The Big Fake Debate

Now here's an issue very close to my heart. "To fake or not to fake".

I could probably count on one hand the amount of people that I know that don't own a fake something or other, myself included.

Here's my humble opinion and I am painfully aware, that my mission to rid the world of fakes is that will most likely go unsolved but damned if I am going down without a fight so here goes;

• If you cannot afford the real thing.. you shouldn't have it!! You are not the target market of Chanel or Marc Jacobs or Prada or Jimmy Choo, these designers do not want you to own their bags, so stop pretending you're something you are not and go buy a bag from Topshop like the rest of us poor folk!

• By owning a 'Jimmy Choo' bag you are saying to the world 'I love Jimmy Choo' right? WRONG! You hate Jimmy Choo! Do you really think that these designers are happy that their hard work, their ideas, their designs have fallen into the hands of fakers. Do you think they are happy that the money that should rightly be theirs, is in fact.. not? Personally, if I worked really hard on designing a really amazing IT bag and everyone started walking around with fake versions of my creation, I'd be completely devastated and I think in your heart of hearts you know that you would be too.

• Did you know it takes something like up to 6 weeks to make a Hermes Birkin bag, one of the worlds most sought after IT bags.

• Did you also know that your fake version is most likely made by a crying 8 year old, forced to work excruciatingly long hours for a pittance in a dirty, hot, little sweatshop while being beaten at the same time or at very least verbally abused.if you can handle that blood on your hands then, by all means, fake away.. I won't be angry, just very very disappointed!

And why is it that whenever I go off on one of my 'fake' rants I am greeted with a chorus of; "But it's a good fake"... What do you mean a ''good fake''? It's a completely conflicting statement. Sure it might look 'good' or as close to the real thing as it can but guess what.. IT'S STILL FAKE!

I am lucky enough to own a few designer items, all 100% real and I'm so proud to say that I saved up my money and paid for them myself which is a truly amazing feeling.

There's something about the whole experience, of going to a beautiful shop, picking out your beautiful item, trying it on, handing over your hard earned money to the shop assistant who is beaming from ear to ear because you have just paid for her next weeks rent, then walking out of the shop with a notably lighter wallet but fabulous new addition to your wardrobe.

I would, at this point, like to mention that my hatred of fakes does also rollover to DVDs and CDs etc and if I have to hear about one more person that just got back from Bali with a suitcase full of pirated DVDs I may have to stab myself in the eye!

I now invite anyone to leave your comments on which side of this debate you stand. I should warn you that I will win, so your feedback may be in vein but very very welcome!

To fake or not to fake.. which side are you on?