Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but in the world of fashion it consitutes a multi-billion-dollar sore spot.  Burberry, Gucci, Coach, and the ubiquitous Louis Vuitton (ever seen an old lady in LV-print pants?) have witnessed their logos splashed illegally across all sorts of gaudy merch.

For my fellow fashionistas who wish they could get their hands on something a bit cheaper than that $900 Tod’s tote at Holt Renfrew, here are the options:

1. Discount Designer Handbags

2. Designer Inspired Handbags

(yes, there are really only two options.)

Discount Designer Handbags: These stores are purveyors of last season’s merch, over-produced, overly-trendy, or just ugly handbags that not enough rich folk want to shell out for.  Let’s face it, they’re last season (and sometimes fairly… interesting looking…), but they still have a gool old bona fide logo slapped on them.  And they’re the genuine real deal.  Here are some places to pick up one of these discounted duffles:

http://www.pophandbags-shop.com/view.php?id=34

http://www.bagstyleonline.com

http://www.principalfashion.com

**NOTE:  ‘discount fashion’ is definitely grey-market.  While some products are almost certainly legit, others will not be.  Hint:  you can buy fake rolexes for $1,000 … so how could you buy a real one for under $10?***

Designer Inspired, Designer Replica:

These are the significantly less glamorous (and much more shoddily made) look-somewhat-alikes of the real things.  You can buy one of these but once you’ve left your teenage years behind (or you happen to be a sweet little old lady), these things aren’t worth your time or money.  Just buy a plain, higher-quality bag for the same price, minus the tacky pretend logos all over.

http://www.aaareplicas.com/ (to be fair, these are really good replicas by my standards)

haha, and this is just for kicks.  keepin it real.  over and out!

In my eyes, Tom Ford can rarely do wrong. Time and again he has brought his game to the runways at Gucci, working magic on collection after collection and re-vamping Gucci as one of the world’s leading fashion houses. Not only that, he is constantly flanked by some of the world’s most beautiful people, all dressed in some of the world’s most beautiful clothes. Be that as it may, that does not mean that everything he produces is necessarily gold.

Take this year’s AW08 collection, for instance (one of the few I’d dare criticize – the man is a virtuoso). Ford sends models down the runway in a mishmash of autumn palette: prussian blues, regal reds, dark browns and rich blacks. We see some new trends emerging, as well as the follow-through of some old ones: the increasing use of enormous man-bags and the proliferation of the Shantung shirt (a button-down blouse with a wide open pointy collar). However, there were some drawbacks.

I found the clashing dissonance of patterns, though certainly a distinct look, not to be a very appealing one. Many looks that went down the runway were just too cluttered or laden down with a cacophony of distracting details. I guess you could call it ‘rustic’ or ‘nostalgic’. You could even postulate that it looks like the sort of clothing you’d wear, huddled around the fire, drinking hot cocoa. I’ll grant it that much, but it’s a little too tacky and laden with texture to be completely appealing. Furthermore, I’m getting sick of designers constantly looking backwards for inspiration. While the collection did thrive with a horde of new ideas I found that some old cliches were brought into play – like the rustic patterns that played out across the women’s collection.

Now that I’m done griping and looking like a very poor sport, let’s get on with what I liked about the collection. The evening gowns, for one thing, were incredible. This is as it should be: Gucci gowns have long slunk through swanky lounges across the globe. Another thing I really liked were the tassle boots, as sported in the ladies collection. The mens outerwear is definitely worth investing in (if you plan to remortgage your house anytime soon). Here are a few of the good (and bad) looks that capture the essence of Gucci’s AW08.