there are people who dislike knock-offs on principle. we are not those people.
i have to say i kind of love the dollar store. everything is so jumbled together, and most of it is total crap, but today i walked out with about 15 picture frames for 16 dollars. it was rad.
used to be that you could only get tchotchkes and decorative candle holders with pigs on them in the decor section, but today i noticed something different. sandwiched between the bottles of toxic blue cleanser and the plastic ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles was some real home improvement stuff! you could always get screwdrivers, and duct tape, but i found vinyl floor tiles, some of which were actually good-looking! i’m such a fan of these if you have a boring rental kitchen with a disgusting floor. it’s so easy to cut, and if you’re good at math you can do crazy things like this:
from AT
even if you lay it plain, it’s inexpensive, and it may not be high design, but at least it’s CLEAN, you know? your landlord will thank you, if not pay for it.
and get this, also at the family dollar, i found grommet style drapes in a neutral tan for 10 bucks for two panels! totally would have bought them had i had a client who needed some. basic, yes. boring? only if everything else is tan. splurge on some gorgeous wallpaper and and simple drapes are the perfect touch. YOU CANNOT BEAT 10 DOLLAR DRAPES, PEOPLE! especially ones without fruit baskets on them. it was a bright spot in my day.
so, since there is no internet dollar store, i give you these, in the seasonal spirit of value:
overstock is a pretty great place to look. and this is one i haven’t seen before.
check these out:
not a bad look-alike for these. however, the styling is clearly via photoshop. hilarious.
i mean, basically, you’re paying the extra 100 dollars a panel for them to get up off their butts and put a real plant in the photo. i don’t give a crap about plant modeling. give me some cheap drapes.
what’s your take on knock offs? do you own any? are you filled with guilt and regret? or more importantly, DO YOU LIE AND SAY THEY’RE REAL? spill it, you evil little things.
Posted: December 16th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments
Comment from Brigitte
Time December 16, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I think it’s super funny that you’re using West Elm as the “original design” example here — since they’re the king of knock offs. I say this as a frequent buyer of their merch.
I don’t like it when chain stores go to foreign countries, buy a piece of art and mass produce it, because it’s exploitative.
But really, there are only so many ways to design a chair (assuming you’re leaving the basic structure alone). So what is a knock off anyway?
Comment from Janell
Time December 16, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Great eye, I would have passed right over the photoshop issue! Too funny.
As for knock-offs, sure I’d like to say not on your life. But then there is reality. Like how when I got my first house I wanted, really needed, a barcelona chair and ottoman. Here was the dilemma: buy the real deal and have no other furniture for a couple years or get the great knock off and move on. I have no regrets, I found a pair that have stood up to the test of time.
Janell
Comment from Sue
Time December 16, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I have seen some really snooty comments on Apt Therapy about the Overstock knockoffs, and I am here to say that I have ordered stuff from DWR and it was TOTALLY FLIMSY CRAP. I would rather pay $100 for totally flimsy crap than $2K. I prefer to buy vintage, but if not– I’ll take what I can get, i.e. less photo styling. If the ‘original’ is higher quality, then I’ll try for it, but there is a limit.
Comment from Courtney
Time December 16, 2009 at 4:11 pm
you’re so right brigitte! i guess my knock off drapes are actually a knock off of a knock off. i would be embarrassed if i wasn’t still flushed with victory.
here’s a question: i agree that taking advantage of an artisan in a foreign country by jacking their style is evil. especially because it probably would be way cheap just to buy the stuff and resell it at a higher price. but what about those famous peeps like eames and wegner? when we steal their chair shapes, we’re essentially paying someone else for stealing intellectual property, right? and as a fellow artist, that seems mean. HOWEVER, my dilemma is along the lines of what Janell said, IT’S NOT FAIR that i can’t afford this shiz. i have taste! i want people to know it! i cannot buy a 1200 dollar chair, not now, not ever, and certainly not while people are starving. so i’m stuck.
Comment from Brigitte
Time December 17, 2009 at 7:05 am
Courtney – Ugh, such an impossible question! I’m more-or-less with you and Janell. And Sue! I find that a lot of that high-end stuff is flimsy. But it’s the same issue.
Maybe it’s the bleeding heart liberal in me that cares more about exploiting (using that word loosely here) people in less fortunate circumstances than eames — because they sell and they sell big.
I’m not sure whether I’d buy a knock-off of one of those very iconic designs or not to be honest. And is there a point that they just become part of the design history of furniture? I mean, I don’t think Louis XV chairs are licensed, but they must have been originally designed by someone.
How much time needs to pass before the same happens to eames, etc?
Comment from S@sha
Time December 17, 2009 at 10:34 am
I followed that link to the fake Wishbone chair on Overstock, and it totally made me laugh. “Wood chair with temp seat”? Um, hemp seat maybe? Anyway, in terms of the quality of a knock-off, I wouldn’t have high hopes for a piece of furniture whose description doesn’t even use the correct word to describe its materials.
I certainly can’t afford any of the original modern designer furniture, nor can I afford the official reissued versions, but I’d rather wait it out until I find quality vintage pieces that are similar, than buy really cheap knock-offs. For me its partially the exploitation factor, a $200 Wishbone knock-off is definitely being made by underpaid workers in another country, and partially trying to become more aware of the fact that when I buy cheap products I value them less in the long run and have little compunction about throwing them out in a year or two, which is bad for the environment and the landfills. And generally speaking, the cheaper products aren’t well made, so I can’t just donate them to a thrift store or something.
Comment from Katie Stephenson
Time December 24, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Love the knock-off. I’m dreaming of the Saarinen marble tulip table for $1100 (Evinco) instead of $5400 (DWR). Some say it’s not worth it to buy knock-offs but I say..-buy what you can afford. P.S. I nominated you gals for the Homies awards!
Comment from Emily A. Clark
Time December 16, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Almost everything in my house is a knock-off of some kind or another and I’m proud of it
Maybe a little too proud; I find myself giving people home tours and telling them what a great bargain each piece was. . .it’s like a little game to me. As some one wise once told me, “If you take it out of Big Lots, it’s alot less likely to look like Big Lots.”
What kind of frames did you buy at the Dollar Store???