No you should NOT take the pictures down!!!!! this is fashion for crying out loud not evidence of some important crime!!!!!! they are probably just pissed because they realized the clothes suck. Budget Fashionista you rock!!!! you keep fighting THE MAN!!!

Perhaps our beef should be with the media outlts who only run stories if they are exclusives. If they cannot keep up with the posting schduls of the new media it is the problem of the outlets and not blogs or Steve and Barry’s. Our reach is often just as impressive, if not more, and Steve and Barry’s should realize that these photos have had a tremendous journey across the blogosphere.

In the Coutorture network alone I have seen hundreds of posts and we as a collctive receive 20 million impressions a month. I should say that is a far bit of publicity.

Coutorture itself has experienced this. La Force and Stevens often requests that we do not attend Target press previws because they fear that blogs will post the photos. But what happened with the Libertine photos? An Elle Magazine market editor blog published the photos. Oops!

I would content that Steve and Barry’s, not being a very sophisticated shop, just simply does not know how to handle this dilemma. I vote that it is far too late to take down th images and that even asking for such a thing is likely to create a public relations maelstrom.

Absolutely DO NOT remove the pictures! You had every right to post them since they were obtained legally, and Steve & Barry’s is just mad because the feedback on the line has been less-than-enthusiastic…too bad for them.

I wonder if you would have gotten the letter if our reactions had been favorable?  Don’t take them down.

hmmn, this is interesting. the implication here is that steve and barrys do not trust us to come up with our own conclusions about the images. we need oprah and other designated media sources to spoonfeed information and their opinions about the line.

i dont think steve and barrys understand what a blog is.

Their lawyer used a very silly approach and essentially contradicted him/herself in their cease and desist letter…they don’t advertise yet they have exclusive promotional deals with major media outlets??  Isn’t that advertising?

Had they argued that they held the exclusive copyrights in these photos, as an IP lawyer, I would advise you to take the photos down.  But, based on the weak stance this lawyer set forth, by all means, keep them up!

don’t take them down.

While I do think this is bad PR for them to email you, you need to talk to an IP lawyer. Those images were not in the public domain, and you need to be clear on your definition of what that means :-) I love your blog, and I’d hate to see it (or you) sued into oblivion.

I’d take them down. It is their company that is being scrutinized, and like anyone should when they want something, they are asking nicely. There’s nothing hostile or threatening about the letter. They don’t want to burn bridges.

I’d give them a break. It’s easy to immediately lash out at big companies…it’s become a consumer instinct. But I think we’re a reasonable bunch here at BF, and there’s no need to push buttons or get all defensive.

Believe me, I champion the cause of the people, and I am not a passive drone by any means imaginable. But I’m not hearing THE MAN here. I’m hearing a company that is trying to improve their image and appeal to consumers just like us. They NEED US. Isn’t that enough? To know we have all the power over the success of this campaign?

Nevertheless, it’s really cool to hear everyone’s opinions, and to see that there are intelligent people reading and posting here.

I love this website!

Don’t take them down!! They weren’t even nice in asking you to. They just assumed you took them from a password protected site. They need to get over it and use this to their advantage when they relaunch the site. Like yeah we know it sucked but look what we did now!!

No use crying over spilt milk.  What’s done is done, and they are trying to clean up a problem they didn’t properly control from the beginning.  There are ways to post photos so that people can’t easily link to them, which they must not have done, and if they didn’t want their photos on the web, they should not have put them there.If they wanted it exclusive, they shouldn’t have put the photos up.  (Duh!)  I think they are trying to change it all based on the response, but this is not the way to do it.  Heck, everyone understands making a mistake, or getting a bad review (who hasn’t made a fashion faux pas?) but to pretend that you (TBF) are the one at fault?  Uh uh.  Sorry.  Now they just have egg on their face.

No don’t take them down. Everyone should be able to express their opinions on the line whether they be positive or negative. If they don’t like it, tough.

Did you check to see if that “letter” from the “Assistant General Counsel of Steve & Barry’s” (quotation marks mine) is legitimate?  I have never seen ANY communication from any lawyer or legal professional written like that.  Ever.  It doesn’t read as though it were written by a practicing attorney.  I bet it was written by someone posing as such (which is also a no-no in the legal world!).

My thoughts on whether you should take the pictures down:  NO!  It’s your site and you can put up, and keep up, whatever you want.  If the pictures were in fact in the public domain, then you’ve done nothing wrong.  I’d check with your attorney about what you can do if that letter turns out not to have been written by S & B’s assistant general counsel.

Here’s the thing:  if a girl is as cute as SJP, she would just look okay in these clothes…cause SJP is so cute she doesn’t need a lot of help.  My 17 year old granddaughter would look cute in them.,..but she can pull out something from Goodwill, without looking, and look cute.  The rest of us?  We need help.  I would wear the white pants, red stripe tee, with a denim jacket.  BUT since I have 3 similar pieces in my closet, I don’t need to buy Sarah’s.  I just got a cute idea.

No, don’t take them down. They are just mad because the line is uninspired and boring. I’m sure Sara Jessica Parker would never wear these clothes. Not to mention, she probably had little to do with the design process other than lending her name for a hefty check. She also has a stylist for her shows, movies, and red carpet appearances. When you see her on the street she looks awful, so why should we buy her line anyway. You got these photos legally and they couldn’t even be bothered to address you by name. I would ignore them if I were you. You are doing your readers a service.

KF, Do not remove those pictures.  As long as they are legit, you have every right to post them.  The letter seems to be saying you did not receive the pictures in a legit fashion.  But you are saying you did.  So, if it’s legit, leave it up with no fear.  Your opinion is your opinion, and that’s why we read you.  In addition, you weren’t even that harsh.  You said some really nice things about SJP and said you would like to like the line.  And you always ask you readers opinions.  I really like your blog and hope you won’t change a thing.

Don’t take the pics down! It’s too late anyways, lots of people saw that this line is not good. It’s just not fashion forward.
The reason I like this site is because you give your honest opinion. I like that. If you take down the pics, then you’d be like those tv shows that seem like they get paid to say something horrible looks awesome.Please don’t turn into one of those.

It would definitely affect the intregity of the entire concept of your website to remove these items.  By all means, please keep the post!!! Keep doing your thing girl, we depend on you…

Doesn’t make sense - they’re flat out lying in their letter by saying you took the pictures from a password protected site - so don’t even bother giving in to them.

Leave them up…..

As a PR person myself, I will first say that their public relations and legal tactics need some serious work, which you’ve touched on already.  It’s completely disingenuous to post as anyone other than yourself (hello, did they not hear of the Wal-Mart faux blog fiasco?!) and you’re right that they should at least reach out to you directly.

However, IF it’s true that those pictures were leaked then it would be appropriate for you to take them down (common courtesy, perhaps?). If they weren’t leaked and they’re just doing damage control, then that’s another story…

That’s ridiculous! You got the photos legally and I think you should be able to keep them up. They are just trying to cover their asses because their clothing line sucks. I can’t believe they asked you to take them down. I agree with you that sending the letter “To Whom It May Concern” is lacking in taste and consideration.

You are the TBF and you and your readers have the right to an opinion as applied by the first amendment. 

You have dedicated your site to opinions on fashion and budgets. To stifle your objective style would turn off your readers who believe that you are a non-biased, regular consumer with connections to the fashion world.

It can’t be slander if it is true, right? It is a discussion forum and deserves to be posted, whether the product is good or bad.  Other sites have their integrity on the line (good housekeeping seal?), to give their honest evaluation of a product. I see you as no different.

I definitely do not think that you should take them don’t think think you should take them down. This blog is supposed be a truthful, UNBIASED look at fashion. You shouldn’t have to cater to their wishes, thats like someone asking a journalist to not publish a story because it puts them in a bad light. Of course, this is probably done all the time in some form or another, but at least the journalists are bribed or have something at stake in the situation. So unless they give you some freebies for it, don’t do it.

Take the pictures down because they are ugly anyways and are messing up the beautiful website.  If they had received more positive responses then there never would have been a problem.