Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Fake it 'till you make it: Seychelles shoes

I've said it a thousand times over. Me? I'm a shoe whore. LOVE shoes. Can't get enough shoes. If I had my way, I'd have a weekly shoe allowance and blow it and then some on shoes. They're my drug of choice. Some of you may prefer the Charlie Sheen drug, which makes your face melt off, but for me, it's shoes.

If I know anything about shoes, it's that designers love knocking off other shoes. You know that scene in Devil Wears Prada about Cerulean? It's kind of like that in the shoe world (or so it seems). Some shoes, I'm okay with buying their lesser counter part. Other times, I want, nay, NEED to buy the original.

I'm thinking that since shoes are one area I excel at (No lie, friends email me asking where they can find a certain shoe, and I probably can find it within 15 minutes, I browse that much!) I would share my shoe finds and their impostors.

I'm starting off with Seychelles, which seem to be right on trend as many people are copying them left and right. In general, Seychelles are affordable coming in at roughly $100 (give or take a little) and in my shoe-world, that's not a bad deal.

Fake it:

Seychelles Cream of the Crop (About $90)
These are lovely golden flats, and are also available in a black, pewter and kind of off-white-beige color. Now, if you remember my Spring/Summer shopping list, I am searching for new metallic sandals. This would kind of fit the bill, but not quite what I had in mind. But, they're too cute!

Enter Target.
Mossimo Othelia ($17.99)
Cute. REALLY close in style. But, only available in this nude color and black. So, if you wanted the Seychelles in either of those colors...here you go. However. I am looking for metallic. Gold, specifically.

So I went to Kohls.

So Cristal ($21.99)
These, are actually what I ended up with. I bought them in gold, which appears to be off their website, and back on sale for $16.99, which I then got an extra 15% off of, and I had $20 in Kohls cash that my mom gave me, which means, really these shoes were negative money for me. (I didn't earn the Kohls cash, so again, no money spent there).  As you can see, they're similar, not a direct copy, rather a copy of a copy (which we all know ends up not as pretty, but still serves well).


Make it:
Sometimes though it's worth waiting, holding out and buying the real deal. The make it Seychelles here is:


Seychelles Joan (now $70ish on Endless)
 These wedges I saw last year on Nordstrom's website and it was love at first sight. I could not for the life of me find anything that closely resembled them, but I couldn't justify the price when I had other shoes I needed to buy for the summer. This summer, I want a colorful wedge. I'm a sucker for a wedge, and seeing as these are still floating around, the time has come for me to purchase them.

The faker I found for these if you're interested are also by So and from Kohls:
So Serina Wedge ($33.99)
These are really similar, but the fakers are from the juniors shoe section which means the wedge is a bit clunkier. I also prefer the chartreuse colors in the Seychelles versions fabric over the reds of the Kohls pair.

Some shoes are easier to find lower priced counterparts, just about anywhere will have black peep toe heels, or brown boots, but detailed shoes like these can be trickier to find. I just call it a challenge!

7 comments:

Gabby / Gypsy*Diaries said...

I'm always amazed when i see two verrrry similar products from two different companies! How can they do this???? Wouldnt mind any of them in my closet though... :D
xxx

http://gypsy-diaries.blogspot.com/

Melissa Jo said...

This is so great! Your right it is so easy to find good basics and copies of more expensive!

Josie said...

I love those nude flat sandals... Super cute.
xo Josie
http://winksmilestyle.blogspot.com

Betsy said...

I completely agree that you excel in shoes!

Kayla said...

Wow that So Serina wedge is exactly the same. I have the actual Seychelles pair and I adore them.

Ramblings of a Small Town Girl

Amber's Notebook said...

omg wow!! amazing finds! I love the second pair!!! Gotta love kohls.
Amber's Notebook

Lisa said...

Whoa! I can't believe you got those shoes at Kohls for free!!!! I've been eyeing the Seychelles pair on endless, but I may have to swing by Kohl's now. btw, how is the fit? Is it comfortable?
and I found that f21 bow top online in case you don't wanna venture in to the store, here is the link - Lace Bow Top