ISO Soft Leather Large Black Birkin/Kelly bag copy

amother

Red

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 2:08 am

ISO Soft Leather Large Black Birkin/Kelly bag copy. It doesnt have to be a line for line copy, but it has to look similar.

The Kelly bag and the Birkin bag look similar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkin_bag
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_bag

The real ones cost many thousands, about $20,000, but there are good fakes made by legitimate companies. I think after a certain amount of time companies can legally copy other companies' designs.

It has to be very soft.

If I buy online, it has to be easily returnable.

Id only buy if I find one thats very soft genuine leather, and at an affordable price. I wouldnt spend more than $250, so maybe its hopeless.

Fox

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 2:28 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

I love Wikipedia. Under the Birkin entry, they say-

See also:

Conspicuous consumption
Economic materialism

LOL

Personally, I blame Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark Supreme Court decision that dealt a striking blow to the luxury handbag business.

Oh . . . wait. It also had something to do with gay marriage, right? Well, it just goes to show you that putting women on SCOTUS does no good whatsoever if they don't appreciate the natural order of acquiring high-end luxury handbags.

So now gay men are spending their disposable income on fancy weddings instead of on luxury handbags for the deserving young women in their lives -- who could wear those handbags for 30 years until their husbands were either rich enough or wouldn't notice the acquisition of a new bag.

Granted, few young women have the talent to become besties with a guy capable of springing for a Birkin or Kelly, but a Louis Vuitton or possibly Chanel is within the reach of many, especially if they pool their resources. Alas, my DDs' generation has no way to charm or socialize their way to their first luxury bag, and are reduced to saving their money and participating in crass commercial transactions.

(I'm joking, pretty much, for those of you who are about to write lengthy posts about marriage equality and whatever)

Last edited by Fox on Mon, Oct 15 2018, 2:32 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Red

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 2:32 pm

Fox wrote:

What size are you looking for? The Birkin comes in sizes ranging from 25 centimeters, which is definitely a handbag, to 40 centimeters, which is a briefcase/overnight bag. There are even some smaller and larger versions. The most common are the 28 cm, the 32 cm, and the 35 cm, which are in the briefcase/tote category.

Id like in the 15" width range (similar to a bag I have), thats 38 cm, and definitely not a briefcase size. Unless theyre measuring differently than I am.

Fox

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 3:41 pm

Okay -- here's my advice. Just be warned that you may not like it.

I am against both fake luxury handbags as well as "styled like" -- bags that are sold as replicas but at least sold honestly.

The fake luxury handbag market is a cesspool of profit for the worst people in the world: terrorists, child traffickers, and people who abuse their employees in ways we can't even imagine. Just don't do it.

The "styled like" market is marginally better, but only marginally. These are mostly produced in China and Honduras, and some are actually quite good quality. The problem here is that anyone who is more than passingly familiar with luxury handbags is probably going to spot it for exactly what it is and be extremely unimpressed.

Truthfully, very, very few of us can get away with a replica Birkin or Kelly. Few of us, even those who are relatively prosperous, have either the financial means or are committed enough to luxury handbags to be shlepping around a $20K+ bag to the local grocery store or to work every morning. If your overall lifestyle doesn't support the idea that you would be using a $20K+ bag, this is not a look that will work. You end up looking like a poseur who doesn't know her handbags very well.

So here's my advice on what to do: figure out the features of the Birkin you want, and look for those features -- not the precise styling -- at a price point you can afford.

Here are two that caught my eye:

Ralph Lauren Dryden

Radley London Liverpool Street

I'm also a huge fan of Classic Coach. Some people find it dated looking, but I think it always looks great. It looks like old money, as if you inherit your bags rather than buy them. You can get great Coach bags used on eBay, and while the new lines are a little outside your budget, they're not wildly outside. Coach outlets will refurbish older bags for free or at little cost, depending on what needs to be done.

Hatzlacha, and be sure to show us what you end up with!

amother

Hotpink

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 3:58 pm

amother wrote:

The real ones cost many thousands, about $20,000, but there are good fakes made by legitimate companies. I think after a certain amount of time companies can legally copy other companies' designs.

Yeah. For a work for hire, that's now 95 from first publication.

Copying these bags is counterfeiting, and its illegal.

As Fox said, get something that has the qualities that you want, but isn't a counterfeit.

amother

Red

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 4:01 pm

amother wrote:

Copying these bags is counterfeiting, and its illegal.

As Fox said, get something that has the qualities that you want, but isn't a counterfeit.

Afaik if the bags are not marked with the designers name, claiming to be that brand (Hermes) theyre 1000000% legit. Theres a certain amount of time that legally, designs cant be copied (statute of limitations????). After that amount of time, as long as you dont use the designer or brand name, its 100% legit.

"Knockoffs vs. Counterfeits
Designs are not protected by copyright law, although designers continue to lobby Congress to change this. Since it is not illegal to copy the overall design of a handbag, if you purchased a bag that is merely shaped like the famed Hermes Birkin bag you are not necessarily carrying an illegal fake. It may simply be a clever knockoff.

However, if you are carrying a bag with a Louis Vuitton LV logo or if Hermes is engraved on the zipper, and you paid much less than market price, it is most likely counterfeit."

https://handbags.lovetoknow.co....._Bags

Fox

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 4:26 pm

Got it!

I would take a look at some of the following brands. All of them make bags in soft, pebbled leather in the approximate size you want. Some are more dressy looking, while others are less so, but they're all around the price point you want.

Rebecca Minkoff
Kate Spade
Furla
MCM -- a little more expensive and fewer soft, pebbled options, but worth checking out.

Don't be afraid of the secondary market, either. You can buy a more expensive bag for the same price, but some nice lady will have broken it in for you.

Here's a Kate Spade bag on TheRealReal that might have possibilities:

A great bag would be Mansur Gavriel's Sun Bag. Mansur Gavriel leathers are vegetable-tanned, so they start off stiffer and become very soft over time. The leather is also thinner, making them less stiff than similar bags. Unfortunately, they're a little outside your price point unless you found one really going begging on the secondary market. This used bag is selling for $550 after discounts.

Fox

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 4:45 pm

amother wrote:

Knockoffs vs. Counterfeits
Designs are not protected by copyright law, although designers continue to lobby Congress to change this. Since it is not illegal to copy the overall design of a handbag, if you purchased a bag that is merely shaped like the famed Hermes Birkin bag you are not necessarily carrying an illegal fake. It may simply be a clever knockoff.

However, if you are carrying a bag with a Louis Vuitton LV logo or if Hermes is engraved on the zipper, and you paid much less than market price, it is most likely counterfeit."

https://handbags.lovetoknow.co....._Bags

This is correct. "Styled like" bags are not illegal, but they still occupy a kind of grey moral area as far as I'm concerned.

But even if you don't have any moral qualms about "styled like" bags, I wouldn't buy one. People who don't know anything about luxury handbags won't particularly appreciate it, and people who do will immediately realize it's not the real thing.

Just as an unrelated side note, you never know where you'll find luxury handbag aficianados. It's a crazily diverse world. My plumber is a big expert on luxury handbags, and a truck driver once approached me while I was waiting for my kids outside the restrooms at a truck stop somewhere in Pennsylvania. He looked and sounded like every stereotype of a Southern truck driver. After briefly looking me up and down, he said, "Now here's a lady someone must love a lot if she's worth an Epi Speedy. Would that be a 25 or 30?" I said, "It's a 25, but I should've gotten the 30. It's hard to dig stuff out of it." He replied, "Yup, I can see where that'd be true," tipped his baseball cap slightly and wandered off.

amother

Red

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 4:51 pm

Fox wrote:

and a truck driver once approached me while I was waiting for my kids outside the restrooms at a truck stop somewhere in Pennsylvania. He looked and sounded like every stereotype of a Southern truck driver. After briefly looking me up and down, he said, "Now here's a lady someone must love a lot if she's worth an Epi Speedy. Would that be a 25 or 30?" I said, "It's a 25, but I should've gotten the 30. It's hard to dig stuff out of it." He replied, "Yup, I can see where that'd be true," tipped his baseball cap slightly and wandered off.

I assume you mean you have one of the very expensive Louis Vuitton bags (that I never owned, but I used to admire, but now I go for a softer feel)?

Fox

Mon, Oct 15 2018, 5:10 pm

amother wrote:

I assume you mean you have one of the very expensive Louis Vuitton bags (that I never owned, but I used to admire, but now I go for a softer feel)?

Yeah, it's one of the non-monogram leather finishes, as apparently the truck drivers and plumbers of the world can tell you. Very Happy

I always buy on the secondary market, though. I think it's nice that rich ladies are willing to break in my bag so I don't have to.