Everyone loves designer clothing, but the high prices often make these branded items unaffordable to most. If you see these items for an incredibly low price, of course, you’ll be tempted to buy them.
Sadly, if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. There’s a lot of knock-off clothing out there that is nowhere near as good as the real thing. Thankfully, there are some techniques you can use to spot these imitations.
This article lists 10 ways to tell if clothing items are real or fake.
1. Stitching
When a product is fake, you can often tell by looking at the stitching. Generally, the stitching on branded items will be much cleaner and uniform-looking than it would on counterfeit clothing.
If you really want to find out how to tell the difference between real and fake stitching, you should compare a genuine designer item to an imitation one. The difference in stitching quality will be night and day.
2. Logo
The brand logos are also often a dead giveaway that an item is fake. Sometimes the fake brand won’t copy the official logo exactly. There might be certain details that are totally wrong.
For example, elements of the logo might be missing, or they might be using the wrong font. In some cases, the logo is fairly accurate, but there might be subtle differences, such as the wrong colors being used.
3. Fastenings
The zippers and pulls on genuine designer items are usually noticeably high quality. On the other hand, when you compare these to fake items, you’ll usually notice that these components feel really cheap.
For example, zipper tabs might just be plastic coated in metal.
4. Spelling
Some counterfeit items give themselves away with spelling or grammatical errors. Fake items are often made in countries like China, so spelling errors can be quite common.
Pay extra attention to the use of language on the products. A true designer brand will almost always use perfect English without any mistakes. Even a subtle mistake suggests that your product might be fake.
If any labels are attached to the product, you’ll likely find that the copy isn’t up to the standard that you’d expect from a designer brand company.
5. Fabric
You should also assess the quality of the fabric used. Generally, the clothing materials used by counterfeiting companies are of inferior quality to the real thing. Counterfeiting aims to make money by making fake goods as cheaply as possible.
This means that the companies often use the poorest quality fabric that they can get away with. The genuine items will usually have quite a weight, and they should be free of fraying or rips.
If the fabric used in an item feels cheap or lightweight, you could be dealing with a counterfeit. You should also check the interior fabric for a logo. This is something that designer brands often do, but the detail is sometimes missing from the fake versions.
6. Leather
If you’re looking at an item that claims to be made from leather, it can be quite easy to spot a fake. When inspecting an item that’s supposedly leather, run your hands over its surface. If it feels smooth and even, you’re likely dealing with fake leather and, therefore, a counterfeit item.
Real leather should have a slightly uneven texture. If you have another item that’s real leather, it should be quite easy to tell the difference between real and fake. You can also easily spot fake leather if it has a glossy finish to it. Real leather never looks glossy.
You should also test whether or not leather is real by smelling it. Real leather that’s new has a very distinctive smell
7. Prices
You should also look carefully at the prices of designer goods before you buy them. When it comes to designer brands, if a price seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is.
Check the price against what the same item is being sold for on other retailers. If you’re making huge savings, you need to look closely at the item. It’s quite likely that you’ll be able to spot evidence of it being fake.
8. Supplementary Materials
In some cases, designer clothing is supposed to come with supplementary materials. For example, if you buy an expensive bag, it might come with a certificate of authenticity. If your item doesn’t come with the supplementary items, it’s supposed to be bundled with. It suggests it might be fake.
You can usually find lists online of what the item is supposed to come with. Sometimes the counterfeiters might make a fake version, but these are usually quite easy to spot. Be on the lookout for poor grammar and spelling mistakes.
9. Buttons
Buttons are often another telltale sign of a product being fake. Designer brands will usually use high-quality buttons. These buttons are often engraved with the company name. The fake versions will have low-quality plastic buttons instead.
10. Packaging
Designer brands not only spend a huge amount on their clothing, but they also spend millions designing their packaging. Generally, counterfeit brands put most of their effort into the clothing.
If you look at the packaging, you’ll probably be able to see that something isn’t right. If you’re suspicious, look at Google images and check what the packing is supposed to look like.
With counterfeit brands, the packaging often looks nothing like how it should.
Avoid Knock-Off Clothing With These Tips
So now you know how to tell the difference between knock of clothing and the real thing. Always remember that if I deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you think you’ve found a good deal, don’t rush to buy it, instead take the time to look for imperfections.
If you want to learn more about other fashion-related topics, take a look at our blog section.