My big fat fake wedding dress!!! The world of counterfeit wedding dresses explained.

If anyone follows my social media posts or picked up a 'Brides Beware' leaflet at my shop or at a wedding fayre, they'll have noticed that I feel very strongly about counterfeiting in our industry and I often highlight the dangers with pictures of 'real versus fake' to illustrate the point.  I have been thanked by numerous brides over the years for making them aware of the fact that counterfeiting goes on - many brides have told me that they were on the verge of buying a copy of a designer dress with no idea that they weren't getting the exact same dress as was shown in the picture. But what I haven't done is to explain to people what goes on in the world of counterfeit wedding dresses and why we should stop and think about the industry as a whole and the implications of what 'buying fake' means.

The sad reality is that counterfeiting goes on with many products.  If anyone watches 'Fake Britain' they'll know that there are people out there making everything from fake food products and alcoholic drinks, to fake DVDs, perfumes and electrical items.  It seems that in this day and age there are fake versions of almost anything!! And fake designer wedding dresses are a big thorn in the side of most of the top wedding dress designers and the stores which invest in their labels in bridal boutiques all over the country.


I've blogged and shown pictures on my Facebook page before and shown the scary reality of what many of these dresses look like - I even have a few in my shop that were given to me by disappointed brides who had believed that they were going to get a dress that looked identical to the one in the photograph, but were left bitterly disappointed when they received their gown.  The two below aren't the worst to be fair, but they show dresses that some people would call 'passable' beside the authentic version.

The fake one on the right may not seem so bad - but compare it to the one on the left...

I guess it's like everything in life - some people are more easily pleased than others.  For many brides, they will accept nothing short of the high quality that you get from a designer dress for one of the biggest (and most photographed) events of their lives, but for others, they are pretty clued up on the fact that they are getting a fake dress and will settle for a cheaper version of the dress in the form of a counterfeit dress.  They know what they are getting and are happy to settle for something that isn't up the same standard as the real deal.

 'Sure what harm is there in buying fake goods?' many would say.  But there's a lot to consider when going down this route....

The first issue is related to the factories in which these dresses are made.  Dress designers have a constant fight on their hands trying to target the factories which are illegally using their copyrighted images and designs and who are then supplying fake dresses - and the thing that makes it so hard is that these are 'back-street' set ups which are operating illegally and are hard to track down.  Often the only thing visible is a website which doesn't even supply a phone number or address.  When I buy dresses from my designers, they use legitimate factories which they either own or lease.  These factories follow strict guidelines when it comes to things like health and safety, and there are labour laws in force to make sure that employees are working in good conditions, get a decent wage and get things like holiday pay.   They also have restrictions on their working hours to make sure they are not exploited.  Okay - it means that we pay more for items that come out of these factories, but I for one can sleep better at night knowing that my business isn't selling goods that are made in sweat shops with 10 year old children sewing beads on dresses, or knowing that a person isn't doing a 80 hour week with no overtime in factories with no air-conditioning.  Back street counterfeit factories can produce dresses that we can buy for a cheaper price, but at what cost?  I find it sad enough that the designers of the dress are losing out on getting their cut for having their designs stolen, but when people are getting exploited, that's a whole league of it's own.  The price is cheaper, but at what cost?

Quality control is extremely suspect when it comes to fake designer goods.  Wedding dresses have to pass certain tests so that factories are not forwarding goods that may be extremely flammable for example.  Another one is to make sure that you don't get a dress that has a nest of baby spiders in it (yes - wedding dress parcels from our designers' factories have to treated to make sure that no foreign critters arrive as a nasty surprise!)  One of the realities of fake wedding dresses is that gowns can come apart on the wedding day (followers of my Facbook page may remember one that went viral a few years ago where a bride bought a fake dress and it fell apart on her wedding day... and she had told her guests it was from my shop!)  Whilst I was angry that she fibbed about getting the dress with me, I did feel sorry for her that  her day was ruined due to shoddy workmanship.  You can't undo your wedding day, the pictures or the memories of a dodgy wedding dress that fell apart on the day.

Fake goods being destroyed at customs

When you buy a genuine dress through a wedding shop, you also know that they have went through all the proper channels. When a bride is waiting for her dress to arrive and it has come from a source that is above board, the bridal shop owner is not panicking that the bride's dress will be confiscated by customs. When I track parcels and hear that a dress has arrived at customs, I'm thinking 'great - this dress is almost here!'.  When a bride buys a fake dress either directly online or through a home seller, it's fingers and toes all crossed that customs don't seize it.  A change in European laws last year now means that products entering the EU will be seized and destroyed if intercepted, and they already have destroyed billions of pounds worth of counterfeit goods since this law has come into effect.  Follow this link to a BBC report to find out more. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26080135 


With an imminent wedding on the cards, is it worth taking the risk when you could have bought a wedding dress elsewhere that would have fitted into the same budget?  (eg. at a wedding dress sample sale)    Counterfeiting has huge implications for the local and wider economy. Avoiding taxes and customs affects every person in our country who uses services that depend on these taxes, whether it is for educating our children or having an illness treated at your local hospital.  Top celebrities have been named and shamed in recent years for tax avoidance - counterfeiting is no different in respect this issue.   It's on a smaller scale for each individual, but a much larger scale when they are all added up!!



At the end of the day, I can't stop brides buying fake wedding dresses (or any fake goods for that matter), but what I can do is highlight the dangers and make them stop and think before they go down that route.  It's very tempting when you are presented with an image stolen from the designer's website and a price tag that seems too good to be true.   I can guarantee that if you put the fake dress and the genuine designer dress side by side, the quality, the fabrics, the beading, the cut and structure of the dress and the workmanship will be of a very different standard.   Buy a designer dress at a sample sale,  or even buying pre-loved, you get what you see, you have it that day, you won't be worrying about it getting seized at customs and there won't be any nasty surprises.  Buy cheap - buy twice.  I've come across that scenario many times.  Brides who have told me that they chanced a fake dress and ended up down in my shop looking for a new dress on the run up to their wedding. Just  be careful and don't set your expectations too high if you do decide to go against the advice posted here.  A wedding is one of the biggest days of your life, and there's no doubt that the bride is the focal point of the big day.  With all eyes on you, is going down the counterfeit road the best way?

When it's too good to be true...

Don't leave it up to chance by gambling on an online copy of a designer dress when you can get the real thing and be able to see it in the flesh and try in on... even if you are on a budget.

Too good to be true - the Counterfeit wedding dress industry

I know I'm always harping on about the dangers of the Chinese Cottage industry and the fake designer dresses they make and sell online, but I've had yet another call today where a bride was left distraught when she saw what arrived in the post.  She had thought it was safe as she dealt with a company with a UK web address, but she was in fact dealing with a Chinese company that copied designer dresses. With not enough time to order a new dress, she'll be left to buy off the peg and with the size and colour she needs, she's going to find herself very restricted in choice with a wedding date that is very close.   Both ourselves and the designers of the dresses are always trying to educate brides to warn them of the dangers of buying online - we've seen too many of the bad fakes out there! These sites illegally use the designer's images to advertise their dresses, conning people into believing that they are getting the actual dress pictured.  Thankfully, a lot of ladies out there know that these dresses, often advertised on online auction sites such as ebay, are too good to be true, but too many are still tempted, lured by the low price tag and the promise of the dress in the picture!!

It's been a frustrating week this week as it was pointed out to me that a very popular website that gives tips on how to save money was endorsing such sites.  The researchers clearly did not do their research and they were giving the thumbs up to support the Chinese Cottage industry (ie. the unregulated factories) and even referred to bridal shop owners as being snooty (most of us are far from snooty, I can assure you!!!)  I was horrified at this behaviour at first, but then it occurred to me that they were totally ignorant of what they were actually encouraging people to do.  They saw the pound signs and jumped to steer brides towards the cheap option.   It clearly had not occurred to them that these sites break a multitude of laws from copyrighted image theft, to child labour laws.  They were telling people that they can get fab made to measure dresses from as little as £1 - £15 plus postage.  Surely common sense tells anyone that the cost of paying skilled workers for hours upon hours of work, and using any half decent quality fabric is going to work out a lot more expensive that what these sites are charging?   Any dresses made in a regulated factory, using quality materials and abiding by health & safety and labour laws are bound to cost more than a few pounds. Common sense should tell you.


I feel exasperated that supposed 'experts' endorse such practices in this day and age.  It's not even the fact that the end product is bad (if indeed it even turns up!), but the fact that the people who make these dresses are breaking the law in so many areas.   I've only touched the tip of the ice-berg on this topic, but it makes one person stop and think before they waste their hard earned money, then it will have been worth it.

I totally understand that not everyone can afford to spend the going rate for a wedding dress in a bridal shop.  But the thing is, that you can still save money if you know where to look.  And one of the best ways to save money - and try before you buy - is at a wedding dress sample sale.

I'll be setting the date soon for our next one, so make sure you follow us on facebook or twitter (or keep your eye on here) and I'll be announcing the date soon.  All dresses will be reduced to half price or less, with bargains for as little as £295.  These are all genuine designer dresses which I will no longer be using as samples in my shop and they are great for brides on a budget who are looking for a fab dress at a fraction of the price.  Plus you know exactly what you are getting.  A quality dress which is well made - and ethically made.  Not made in a sweat shop and bought online for a few quid!

Watch this space!!!!!