It is cool to own a high end item such as a pair of Uggs, Louis Vuitton leather goods or something from the more pricy end of the fashion scale, and some people will resort to anything to get them, including buying counterfeits. It is wrong for many reasons.

It is not cool or trendy to own a fake; These days the fakes may look quite genuine, in fact a lot do nowadays, but you will always know you have bought a fake, it means it is not special, you have taken away the “cool” element, and are left with a fake.

There is the other element of hurting the brand. If you buy a fake then you are supporting the fake industry and harming the fashion labels. The fake will also not be as good quality, as it is exactly that, a cheap copy.

I was watching a news report today about Barbour, who are a leader in the outerwear and jacket department and have been for the past few years, almost everyone owns a Barbour jacket, including myself, which I got at the back end of last year, and I love it. I had no problems with paying the £150 because I loved it, had been looking to buy one for a while and I could afford it; It feels good knowing I have been able to get myself such a thing.

Now there will be people saying “I can’t afford a £1000 Louis Vuitton bag” and yeah, many probably can’t. But that doesn’t mean you should go out and buy a fake – Just buy one you can afford which is genuine; Give another designer a chance and buy their genuine product.

Fakes are rife in fashion, always have been and probably always will be. As with most things like this, it is the more expensive, desirable brands such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Barbour and Uggs which seem to be copied the most.

There are no real need for too many tips, just common sense. Remember the phrase “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is“. TRUE! If you see some half price Ugg boots from an unknown website then they could be fake. “You think the website looks professional?” – Well they are making fake Uggs, I am sure that they can make a website look half genuine.

It is always advised to buy from an official stockist, direct from the brand or a trusted store/site.

Some official sites like the Uggs site have a checker which can tell you if it is a known counterfeit site or a known authorised retailer. Use with caution, just because it is not known to be counterfeit doesn’t mean that it isn’t!

Screenshot from the Uggs website with the “Counterfeit website” message.

Uggs website showing an authorised retailer message.

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