Thorough authentication of an Alexander McQueen scarf can be complicated and requires inspecting logos, tagging, edges, design details and overall pattern. However, for iconic Alexander McQueen skull scarves, there's a nifty trick that can tell you if that skull scarf is most likely real or fake Alexander McQueen FAST.
This trick applies to most of the classic skull scarves. These are the thin fabric (silk chiffon or modal/cashmere blend) Alexander McQueen scarves with solid skull patterns. There are select classic skull scarves that cannot be authenticated this way, but MOST iconic skull scarves can be.
Take a look at the Alexander McQueen logo on the scarf. It is in the same color as the skulls or near the same color as the skulls.
Now, hold this area up to the light! As shown above, on most authentic classic skull scarves, the Alexander McQueen logo stands out differently compared to the rest of the scarf. Whereas on a fake scarf, the logo will blend like the skulls and the rest of the scarf. Quick and easy, right? And, most fake skull scarves will not pass this trick!
If you ever come across an Alexander McQueen scarf at a secondhand store, be sure to put this fast easy trick to the test!
Have I got a treat for you today! One of the lovely ladies in our Lollipuff community, Sara, emailed me pictures of her Herve Leger collection along with some modeling shots. It's a gorgeous array of dresses and tops!
Sara, thank you so much for taking these pictures to share with us! You look amazing in Herve Leger and are totally and completely awesome!
The best part of Lollipuff is the people. I am sincerely touched with all of the support and grateful for everything that we've shared together.
Christmas came a little early this year. BCBG sent me a Herve Leger Barbie! This gift is extremely sentimental. Not only is it my first Barbie doll, but the little plastic gal dons my favorite designer line ever!
The beautiful doll before de-boxing!
The Herve Leger Barbie retails $150 and can be purchased from Herve Leger, Neiman Marcus and Barbie Collector. Only 9200 units were produced.
Here it is all out. The Barbie conveniently comes with a stand. Other accessories include the doll, 2 pairs of Herve Leger shoes, 2 Herve Leger clutches, 1 corset harness and two iconic bandage dresses.
The dresses are fantastically made using the same fabric composition that real Herve Leger dresses utilize. The fabric is scaled down, so it is much thinner than human sized Herve Leger fabric. The shoes are made of painted rubber. The two clutches both open and close and can carry barbie sized accessories. The black clutch has tiny snap closures. The gold clutch is hinged. The most impressive accessory is the harness. It makes each of the Barbie dresses look extremely edgy and trendy, and has the coolest details, including tiny buckles and back zipper!
The doll is not fully articulated. This means that the elbows and knees cannot be adjusted. One arm is bent, while the other is extended. The doll's arms can be adjusted at the shoulders. The legs can be adjusted at the hips, and the head orientation can also be adjusted. Full articulation could make this doll's poses really artistic and beautiful, but the knees and elbows would have looked more clunky.
The doll is really beautiful from all angles.
Herve Leger Barbie's hair is made up of different shades of blonde and silver. The braided ponytail is a blend of Herve Leger Spring 2013 and Herve Leger Spring 2012's runway show hair. The skin is a light tan color. The head is made of a soft rubber, while the body is a hard plastic. And, the makeup is a smoky eye with silver accent. The lip is a natural nude.
The face is beautiful but strong. Unique features include angled blue eyes and a slightly strong jawline.
For Herve Leger fanatics, you'll be giddy with the tiny Herve Leger tags inside the dresses! Isn't that absolutely adorable?
There are two types of Chanel PST bags. One is a longer rectangular shape, and the other is more square. This bag review is for the square petite shopping tote bag in black caviar leather.
Happy Thanksgiving! For this day filled with huge amounts of eating, I like wearing casual loose clothes.
Wearing Alexander McQueen Skull scarf (similar here), Target gray sweater, Paige jeans, Chanel PST bag, Jessica Simpson boots (similar here)
The Chanel PST bag in caviar is one of the most convenient bags. It has unbeatable access with three large compartments. One zippered section for more valuable possessions, and 2 large slip compartments to put high usage items like cell phones. The durable finish of caviar leather and classic style make it a great everyday bag.
The size of this bag is extremely convenient. I can easily fit a small notebook, several pieces of cosmetics, wallet, phone, tissues, lotion, and much more.
Dimensions:
10 x 7 x 4.5 inches with a 9 inch shoulder drop
I wish the Herve Leger boutique were closer to me. There's just nothing quite like the vast options available in Herve Leger stores. But, I did get to try on and review some Herve Leger dresses from Nordstrom recently. Take a look at some of the most recent Herve Leger dresses and what I think of them.
I've tried the Sarai in a number of colors. The fit of the foil was no different. This dress ran mostly true to size / maybe half size big. It's simple and unquestionably classic.
I always love a black Herve Leger top. I love how it smooths any flaws and looks effortlessly sexy. This top was worn backwards.
The Carmen dress was surprising. It was absolutely gorgeous on. Even though this dress is mostly faux banded, it had amazing hold! And, the style is effortless sexy. No worry about showing too much cleavage, and a flattering but classy length! The hourglass shape definitely keeps this dress extremely hot! Definitely my favorite on this shopping trip! The size I have on is xxs. This dress runs half a size small.
Loved this Carmen dress, so there are two pics of it. 🙂
There is a rumor that metallic dresses have additional hold compared to regular non-foil Herve Leger dresses. I don't find this to be true; the fit is about the same as non-foiled dresses. This gold dress is the Catherine and runs one size big.
The sequined Rasha dress was covered in gorgeous sequins. I loved the sequins, but found the neckline to be a little too high for my liking. This dress runs one size small.
Finally, the last is a textural Herve Leger. It's a new finish that makes the outside of the dress feel really bumpy. I didn't find anything uniquely flattering about it. The Ebba dress costs $2340 + tax due to this finish!
Hope you enjoyed my Herve Leger shopping trip and found the pictures and reviews helpful!
I recently got to handle the Chanel Jumbo XL in black lambskin and gold hardware, and it rocked my world a little. Everything about this bag is glamorous and oh-so-luxurious! This bag's beauty has to be shared; check out my review of this amazing purse!
This bag probably shouts "CHANEL" more than any other bag I've handled. A huge bag in smooth, glossy black lambskin... and then, there's the huge hardware! Gold hardware against black lambskin is like chrome on a black luxury car. It just looks polished and decadent!
The Chanel Jumbo XL Flap is in a very similar size as the Chanel Maxi Flap.
Chanel Jumbo XL - 13.5 x 9 x 4 inches
Chanel Maxi - 13 x 9 x 4 inches
The biggest difference between these two popular bags, is the hardware. The Jumbo XL is no longer being made by Chanel and has huge CC's, making it extremely striking and coveted.
The Chanel flap bags are extremely functional and easy to use. The back pocket is extremely convenient for cell phones. And, it's definitely roomy; the Chanel Jumbo XL is quite large and can hold a lot more than anything I would ever carry. And, even when it's mostly empty, it keeps great shape.
The straps on the Jumbo XL can be singled for a longer strap, or doubled. To be honest, I think this large bag looks strange when the strap is worn singled. 😛
For size reference, I'm a very average 5 foot 5 inches in height.
One of the things that really bug me is when some consignment stores and sites claim that an item is authentic, because they have handled or touched the item. This shows that they really don't know what they're doing. Only really horrendous fakes are screened out this way. An understanding of each designer line is required for accurate authentication.
With this post, I hope to dissipate the myth that touch is more informative than sight. There's a reason why some consignment stores pay us to do their authentications by sending us pictures when they have the item already in their possession. Examining the obvious things like weight, feel, and stitching just don't work when authenticating non-obvious counterfeits.
We put an ok fake Chanel shopping tote next to an authentic Chanel shopping tote. The fake bag on the left weighs about 1 lb and 8 oz. The slightly smaller authentic on the right weighs 1 lb and 6 oz. The tassel on the fake has good weight to it. Neither feel like plastic and both have a fine leather grain.
Take a look at the shoulder straps. They both exhibit a fine leather grain, and uniform stitching. Again, touch and feel fail us in authenticating these items.
So, how does accurate authentication actually happen? We'll give you three photograph examples of how we can tell which is fake.
We know that the thick tassel strings is not consistent with Chanel production of black soft leather bags. Unless the tassels were switched out by a non-Chanel individual, we know that this is a fake.
Finally, take a look at the Chanel stamping. The fake Chanel stamp is in the wrong font. Chanel never produced a font that looked like this. Plus, look at the round cc zipper pull. The round cc zipper pull exhibits several mistakes: the way that it is attached, and the cc logo is completely off.
It's easier for a counterfeiter to produce a fake that feels like the real thing. But, sourcing and reproducing the exact same zippers, magnet closures, pattern details, charms, fabrics, stamping, fonts, serial stickers, etc, etc based on time of manufacture and specific style is quite a challenge and also makes the process much much more expensive.
If someone cannot do authentication by thorough photographs, it usually means that they aren't qualified to do authentications. If a site or store is accepting all brands under the sun, and claims that their items are authentic, because they take them in hand... that is a HUGE red flag!
Today, I wanted to show a casual work appropriate outfit with the Louis Vuitton Jeune Fille shoulder bag. Come check out the classic look of Louis Vuitton monogram bags!
My favorite thing about Louis Vuitton canvas bags are how sturdy they are! They match with virtually any everyday outfit and have a unique charm. I paired a small Jeune Fille Louis Vuitton bag with a Smythe blazer (here), Equipment blouse (similar here), Paige jeans and a pair of amazing silver Christian Louboutin Pigalle Plato.
The versatility of this bag is fantastic. You can also adjust the strap to be longer and wear this bag crossbody.
By the way, this Smythe blazer is one of my all time favorite wardrobe purchases. I liked it so much that it was purchased at retail cost, which is extremely rare for me. I love everything about it. The navy color and classic cut make it timeless and versatile. Fit and structure are paramount when selecting clothes, and this one does both amazingly.
Hope you enjoyed this outfit post! Why do you like Louis Vuitton, and what kind of outfits do you wear with them?
Whether it's because you have a really stubborn stain on a pale Herve Leger, or just because you wish the dress was in a different color, some of us have wondered if it were possible to dye Herve Leger. Well, you're finally going to find out! 🙂
I have to say that dying Herve Leger was not a hassle-free process. It's definitely troublesome. There are things to watch out for, and a few unexpected surprises. Read the full article if you are thinking of doing this!
Materials Needed for Dyeing:
Bucket - Get a much bigger one than the one that I used, unless you're dying something smaller like a top or skirt. A too small bucket like mine can cause uneven dyeing.
Herve Leger dress to be dyed
RIT powder dye
Some sort of stick(s) for mixing - I used two barbecue skewers.
One plastic/styrofoam cup
Bleach to clean up afterwards
Rubber gloves - I didn't have these, but these would have been wonderful!
So... on to the steps! We basically followed the bucket directions specified on the dye box:
Step 1: Mix Dye
Mix one cup of hot water with half of the powder (0.5 oz). Stir well. It's good to use a throwaway cup, as dye is going in it!
Step 2: Mix the Dye Bath
Pour 1.5 gallons of hot boiled water into your bucket. Then stir in your mixed dye from the cup. Stir the bucket. The bucket that we used was really too small for a heavy Herve Leger dress. If it had allowed more room, our dye results would have been better.
Step 3: Wet the Herve Leger in plain hot water.
All of these little steps will affect how even the dye job turns out.
Step 4: Submerge the Herve Leger into the bucket.
Step 5: Rinse
Start by rinsing the Herve Leger in warm water, and then steadily transition to cold water. Finally, wash the dress with light detergent. Rinse until the water is running clear. This was the most aggravating part of the process. It took forever for it to stop running slightly pink. It is best to do this in a white tub, so you can see what the color of the water is. Don't worry, it won't dye your tub, if you wash it immediately afterwards with a little chlorine.
Step 6: Dry
Throw it into the dryer! Easiest step! We put this into the dryer on high heat for about 45 minutes, since the dress was drenched.
The result:
Certain parts of the dress did not change color. The cool thing is that all the tags remained their original color. This is probably due to the fabric composition of these tags. The bad part was that the whole zipper, and threading did not change color either. This does not look good, and if the dress had lots of individual banding, this could pose as a problem as well. Also, because the dress is stretchy, when you stretch the material, you can see tiny tiny wee spots of light pink, instead of bright fuschia pink. The color does not look as rich as a Herve Leger that was manufactured fuschia pink.
Amazingly, the stretch and integrity of the fabric was not damaged, in spite of the exposure to such high heat.
This dress had some really bad permanent stain spots. See what the dye did to disguise it!
So, what did I learn from this? In my opinion, if the Herve Leger doesn't have horrible permanent stains, don't dye it! The original beauty of the dress is really hard to trump. The process is not simple, and the results can be unexpected. And, don't dye the dress an entirely different color; the threading and zipper will remain the original color.
We know that you ladies love these authentication tests, so we're bringing another one to you! Test your authentication skills on MCQ Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Balenciaga, Christian Louboutin, Herve Leger, Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton!
The answers are at the bottom.
1, 5, and 7 were authentic. The rest are fake.