Designer bags are best known for their quality, craftsmanship, luster, rarity, and prestige with exquisite style. However, the average person has a need to show off their sleek bag with a more affordable price tag. My Melrose showcases four carefully selected designer dupes that are sure to turn heads.
1) Hermès Vintage Ardennes Kelly Retourne 35 (1994 Collection) $10,000 vs. Deluxity Faux Pebbled Leather Handbag with Gold Tone Hardware $28.99
Hermès is one of the most expensive hand bag designers in the world that pride themselves on quality that reduces the quick wear and tear other bags tend to experience. The brand is also known for one of the most rare handbags in the world; The Himalaya Birkin.
The Kelly bag was first designed in the 1930s by Robert Dumas, Émile Hermès’s son-in-law. It is said that in the late 1950s, Grace Kelly carried the bag over her stomach to conceal early signs of pregnancy. Gaining traction and international recognition, the bag thus was renamed the Kelly.
My Melrose’s designer dupe features the Deluxity faux pebbled leather handbag. Both the Kelly and Deluxity bags have a similar silhouette. The Deluxity bag has a square body while the Kelly bag’s design is a trapezoid. Both handbags feature gold plated hardware; the Kelly bag featuring a rectangular plate with a lock and the Deluxity bag a square plate. The handles on each bag are rolled with the texture of pebbled leather; the designer brand being authetic leather and the dupe a faux.
2) Gucci Ophidia GG Small Backpack $1,980 + Gucci Queen Margaret Bamboo Handle Backpack $1,895 vs. Chunma Mini Backpack Signature with Bee Embellishment $24.99
This dupe entry requires two examples from notable Italian designer brand, the house of Gucci. With over 100 years in the business of fashion, Gucci went from creating leather luggage items to crafting items with their staple bamboo handle, green-red-green stripe signature, the GG clasp, and the metal bee. There are two backpacks by Gucci that come together in the dupe by Chumna. Louis Vuitton is another dupe inspiration in this particular piece, however Gucci is the highlight (don’t worry, a Louis dupe is coming).
The first backpack by Gucci is the Ophidia GG Small Backpack. Featuring “GG Supreme canvas with textured leather trim”, the Ophidia backpack puts the signature Gucci stripe trio put front and center. A diamond illustration surrounds the stripes; their edges held together by Gucci’s GG logo.
Our second selection is one that exhibits a modern romantic approach inspired by royalty. The Queen Margaret Bamboo Handle Backpack features the classic bamboo handle accompanied by a metal bee closure embellished with pearls and colored stones. A color block pattern is a staple of the Queen Margaret line.
My Melrose carries the Chunma Mini Backpack Signature with Bee Embellishment that features a signature bee similar to that of the original designer, Gucci. Instead of the green-red-green pattern, there is a green-red duo stripe instead.
3) Chanel Reissue 226 Double Flap Bag $3,900 vs. Le Miel Small Quilted Jelly Bag $9.99
Chanel’s history begins in 1910 with designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel opening her first hat boutique under the name Chanel Modes. Years later, in 1955, the first bag made by Chanel was the 2.55 handbag. This is the original name of the featured designer bag pictured below.
The Reissue 226 Double Flap Bag features genuine leather with chain link shoulder straps and a turn lock closure. The My Melorse dupe by Le Miel features an almost identical silhouette shape, the curvature of the flap and the drop to the turn lock. The material for the Jelly bag is synthetic and comes in solid colors as well.
4) Chanel Small Gabrielle Purse $3,600 vs. Cherie Quilted Faux Leather Bucket Bag with Gold Tone Chain Strap $28.99
After the death of Coco Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld became artistic director of Chanel. The particular Gabrielle drawstring bucket bag is his design created for the spring/summer 2017 collection. Lagerfeld kept the signature chain in this design and featured white leather with half of the bag having a quilted texture.
The Cherie quilted bucket bag dupes the silhouette with a fully quilted texture. The CC logo is instead replaced with closed circles for distinction.
