstein, formerly the Bargain Queen of down under. A couple of days ago, The Budget Fashionista asked me an interesting question: is the fake purse craze just an American thing? Fake bags in Sydney As one of the few Australian fashion bloggers, I\u2019m… Read More »Fake handbag debate: The australian story<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1128,"featured_media":121179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-1043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion-trends","tag-designer-brands"],"mv":{"thumbnail_id":121179,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/fakelouisvuitton-300x150.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}