Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated – When Johnny Lydon said that line back in the 70s, it really encapsulated the feeling of realising something you really believed in, was all of a sudden meaningless….. and an empty cynicism setting in……. that’s how I feel about ‘fashion’.  

As a teen I devoured Vogue marvelling at different cuts, amazing styling, and beautiful fabrics….I stockpiled magazines and still have some cuttings from then. Fast forward 35 years and to see it all dwindle down to medicore clothes and all types of tricks to entice….. …. Anyone for AirYarn…..Vegan leather…..Biomaterial …. ? 

I did an insta post a few weeks ago on fake fast fashion sites. There are heaps of them, pretending to be from Irish towns. Whatever about other fast fashion brands, the pretend ones are a new low for me.  

In this one – it’s a Grainne and Aoife Dublin… there was a clip on Facebook of a woman wearing the sweater in a red-brick street, so I clicked on the link – to get to the website and when I saw the site …I was a bit intrigued, how had I not come across this 10 year old business before – there was a even a backstory about Grainne and baby Aoife. Who can be cynical when you are looking at a photo of a mother feeding a baby. And of course, any consumer would think that they are somehow supporting this mother and child (and maybe even little Aoife’s education) by buying a sweater…. But when searching for the business address in Dublin, there is none, there aren’t direct contact details either (but they do take CVs😊)… also missing is the fabric composition with all garments, all very suspect, so its only when you go through the terms and conditions, theres the rub…..their warehouse is in China and postage for returns fees paid by buyer.  

The Facebook comments were interesting, a few pointed how this is all an ‘AI Scam’ and ‘fake’ and also some comments from people who ordered the sweater and were shocked it came from China, and how the quality was awful. It’s easy to sneer and say how did the buyers not guess, but really, its gotten so easy to click and buy, its complete in seconds. Also, I don’t think many people can assess the quality of a garment as they have been surrounded by fast fashion so long, and if you are buying online you don’t even get to feel the cloth…… 

Funny thing about the sweater, it really really looked familiar and it was only when I was scrolling though some old screen shots and saw I had taken one from Mary & Anne Dublin (what I hadn’t fully noticed was the length of the models forearm!) – we tried to recreate the silhouette here but were totally unable. 

Of course, once I saw this, I was down another rabbit hole which I called ‘Fast Fashion Slot Machine’. This was where I would image search a fast fashion item and see if I could get a match 4… turns outs its super easy. Worryingly, a few results lead back to Etsy (home of handmade????) as well as some other girl name boutiques with a similar feel to ‘Mary and Ann’……  

and then I did more