• First Lady Michelle Obama was recently spotted wearing an ASOS knockoff of a DVF Fall 2011 dress. While us commoners wear knockoffs all the time, I wonder: is it okay for people in the public eye to wear them too? If you want a bit of MObama’s style, you can buy the ASOS dress for $72. Or, if you have more expensive blood, the DVF version is available for $498. (Styleite)
• nOir Jewelry, favorite of celebrities like Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, is having a sample sale! From Wednesday, November 9- Friday, November 11 Get up to 75% off select pieces. I’ve been to their sales, and trust me, they’re amazing. A girl can really clean up in there! They’re located at 350 w. 38th Street. 5th Floor (Between 8th and 9th Ave.) (nOir Jewelry Twitter)
• New York City Mayor-for-life Mike Bloomberg wants to build a complex at the city’s Hudson Yards that he hopes will one day house Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. This proposed “Culture Shed” will aptly contain the madness that is Fashion Week, keeping all the crazy fashionistas on the far side of Manhattan where nobody wants to go. “Fashion week has grown so much. It’s outgrown Lincoln Center already … We need to make sure that we have the venues for these kinds of events and the Cultural Shed is one of those buildings.” (The Cut)
• Roberto Cavalli is 70 years old, and has no intention of slowing his roll: “‘I’m young. I have another 50 years of life,’ he said before going on to perform a mathematical equation and estimating that he will have sex another 15,000 times before his demise.” We’ll file that one under things I definitely wanted to know! (Fashionista)
• Want some blingin’, blangin’ Dr. Martens boots? The punk rocker favorite brand has teamed up with Swarovski this holiday season to create a capsule collection of bedazzled shoes, which will serve as great reflectors for cars to see you once it starts getting dark at 4:00 pm.
• Go behind the scenes of V Magazine #74′s colorful cover shoot with Terry Richardson. (Beauty is Diverse)
~Jihan
November 3, 2011 9:57 am
why wouldn’t be OK for a famous person to wear a non-counterfeit knock-off? i’ve bought knock off’s of products seldom because of the price, but perhaps I prefer the knock-off version (e.g. the ASOS dress has a gold/blue/black version that is way prettier than the DvF version) or it’s more ethically produced (maybe organic fabric or produced in a country with decent labour laws) or it simply fits better!
On another note, I wish I had a job to which I could wear DMs. Postgrad studies, here I come!
November 3, 2011 10:07 am
I would bet she didn’t know it was a ‘knockoff’ and if she did…so what.
“once it starts getting dark at 4:00 pm.”…LOL. you ain’t lying!
November 3, 2011 10:27 am
I think it’s good that the American First Lady wears a “Knockoff” dress.
November 3, 2011 10:33 am
This is one reason the rich stay rich. Many would spend their last dime to buy the DVF dress because it says DVF. Those that can afford to purchase pricey items buy the “knockoff”. Rock it First Lady!
November 3, 2011 10:33 am
I like that fact that she’s wearing a knockoff adds to her character!
November 3, 2011 10:36 am
I honestly think that it doesn’t matter if she is wearing a knock-off. If she is rockin’ it… She’s rockin’ it and that is all that matters. Why pay $495 for a dress that you can get cheaper that looks equally pleasing to the eye. Go Michelle O!! Love Your Style :)
November 3, 2011 11:00 am
I think a $72 knock-off was a great choice for a children’s Halloween party, and it will probably never see the light of day again…. on her at least. She always looks amazing to me!
November 3, 2011 11:10 am
Heck yeah I think the First Lady can wear a knockoff in public just bc you have money doesn’t mean you have to buy the most expensive pieces to look good for publicity
November 3, 2011 11:21 am
Who cares..where what you want no matter who you are…every single thing that is made will be knocked off a 100 plus times..she looks great!
November 3, 2011 11:22 am
If she were wearing the almost $500 DVF version in light of our current economic problems folks would also have something to say. She’s damn if she do, damn she don’t.
November 3, 2011 11:34 am
Friggin love M.O. I’m sure her stylist knew but who the heck cares.,….the media slammed her for taking a trip to Spain last year, they daren’t say anything about her knock off *growls*
November 3, 2011 11:34 am
Exactly, LawyerChic! Someone will always have something to say.
Maybe she liked this version better than the DVF?
And Bloomberg needs to have a seat. Out of all things NYC needs to spend money on, a “Culture Shed” to house Fashion Week should not even be on the list. “Mayor-for-life”… a damn shame.
November 3, 2011 12:26 pm
SMDH at the caption under the Obama’s picture. Only black folks…smh The whole CHANGE thing goes over so many heads…
November 3, 2011 12:27 pm
The Obamas look great in this pic… Change the game forever!
November 3, 2011 12:34 pm
LawyerChic I agree.
November 3, 2011 12:45 pm
people want celebrities to be normal and then fault them for doing normal people things. Michelle Obama is very down to Earth and her actions show that. I love her:)
November 3, 2011 12:48 pm
Mrs. O is definitely damned if she does or doesn’t. She looks hella good though, so who cares!
November 3, 2011 12:58 pm
It’s not like our First Lady is wearing a fake DVF dress and pretending that it’s DVF. The ASOS dress is just inspired by the DVF one. We see this happen every day in the fashion world…the designer looks trickle down to the department stores and whatnot.
November 3, 2011 1:06 pm
We can clearly see that MObama clearly wanted to wear Halloween colors to be festive..NOT to outrageously and glamorously make statement for a kids event. *ROLLS EYES*…she’d never wear those colors regular day..let alone knockoffs (for any SERIOUS event) she has designers on SPEED DIAL.
November 3, 2011 1:07 pm
Knock off is such a harsh word. Let us use the word replica. I garantee Michelle was not aware that this frock is a replica. Most individuals who wear knock off clothing due so while knowing and intending to fool the public eye. I don’t think that was her intention.
November 3, 2011 1:22 pm
I like her even more now! Mixing it up is good.
November 3, 2011 1:26 pm
I was kinda impressed when I saw her in this dress, a definite wow moment, it’s great to see the First Lady wear something the average woman could afford, I’m sure ASOS sales will sky rocket, win-win.
November 3, 2011 1:37 pm
Knock off or not…She looks great!…oh yeah so does our president! lol
November 3, 2011 1:43 pm
@Nicole, I would have to wholeheartedly agree.. Mr. O looks smokin hot!
November 3, 2011 1:45 pm
So if she wears affordable clothing it’s questioned but when she wears something thats cost big bucks they claim she is spending tax payer dollars on clothes which she isn’t. the Obamas are rich, and trust me that man didn’t run to office because of the salary. She buys her own clothes with her own money. I think she looks great, and women who like to dress with her as an inspiration can afford it too. She has a very classic style.
November 3, 2011 2:02 pm
1) I like the ASOS dress better 2) I am sure she wore it because of the color and it was fun for Halloween 3) DAMN they look good. They are just a gorgeous couple!! I LOVE IT!!
November 3, 2011 2:03 pm
And I love that coat.
November 3, 2011 2:22 pm
Urgh, wish we had sample sales here in Atlanta. Boo.
November 3, 2011 2:36 pm
Damn everything else can we find out who her coat is by???
November 3, 2011 2:36 pm
Dear God, please send me my own Mr. President. Amen.
November 3, 2011 3:59 pm
YES people!! it’s a recession….it’s absolutely ok for the first lady or anybody in the public eye to wear what best fits them and fits into their own sense of a budget. As long as you look fabulous(which she does), don’t matter how much it cost or who’s name is on the label.
November 3, 2011 4:23 pm
I LOVE it!
November 3, 2011 4:25 pm
The real issue here is that ASOS made the knockoff. First Lady Obama would have no problem buying the DVF dress or several for that matter so she probably didn’t know.
I don’t mean to be divisive but how many times has this blog suggested designs that have been “inspired” by other designers? Like others have said “damned if you do,damned if you don’t”. Smh.
@Candance -lol. Me too, pls!
November 3, 2011 4:44 pm
First Lady looks good
November 3, 2011 5:07 pm
Another point–I shop at Asos, but not at DVF. If I see something I like, I buy it–I don’t go checking designers’ collections to find out if the item I want is similar to something else. The only people who notice this are people who work in–or spend a lot of time researching–fashion. For the most part, the consumer would never even know to make the connection.
November 3, 2011 5:13 pm
Personally, I think there is a difference between a knockoff and design inspired, a knockoff is when you know it is fake and trying to pass it off as the real thing. Personally, I think she looks great and kudos to her for using her head and being budget friendly to her wallet. That is what makes the first lady and President O so great because they look attainable and realistic. Let’s be honest, not to many of us is going to drop 500 on a dress. Besides as Anonymous said most wealthy and powerful people aren’t that obsessed with labels like most people assume
November 3, 2011 7:34 pm
I agree that in such troubled economic times, it sets a much better example for Michelle Obama to be wearing a more affordable option, and as some have pointed out, it’s not a counterfeit DVF dress trying to pass as the real thing, it’s an inspired piece. Good on her for dressing to suit what society is currently facing, rather than living in a bubble.
November 3, 2011 8:46 pm
No disrespect to my lovely First Lady, buuut Barack looking pretty good in this pic! Haha!
November 3, 2011 11:11 pm
With the state of our economy, I think it is very prudent for the FLOTUS to wear some non-designer pieces. She’s smart, stylish, and thrifty! And, it makes the citizens feel like she (and POTUS) understand our plight.
November 4, 2011 6:25 am
Its not a knock off its an adaptation. Mass market fashion in inspired by high fashion. It would be a knock off if the dress was an exact replica of the DVF dress.
November 4, 2011 6:28 am
Mrs. Obama has always worn clothing that wasn’t designer. So just because she is the first lady doesn’t mean she should change where she shops.
November 4, 2011 2:21 pm
I agree with everyone who said that this dress is just a design-inspired dress. I wouldn’t call this a knockoff. If that is the case, Steve Madden, Aldo, and BEBE are knockoff stores. (I shop at these places and often time I see a designer-inspired piece)
November 5, 2011 8:37 pm
Um, Barack is hot. Period.
But on to the topic at hand. It’s unfair to vilify the knockoff-wearer. Perhaps she had no idea it was a knockoff. Instead, we should condemn the knockoff-creators.
Another thought is: as another commenter said, perhaps no one is at fault. It’s not a counterfeit; ASOS isn’t claiming it’s DVF. Artists bite off each other all the time, knowingly and unknowingly. If every case of an imitation was brought to court, everyone would be prosecuting one another!