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Friday, 4 November 2011

How To Locate Authentic Designer Handbags

By David C Marcus


It is easy to find knock-off's of designer handbags on the market today, much to the chagrin of the authentic handbag designers. These knock-offs aim to capitalize on the popularity of the designer's handbags and are sold on street corners, black markets and various other illicit avenues all for the love of money. There are also legitimate copies of designer bags made by manufacturers who also wish to capitalize on the popularity of the bags and make a buck, but do so at the expense of no one. They are simply offering customers a reasonable facsimile of a designer bag at an affordable price. They are not pretending to sell something that it is not.

These handbag copying manufacturers have worked hard to make their bags closely resemble the real designer bags and the designers have worked equally hard to distinguish their bags from the copy cats. This makes designers happy, but leaves handbag customers at sea attempting to separate truth from fiction when they go on their hunt for a designer bag to call their own.

The good news is, if you know what you're looking for you've got a fighting chance at getting your hands on a genuine, authentic designer handbag.

1. The first thing to look at when you are trying to determine the authenticity of a bag is the leather. The leather on a high-end bag is usually the finest leather in the world. It will be smooth and soft. Most knock-off bag use second-rate leather that looks rigid or scaly.

2. Stitching is another dead give away that the bag is pseudo. The authentic designer bag will have stitches that match the leather so closely you can hardly see them. The seams will be straight and the edges covered by folds. Cheap knock-off bags will have overlapped leather and possibly even loose ends stitched into the shoulder straps.

If the leather hasn't convinced you as to the authenticity of the bag, check the fabric on the interior of the bag. Knock-offs usually have a basic print or plain fabric lining. Authentic bags will have the brand name printed on the fabric lining.

Another step being taken by high-end handbag designers to cut off the number of imposters finding their way out into the black market is stamping all of the rivets and metal on the bag with the brand name. For example, Prada always stamps all of the metal on the bag with their name, down to the smallest piece. With Prada, the stem of the "r" is never perfectly straight. If you find a bag with a straight "r" stamped in the metal, it isn't an authentic Prada. Put it carefully back on the shelf, step back, then run screaming in the opposite direction.

And lastly, there are a lot of designers now who provide registration cards with each bag they sell to set them apart from the fakes. Some even include holograms on the registration cards that cannot be duplicated. Also the registration number on the card should match up with the registration number placed somewhere on the bag itself. You will encounter some designer bags with stamping of the registration number inside the bag, others will sew or rivet the number on a metal or bronze plate. Before buying that bag in your hands, find out where the designer of your bag usually puts their stamp and that the stamp on the registration card and the one on the bag are identical.

There you go. You have it. All the tools you need to figure out whether the designer handbag in your hands is real or a fake. Now what are you waiting for? It's time to go forth and find that designer shopping bag you've been dreaming about.




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