- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee boards
In my search for my wedding dress, I have come across several blatant dress ripoffs. For some reason it really really irks me.
However I also know that many women will fall in love with a dress and just not be able to pay the designer price tag.
Does this bug anyone else? Or does anyone else have others to share? I know there are more but these were the two I see the most.
In the first comparison, the original is a Badgley Mischka gown, the dress in the middle is from David's bridal, and the third is from Impressions.
In the second comparison, the original (on the right) is a Maggie Sottero and the knockoff is from Alfred Angelo.
comparison.jpg (71.7 KB, 194 downloads) 2 years old all_three.jpg (72.3 KB, 219 downloads) 2 years old 
wow! i never really noticed this before......they're almost exactly alike. it wouldn't make me angry unless if someone was selling a more inexpensive designer and claiming it was from a more well known and expensive one. as long as ppl are honest=)
I saw a blatant ripoff of the SATC movie V Westwood gown. It was ridiculous.
Personally I think it's nice that there are inexpensive options out there of the designer dresses that people may want. HOWEVER - I can totally understand the frustration of seeing an "imitation" of someone else's "art"...
Hmmm I never noticed that those gowns were so similar. I think that it is really cool that there are affordable options for people who can't buy the designer gowns. I wouldn't get too upset about it because it is clear that the original gown has higher quality fabric and just looks more glamorous so you really are getting what you are paying for. It is just nice that there are other options.
I just noticed the same thing today!
I went on the Alfred Angelo website and and compared the same two dresses.
It is uncanny how much the resemble each other!
I've seen the Sex and the City knock off... but now I can't find it..
It drives me CRAZY! I refuse to buy a knockoff of anything. Designers put time, effort and a lot of money into their work and to have it knocked off for half the price is sooo wrong.
@Stassney- I think it was in the knot magazine that was purple? That's the last place I saw it.
I think it's awesome actually. It's the only way I'll be able to get a more couture bride because after student loans and kids, I'm not able to afford the 10,000 couture dress so I appreciate the inspired styles. they can never be thesame dress because the quality of the materials used to make it are not the same caliber.
I think the only thing is that usually cheaper dresses (aka the imitations) aren't made with the same quality. I bought a very inexpensive gown and sacrificed high quality fabric. Would I prefer a nicer fabric? Um, YEA! But I couldn't afford it. I bet in person the knock offs have noticible differences in things like crystal and fabric quality and other details.
Just because they LOOK the same doesn't mean they are anywhere near the same quality as the couture designers. It's like a t-shirt, c'mon. You can buy a black couture t-shirt and an Old Navy one.
Even though it's a rip off, the original designer still gets exposure based on their design. And if you've got that kind of money for a dress, cool, spend it. But if you don't have the money, and you love the look, so be it. I'm sure even tho it looks the same in that photo, you really can see the difference. If somebody wants designer, they're gonna have the designer. and, i think it's more obvious b/c these are embelished fancier designs. A lot of the simpler ones all look the same too
I´m not sure, but isn´t it about fit also? I´m so glad I ordered a size bigger on my DB dress (by mistake) because since it is fit and flare, must of the real pics I´ve seen of it make the hips look like a ballon, and I kind of get that results on my body also, but alterations are coming soon and I think a proper fit would make the dress look much nicer.
I think this happens in all aspects of the fashion industry . . . not just wedding gowns. Think about after the Academy Awards--there are knock offs right away. Most fashion (especially for us common folk) are based on couture.
I found this other one we were talking about!
The first is the Vivienne Westwood original, the second is from Sarah Danielle Destinations.
5564_sarah_danielle_wedding_dress_prim.jpg (28.8 KB, 142 downloads) 2 years old carrie-bradshaw-vivienne-westwood.jpg (127.4 KB, 88 downloads) 2 years old 
I don't know; this doesn't upset me. It didn't come from a street vendor getting their dresses made in sweat shops in India, and you know when you buy a David's Bridal dress that you're not getting a Badgley Mischka. I think women of modest means should be able to wear beautiful dresses, too, and even though they look alike, they are hardly identical.
It somehow doesn't bother me. It gives the brides who can't afford the designer dresses a chance to wear that design and get that look, and as for the people who paid for the original, they KNOW they are getting the higher quality real deal. Also, I think these imitators such as Mori Lee and Alfred Angelo, etc. are reputable manufacturers. On the other hand, the knock offs that some Chinese website tries to palm off bother me.
On another note, I knockoff designer purses irk me.
It doesn't bother me...those that are "brand oriented" will buy the name-brand even if there are cheaper options that look almost the same. Those who want a certain look at an economical price will buy the "knock-offs". I personally would not spend more that 500 bucks on a wedding dress that I will only be wearing once...and for a few hours at that. Thank goodness for David's Bridal.
Anyone watch that episode of Say Yes to the Dress when Pnina Tornai saw a bride try on an imitation of her dress? Boy was she pissed!
It doesn't bother me, but I do think that it sometimes shows in the dresses. Like the SATC Vivienne Westwood knockoff just looks shoddy. A lot of times the expensive dresses are expensive because of the fabrics and workmanship, so obviously a lot is being sacrificed in the knock-offs.
This doesn't bother me at all. I think that if someone falls in love with a dress and isn't able to afford it at the regular price, she shouldn't be limited to how good she looks or feels on her wedding day.
Some people have the money to drop on a couture gown, and thats awesome for them, but it doesn't mean that someone of a lower economic class shouldn't be able to get the same look.
Maybe this just aggrivates me because I can't find any dresses I want in my budget. I've only ever had an "I know this is my dress" moment when looking at a particular dress online. It was a Pnina Tornai that isn't even in production any more and was 14 thousand dollars to begin with. I've never seen anything else even remotely like that dress..
st_58076835-flouirsh.jpg (23.3 KB, 169 downloads) 2 years old 
Catlady--that was exactly what I was thinking! I saw that episode of Say Yes to the Dress and I could see why she was angry! If I had designed a dress and someone copied it unapologetically, I would be angry too! But Tornai was really nice and offered a discount on her dress so I thought that was pretty cool. I don't think the knockoffs look bad; I just don't think it's right for someone to make them.
@catlady - I saw that too. She was FURIOUS that the girl wa sin a knock of fof her dress. I did love that she gave that girl the discount. they didnt follow that one up, Im curious what it looked like in red...
I would be furious too. This is no different than stealing anyone else's intellectual property. If another musician ripped off the tune or lyrics from a famous song, or an artist blatantly copied a painting and sold it as their own, or an author took someone else's novel, changed a few words, and passed it off as their own, we would consider it wrong. Dress design is no different.
I think its great that there are cheaper versions of dresses, but they are hardly identical. You can tell the difference in quality.
It happens every year with Oscar dresses as well - almost as soon as the red carpet walk is done, people start making replicas of the dresses.
ha, this happens in everyday clothes too! besides, even luxury brand designers copy each other in some ways.
Agree w/ TingTing. This is the basis for the fashion industry generally--which is why you see basically the same thing everywhere from runways, to Bebes to forever 21 (maybe not all in the same season, but it gets around). Plus, I am sure many brides are not even aware that the DB or AA dresses they are buying are based on the same design from another designer (I wouldn't call them "knock offs" b/c they aren't being MARKETED as being on another designer's label). I know I purposefully did not look at a lot of dresses or look at high end dresses at all b/c I knew I would not be able to afford them & didn't want to get my feelings hurt...so I have no idea if my dress is really a 3rd generation Vera (although I doubt it!).
I definitely awouldna't be made. I don't have the money for it so I would get a replica made or buy something similar at a cheaper price still good material. If you have the money to spend, then get an expensive dress. At the end of the day whther 5 dollars or 5,000 dollars you aren't marrying, having kids with, and shariang a bed with a dress.
I mentioned this on another thread, but I'm wearing the Oleg Cassini for David's Bridal gown at the beginning of this thread (the one that resembles the Badgley Mischka). To be honest, and I'm not being defensive because I bought the less expensive dress, I really like the David's Bridal one better. The bodice has neater folds, which look more origami-like. I absolutely love the line of the skirt, and the fact that the beading is less sparkly and more subtle than the BM.
I see so many strapless gowns that look almost identical from designer to designer. It would be just as easy to label those as knockoffs (mysteriously, nobody does). The gowns at the beginning of this thread are, in my mind, variations on a particular style. And happily, there is a version that is inexpensive enough for people like me to purchase and wear.
Fakes or Knock offs is my biggest pet peeve. I am a firm believer in that if you can’t have the ‘real’ thing, then you should find something equally as fashionable at a price point that you can afford.
www.fakesareneverinfashion.com
$600 Billion
Estimated annual sales in counterfeit products worldwide
$512 Billion
Global sales lost to counterfeit goods
$250 Billion
Annual loss to American companies from intellectual property theft
$20 Billion
Estimated loss to American companies from counterfeit products
$1 Billion
Estimated annual loss in New York City tax revenues due to counterfeiting
750,000
Number of jobs lost due to intellectual property theft in the United States
10%
Estimated percentage of fakes among all goods produced worldwide every year
Not to mention that fakes are usually produced in third world countries who violate countless human rights. The sales of fake anything support child labor, drug traffickers, and in some case terrorists.
SAY NO TO FAKES!
well theres a difference between fakes/knockoffs that are being labeled as original or things that are made to look like the higher priced but dont put that high priced name on it.
the counterfeit stuff is the first of the two (think coach bags on the side of the street in chinatown - the stuff that goes back to support drug trade and terrorism) and the second is the examples here of the dresses.
i would be more mad if they were trying to pass the dresses off as the expensive dresses but were knockoffs, but they are really just trying to give the average person the look of something more expensive, that they can afford.
Ms. Caniche, these aren't those sort of fakes at all and any profit to David Bridal is just as American as to a designer - unless it's a french or english designer.
Lots of people mentioned the quality but the quality does not account for the price tag of designer dresses. There is a huge mark up. So yes there is a quality difference in materials between David's Bridal and a famous designer but you could get the same thing/same quality as the designer markets for 10,000 for 1,000/2,000 usually.
I totally agree with spaganya. We were antiquing today at a flea market and there was a vendor who sells knockoffs... purses and items that say they are a brand they are not. They even now have fake Uggs and Northfaces. You can just feel the awful quality of the lining of the Uggs. It is fed by the people who are too concerned with labels than quality. Do I pay extra to hav real bags, boots, and coats? Yes. But do I use these things often? Yes. I will not pay more than $2000 on a dress to wear once. Actually, I haven't even really looked at designer dresses because I don't want to pay that much for a dress. So I wouldn't have even noticed that those dresses are imitations, or 'inspired by.' I have been to a lot of weddings and never once have I ever heard of someone commenting on who made the bride's dress or asking her the same. Lastly, I don't think the couture designers are too bothered by it - or I'm sure they wouldn't be so commonplace. Brides come from every walk of life and if a bride on a smaller budget wants a Badglyy Mischka dress, she can have one that looks like it - that to me is a nod to the designer.
and anyway, isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery?
It doesn't upset me because I can't afford to spend more than $400 on a dress. I think it's cool there are other options, but at the same time I feel for the designer.
The entire fashion industry operates on thge concept of knock-offs; just look at the dresses and other outfits in most department stores. To me, brand-name or the designer meant nothing, just the look of the dress!
@ Arachna I 100% agree with you.
When I talk about the fakes I am talking about the blatant online stores who say that they will make a Maggie dress for $300. They are all made in countries where IP (intellectual property) is completely ignored. I can guarantee that Maggie Sottero does not get any benefit from these such sites.
I understand that designers will put out a line and that other designers will use aspects of their dresses to make their own. That is fine and it makes a look available to everyone.
I am just speaking from one extreme. Can you tell I am very passionate about this :)
This really doesn't bug me- when you pay for the expensive gown you're getting a lot more detail work, better fabrics etc. I think a bride who can't afford a hefty price tag should still look good. They're clearly not marketing it as the "Expensive Designer Dress." IMHO.
You must log in to post.
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| ellisrobertson | 24 |
| fishbone | 22 |
| ndreighton | 18 |
| MsPanda | 14 |
| ladyartichoke | 14 |
| aduarte3201 | 14 |
| mypinkshoes | 13 |
 rdownie1 |
13 |
| lionskitty | 12 |
| pengoala | 11 |
| User | Posts Today |
|---|---|
| turtles73 |
4 |
| stressybride | 4 |
| KristenGotMarried | 3 |
| lorelai | 3 |
| bestbuddies | 2 |
| kate02121 | 2 |
| TheLionQueen | 2 |
| ticatica | 2 |
| mrscheetos | 2 |
| Brielle | 2 |
