I have both fake and real Louis Vuitton, mainly because some styles are so adorable, but by the time it becomes available to the public, after a long waiting list it’s almost out of style! Therefore, that’s when I’ll buy a fake one. I really don’t hate those that can’t afford the real ones at all, and must resort to buying fakes. I don’t feel like they are buying these things because they are purposely trying to support child labor, terrorists, and so on…I think they simply want to look cute like their favorite celebrities. I know, I know….most people are going to say, “you are an individual, why are you copying someone elses’ style?” But how many of you on here, can honestly say you would walk into the Louis Vuitton store and purchase a $1500 bag that you probably would have never seen in the first place had it not been on a celebrity? So, all in all, these designer bags are very much like diamonds.I don’t yell at people that can only afford cubic zirconias, and I certainly don’t yell at those that can only afford knock offs. And about child labor in third world countries, it’s going to happen whether we want to or not, so I’d much rather see a child working at a sweat shop than a brothel.

the whole deal with fake louis vuitton’s is crazy.  I tried to sell my REAL lv on ebay and was suspended for trademark misue, but yet I looked through the active auctions and there are hundreds of obvious fakes.  Anyone know where I could sell mine?

I would never buy a bag when i can borrow one without losing my rent and have it for what i need for (to be seen and perfect my outfit) and give it back when i’m done looking fabulous at Bag Borrow and Steal

http://www.bagborroworsteal.com/webclient/getpage.aspx?page=how_it_works

are you saying that on real bags the logo is upsidedown

if the purse is under300 dollars and is a very new design then it is fake

who cares if it is name brand it doesnt matter as long as it is cute the who cares so say if some one bought an1000 dollar purse and some bought one that looks exactly like it but they got it at walmart that person would get made fun of not every one is rich

listen alexandrea why did you have to say your a billionar why do you want everyone to know you are rich and that stuff you said that make the snooty girls say is probably what you say anyway i dont care if they are real or fake as long as you like them

If the LV is not written in cursive its fake

down here in texas (houston) we call what you call “fake”, HIGH-FASHION!! it is the bridge between costume and real.  in texas, from billionaires to thousandaires, “high fashion” rocks.  it is a competition in and of itself as to how real your fake can look! you know us texans big hair full makeup and loud bags and shoes!!!

seriously, what i dont understand is the difference between legal and illegal knockoffs.  can anyone explain?  are all fakes contributing to terrorism in some way?

I agree that you should buy what you want and can afford and no one should be critical of your buying a real designer bag if that is what you want and can afford. Personally, I think selling fake anything is criminal and those that do it should be proscecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I also happen to think that LV bags are some of the ugliest bags man ever created. Because there are so many fakes out there and so many people have them, I am one of those who is suspect of anyone carrying them, assuming they are fake. I have bought several Coach leather bags retail and 2 on Ebay. They were the real thing, were “used” and were in much better condition than my own Coach bags. I am seriously considering buying a Fendi Spy bag now and am almost giddy with the insanity of paying that much for a purse but I can afford it. Handbags are just my thing.

Thanks for the link to Bag Borrow and Steal. That’s a wonderful site!

I just recently treated myself to my first LV and I am never wearing a lower end bag again! Not because im trying to be snobbish but because Louis Vuitton really does live up to its hype! I’m by no ways rich, and it did take me a few months to save up for one, but it is definently the best bag i’ve ever owned for many reasons. Like someone on here said, i’ve wasted so much money on “cheap” bags that with all of that money I could have just bought me a good quality bag.

I’ve never owned a “Genuine” LV and would buy one of the denim bags if given the means and opportunity.  But I do own quite a few Coach and Dooney & Bourke purses.  They range in age from being 10 years old to 6 months old.  And the older ones are in as good a shape as the newer ones.  All are real and I would purchase them all over again because of the quality with which they are made.  I also own several leather handbags made by other designers which did not cost as much but still have been made with excellent quality.  My husband and I live a “comfortable” life but we are by no means rich.  Experience has taught us, though, that you need to buy for quality and not quantity because inexpensive is not always the “cheapest”.  By the same token the most expensive is not always the best value either.  While I can pay for a Coach or a Dooney with one of my own paychecks, I would need to save for a real LV.  I just wanted to give some practical advice.  For the general public, I think fake or real is immaterial.  I believe someone asking that question is just trying to find out your fiancial situation.  If you can afford real, I would suggest going that route but if you can’t, don’t spend the rent money just so you can say you have a “real” bag or a “real” anything for that matter.  Live within your means.  The handbag is supposed to accessorize your outfit and make you feel better about yourself and how you look. Generally speaking, if you look good, or think you look good, then you usually feel good.  But that is just my humble opinion. 

Enjoy life!
Kim

Greetings from Sweden :)

Its funny, when i was a young girl i used to dream about the day i would have a LV and how fantastic i would feel about it.

That day came and when i could afford one i purchased the very first bag of my dreams. After some years, i bought another, and another and yet another…Today,i can fortunatly afford as many as i wish.

However, today this is not such a big thing anymore. At the end of the day what matters is how fabulous the bag makes you feel, not how much of a slave you are into these type of branded accessories. its not about whether its the real thing or not. If it makes you feel like a princess, then thats the one you should take.
LV and other such makes sell dreams, not bags, purses or wallets.
Thats what i got when i bought my first LV, i bought a dream. thats all.

Honestly, I think the originals are way to expensive for what they are worth - we wear it 1-2 seasons and then rubbish….what a waste, dont you agree?

There are beautiful bags out there that are as nice and have an acceptable price tag.

After having a few, you really get over all the enthusiasm. I rather feel like a princess in an exclusive top confy underwear (that nobody sees!) to having everyone at a restaurant looking to see if my purse is the real thing or an immitation - they should mind their own business.

Best wishes

who cares what other people can or cannot afford, as long as they are content with themselves and what they owned. not everyone can afford the prices, and everyone has the right to feel good and look good.

as for me i owned 3 LV monogram bags and i love them all, as for the question of real of fake, i don’t need to have doubt because i bought them at Le maison de Louis Vuitton in Champs Elysees, Paris. i’ve save 12% in tax because i was a visitor and i also found that they are cheaper (at least 50$ to 100$ per item) in Paris then they are in Australia after the currency conversion. also the stores in Paris has alot more ranges of products.

forget eluxury.com or any other websites, its alot nicer to go to any LV stores and be pamper by the shop assistants there. and at least you know exactly what you are buying in term of shapes and sizes.

of course i would prefer buy the authentic ones as the craftmanship would be much better and would last you longer than fake ones from China.  but if i don’t have the money to buy the real LV bags then i rather buy a nice leather bags from other brand, than buy fake brand name products.

it DOES matter if you carry a fake or real bag. I’m a graphic designer.. and it’s absolutely terrible that people go to such extents to rip off someones beautiful and well crafted design. Fashion designers (good ones) are creative and talented people that work hard for the money they make. Don’t support that. You can get a gorgeous leather bag that’s not a rip off for much much cheaper. fake bags just make people look like they have low self esteem. If you are wearing $40 shoes and carrying a bag that is a fake version of a $1500 bag, nobody is going to believe it is real anyways.

drop it will you!? just buy whatever u want as long as u like it and can afford it . Be it real or fake . Although personally i will not go for fakes. If i cant afford a real, i will buy some other branded goods which are much cheaper for eg. Coach, Anna Sui etc.. great style. great quality and still branded and fashionable.

I really want a real louis vuitton for christmas but there so much money! ughh, i wish they were like 200 doallers, but the one i want is like 600 doallers :(

Someone on here posted that if it’s real the Louis Vuitton letters have to be in cursive and that’s not true! I own a mono speedy and my letters are not cursive..(it was bought at an LV in a NM boutique about 2 months ago). The LV’s dont always have to be upside down on one side to be real, but one way you can DEFINENTLY tell if atleast a speedy is fake is if it has feet. Speedy’s never have feet.

Who cares? Who cares? Uhm, who cares? 

I use to think that you had to carry a name brand bag, I have Coach bags, Dooney bags, Louis bags, Liz, Fossil, Gucci, and many more!  I thought that it meant something that it said you were someone.  I never had anyone question the authenticity of one of my purses because people who knew me knew that I liked the finer thing in life.  I was young, single and made more money then I knew what to do with.  It was a life style, I lived it and loved it. 

Now, I am older, don?t make as much money (or maybe the money doesn?t go as far as it use to) and am a single parent.  And what I have discovered about all of my expensive bags is that they are just that, expensive bags.  I wish I could get that money back, had I invested it I could have put my daughter through the first 2 years of college by now. 

Here is my point, if you like a bag and can afford it, get it, but don?t expect that bag to make you anything you are not!  If you can?t afford a ?real? bag and you see a knock off and you like it get it, but think about this? If it is not real why does it cost so damn much?  Don?t pay $200 for a fake bag, defeats the purpose!! Thankfully I bought classic style bags, the style will NEVER go out of play it will always be something that I can carry and not worry about people thinking it is ?so LAST year?.  And the funny thing is now people wonder about the bags and want to know if they are real and my response to them is simply ?what difference does it make??  It is mine!! 

Of course now a day I no longer go for NAMES I go for looks, does it look good, does it feel good and can I use it on multiple occasions?  I still buy some of the name brands but I also by NO NAMES that are nicely put together and stylish!

To TOP FASHION:
Where do you buy your paper towels, Toliet paper, toothpaste, deo, and air freshners?

Most of us FASHIONISTAS probably shop TARGET or Walmart or something like that. It’s ok for you to go there in your Designer clothes w/ or w/out the handbag. We all have our necessities be they name brand, generic or faux. We are still women and united by that.

For ALL the rich LADIES out there and those of you who enjoy spending money on Designer items, please buy PINK products that support Breast CANCER in the month of October. Even better, make a large donation in the name of an important woman in your life, even yourself, to the SUSAN B. KOMEN foundation, or BREAST CANCER foundation this month.

Style is style, and you either have it or you don’t.  All of teh money in the world cannot buy it for you. And you can spend what might be another person’s year’s salary and still not turn as many heads as the girl working at Target who’s confidence and sense of slef reflects in every piece of attire form her earrings to her shoes. Style can’t be taught and it can’t be bought. And if you can afford to hire a stylist, the clothes may look good, but unless your personality shines through to make it your own, you won’t carry it over well. You’ll just be a well-dressed clothes rack.

At any rate, I’m not a label-whore. i just like quality clothes that look good. My earliest rememberance of LVs were the two or three my mother carried when I was a little girl, in the eightees. I loved the appeal of the leather handles as they worn, I knew they were quality, but on the whole I thought they were ugly bags. When I was about 24, my mother bought what she thought was a “real” but hocked LV bag off of the street for me. It came with the canvas protection bag and everything. I don’t keep up, so I don’t know the name, but it resembled a messenger bag. At any rate, I NEVER carried the thing, maybe once, b/c I thought it was a fake.
My mother, however, a bonafied LV owner for 2 decades swore it was real. It turns out that my little girl eyes had paid more attention to those leather straps than I had realized.

I hadn’t been able to put my finger on what discussed me about my mother’s gifts, b/c for teh most part I could care less about Louis, but I realized a year later when I paid attention to the Louis of the rich fashion-forward Asian chicks -who were hoarding the bags at the time- that their straps were darker than the bag I owned. IT ALL CAME BACK TO THE STRAPS LOl!!  My bag straps were very light, like a manillla file folder, theirs were more of a cognac. My bag had been in the back of my closet for a year, and I pulled it out one day and examined teh stitching which was a golden yellow as opposed to a more natural looking thread, also where the spine or fold of a leather strap would normally reveal soft worn leather or suede, mine was colored red?? It was truly laughable, b/c other than that the bag itslef was gorgeous.

It’s great that I am not into labels, and especially NOT Louis or this really would have hurt my feelings. I will carry a cheap purse in a NY minute, if it’s fly and suits my style…Target, Wal-Mart, it makes no difference,a dn I am not ashamed to tell where I bought it. But I have a REAL problem with carrying a fake designer label, NOT b/c of what people will think in terms of me being cheap or what have you, but I don’t EVER wnat to be put in THAT GROUP. that group of unoriginal people who lose their minds over a label, both those who can afford it and who cannot. I certainly don’t want to be the girl who wanted to be down so badly, she bought a fake. I’m careful as is if I buy a real designer bag. It has to earn my money. I only buy ones I REALLY like, b/c I really like it IN SPITE of MYSELF. I personally LOATHE the idea of someone’s initials ALL over something on my person. And yet I am supposed to carry this proudly?

At anyrate, unless I have Warren Buffet-style money, I won’t be paying $500 or more for a bag with initials on it, ubless they are mine. Although I must admit I have a slight weakness for those Coach bags, I tried to resist, but they have gotten so creative here lately, and the bags are jsut getting cuter and cuter. I do have the big orange one, but it’s second hand, and it too was a gift form mama. But it’s real.

Well said. I totally agree.  I think the LV bag is overdone anyway and would much rather have a less expensive less popular bag and spend the money on something else.

A few years ago, a friend of mine bought me a little Coach Wristlet. I never thought much of the thing and this was before I got into handbags, but I thought it was really expensive. $40+?? For that little thing? But I used it. Because its a reminder that my friend wanted me to have something nice. It reminded me of my friend.

Later on that year, I got really into Coach and handbags all together because I got so many compliments from that Coach Wristlet. At the same time, my boyfriend bought me a Signature Coach Hamptons bag. He was having a hard time finding a job after 9/11 and he worked part time at Macys so that he could buy me that bag. I still use it. It’s officially my work bag and I take care of it because it’s a reminder that even though poverty is hanging over your head, everyone deserves a good thing.

Now a day, things are financially better for the both of us. I think everyone I know has had their ups and downs, financially. But that doesn’t mean that because you’re down, you don’t deserve good things.

I was mad at my boyfriend when he bought me that bag. I was really mad because I felt like I didn’t deserve it, when we could barely pay our bills. I felt like, he should have put that money away.. the $300 (which was ALOT of money to me back then) and saved it for our many rainy days.

But now I realize, life is too short. If you’re not going to enjoy yourself and what you have.. then what’s the point?

Oh.. and my handbag addiction has gone and I own a couple of Coach, Gucci, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton. I still shop at an array of places (from Target, Macys, Torrid, Lane Bryant, Bloomingdales, Junonia, etc.) but my most beloved piece is my Coach Hamptons bag.

You can buy a purse, shoes, sweater, etc.. so you can feel special. But you gotta realize that you are special with or without those material things.

Even though I have a handbag addiction (I’m liking LeSports Sacs Tokidoki) I get a lot of compliments for my style. It’s my put together look that has friends and co-workers asking me “where did you get that?” It’s not how much I spent on something.. its how it looks on me and how it makes me feel.

A friend of mine and I both have a rainbow scarf from Old Navy. She doesn’t use it too often because people ask her if she associates it with the gay community. I love my rainbow scarf. And I don’t mind repping the gay community. My style is a representation of myself, a warm and happy self. So whatever people think of me doesn’t matter… I know who I am.

Hi. I just want to say almost all of the things in the article are true, although i purchased an authentic louis vuitton cherry blossom handbag from a louis vuitton store, and it did infact have a tag like thing, that had a plasic white thing on the end that said LV