Repros v. Originals

[Miss 1929]

I'd love to wear vintage all the time but...

Size...
Fragility...
Those are the two biggies.

I do like to make my own as well, or when i am rich, have things made...

If it is flattering, exactly what you want, and undetectable as a repro, go for it.

 

[Edward]

Whoever is producing them for under $80 i can assure you without any equivocation that they are not as good as Aldens. Now way in hell. Simply not possible.

Absolutely.... that said, at such a small fraction of the price, while they'll never match the Aldens in quality, if they are a decent pair of shoes for the money in and of themselves, I'd still be tempted.... I can also see them appealing to those in the COW crowd who want them for costume purposes alone, as opposed to functional daily footwear.

replaceability -- if I need to, I can easily whip up a duplicate of a favorite garment if it's damaged beyond repair.

Definitely a big factor for me too. Actually, that's one of the things I have really come to resent about modern clothing (and a key reason for getting in to vintage). I'm fixed in my clothing tastes, pretty much: I know what I like, and that's what I wear. I don't care if it's in or out of fashion (though truth be tol,d I do prefer to be 'out'). I absolutely will not allow my chocie of clothing to be dictated by what somebody somewhere decides is "in fashion" - and yet for the most part on the high street, that's all you can buy. Missed buying that shirt you wanted this season? Sorry, it won#t be available again.... until it's "back in fashion." Gah.

I share with you that feeling of anger and betrayal. It's hard to be very enthused about a pair of handsewn shoes knowing they were sewn by hand in some Asian country by some poor schmuck making twenty-five cents an hour- which doesn't prevent them costing an arm and a leg!

Personally, I don't place much stock in 'tradition' or 'heritage' of a product, provided it meets the spec I'm looking for and it is of sufficient quality. I can't honestly say that in and of itself it bothers me that a formerly 'Made in X' item is now 'Made in Y.' To qualify that, of course I am very sympathetic to those who lose jobs as a result of such a shift. Given the inevitability that these things will happen in the global manufacturing village, though, I do feel much more priority needs to be given to ensuring fair wages and employment condistions are provided the new workers than has been the case to date. Realistically, the very reason companies move offshore is in order to increse profit margins by exploiting cheaper labour resources, but I do think that it should be a requirement upon them legally as much as it is morally to provide a living wage, equivalent in proportion to the local economy as that which would be paid for the same job in the company's home state. I don't expect, realistically, any company to pass on savings made on employment costs to the buyer in this situation, but I would very much hope that they would at least be fair to their workers. I have stopped buying from a number of large companies over the years because they are not.