*Image above via Cult Gaia featuring their gorgeous rattan clutch.
So many fabulous accessories out at the moment to add punctuation marks to our spring wardrobe, nearly all under $100! —
J’ADORE THIS STATEMENT NECKLACE (20% OFF WITH CODE YOUROCK) — PAIR WITH A WHITE TEE AND JEANS FOR AN EASY BUT INTENTIONAL WEEKDAY LOOK
THESE WAVY HOOPS LOOK MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE THAN THEY ARE…UNDER $30 BUT LOOK LIKE BEA BONGIASCA
FJALLRAVEN-INSPIRED MINI BACKPACK (UNDER $30, COMES IN TONS OF COLORS)…GREAT FOR OUTDOOR EXCURSIONS WITH LITTLES, OR FOR A LITTLE ONE FULL STOP!
OBSESSED WITH THESE BRAIDED LEATHER MULES — COME IN A BUNCH OF COLORS, AND $160!
THESE ADORABLE STATEMENT SANDALS ARE UNDER $75! — PERFECT WITH DRESSES LIKE THIS
BLOCKPRINT COSMETICS BAG — $40 FOR SET! (GREAT GIFT)
RATTAN HOOPS (UNDER $20)
I JUST LOVE THE SIZE AND STYLE OF THESE UNDER-$100 EARRINGS (20% OFF WITH CODE YOUROCK)
LOVEEEE THIS RATTAN REINCARNATION OF THE NOW-ICONIC CULT GAIA CLUTCH
CANNOT BELIEVE THIS NECKLACE IS UNDER $80 — GET AN EVEN LOWER PRICE USING CODE YOUROCK FOR 20% OFF
LOVE THE STYLE + COLOR OF THESE VEJAS
PRADA SCARF — THE DESIGN IS JUST ICONIC
SHELL NECKLACE — GREAT SCALE AND UNDER $150! THIS BRAND IS TRENDING IN GENERAL…PUKA SHELLS REDUX
RAFFIA-WRAPPED HOOPS (AVAIL IN MORE COLORS) — $40!
THESE ELEGANT BOW SANDALS ARE AROUND $20!!!! — COME IN OTHER GREAT COLORS TOO…DRESSY ENOUGH FOR EASTER SUNDAY!
A FEW OTHER ITEMS NOT SEEN ABOVE WORTH A LOOK…
DEAD OVER THE PATTERN / COLORS ON THESE ROTHYS…HAVE BEEN EYEING THESE SHOES FOR YEARS AND NEVER PULLED THE TRIGGER, BUT SERIOUSLY OBSESSED WITH THESE
CHIC CANVAS EVERYDAY FLATS — PAIR WITH SPRING DRESSES LIKE THIS AND THIS FOR YOUR EVERYDAY UNIFORM
VELVET JEWELRY CASE FOR UNDER $15
GRANDMILLENNIAL-FRIENDLY TOTE FOR WEEKEND TRIPS (ON SALE FOR UNDER $200)
SIMPLE SLIDE IN A GREAT BARBIE PINK COLOR
ELEGANT PEARL DROPS OR NECKLACE — LOVE THIS NEW-TO-ME BRAND!
P.S. On my spring shopping list. Also: more rattan/woven wonders.
P.P.S. Target run!
P.P.P.S. How do you find tranquility?
Thanks for talking this through! I agree with everything you’ve said. It’s funny, I’ve seen Draper James nap-esque dresses, and the nap-adjacent shoulder-tie smocked midi dress style is also somewhat ubiquitous these days (I just purchased one!), but this particular Tuckernuck style is the one that’s been grating on me.
More than how designers should respond (or what they should accept), I might be asking how we as shoppers should feel and act. I definitely shop at stores like Zara and H&M that routinely serve us “the look for less,” and that doesn’t feel icky to me, I think because the scale of duping is usually much higher (e.g. Chanel espadrille flats), where the big designer isn’t necessarily hurt by it. Hill House Home, though, seems like they are still small enough that I want to root for and be loyal to them, celebrating the precision with which they nailed the nap dress design. That said, Tuckernuck is *also* a small (medium?) business, so it’s complicated! (The obvious answer, of course, is that I don’t have to buy the dress; the power of the dollar is that it can support the businesses – and values – that the consumer chooses.)
Your reasonings make complete sense to me. I am also sometimes sensitive to the degree to which something feels like a direct rip-off versus “inspired by” something. It is really a murky water!
xx
Just chiming in to say that Tuckernuck has been accused (rightfully so, in my viewpoint) for blatantly copying other small, independent designers throughout the years – I remember a particular rainbow striped sweater copy & paste that was egregious in recent history. As a brand, I tend not to shop there, they kind of give me the ick for that reason & a few others…
As soon as you wrote this, I had a flicker of memory about that striped sweater incident. I appreciate your leaving the comment here — thanks for continuing the conversation.
xx
These links are putting me in a good mood!! Love that you find such gems on Etsy — how do you do it? — heart eyes for those sandals!
Am wondering your thoughts on the Tnuck floral dress, which is such a pretty pattern but is…shall we say…similar to the nap dress. (Is it a “dupe” if it’s more expensive?) No one owns the rights to smocking, for sure, but those shoulders!! Genuinely wondering what you think about fashion design and inspiration versus copying, homages, dupes, etc. etc.!
Yay! Aren’t those great?
I know what you mean re: nap dress and nap dress dupes – I don’t know how I fully feel about it; I have several conflicting views on the matter. Generally I think there will always be iconic pieces that spur a million similar styles, and that trying to stem that from happening is futile, even if it feels (as the original creator) unfair or unjust. It is challenging to draw lines around straight-up copying and “inspired by” or even come-to-a-similar-style-on-one’s-own phenomena. I know we try to do this through various means — copyright, trademark, etc. — but it is a very messy business with lots of blurred lines in creative industries. On a philosophical level, I am generally allergic to any kind of prohibitions around what creators can/cannot create. In some sense, all art/design/creative output is a pastiche of influences from elsewhere. A lot of art (good art) exists in conversation with other art. Now, claiming a floral dress is “original art” is a bit of a stretch, especially when it looks so similar to a near-iconic, now-trademarked dress that has been marketed the world over. So I don’t know even intellectually how to accommodate that.
And, on the flipside, as a business owner, I absolutely would be frustrated if my designs were being straight-up copied and used elsewhere and can empathize with wanting to seek some sort of remediation. Still, I think that there can be a lot of time and energy lost in trying to prevent others from copying what you are doing — that time can be better spent keeping your head down and creating something else.
I wonder how you think of it?
Jen