Bodyline, The Lolita's Walmart Part, 4: Brand Knock-offs, Reproductions, and Rip-offs

Part 4 of my Bodyline series focuses on the touchy subject of knock-offs, reproductions, and rip-offs. There is pretty much no way I can word this to make everyone happy. I can say "Why spend hundreds of dollars on a brand piece when you can get an acceptable knock-off from Bodyline?" and people will shout "But you don't understand how ~special~ brand makes me feel! Besides a clothing company making the same thing as another is theft!", but I don't care. Everyone is aware that these skirts are rip offs, no one is trying to pass them off as originals, Bodyline isn't claiming Mr. Yan lovingly hand painted them, and as far as I am aware the original brands who made these prints stopped selling them years ago, thus aren't loosing any money because no one is even able to buy them directly from the brand any more. Besides, have the Lolita's who are crying "Theft!" ever looked in a mainstream non-high end fashion magazine? Pick up something like Teen People, there are whole sections devoted to how awesome it is when places like H&M are selling things directly "inspired" from high end runways. Many mainstream fashion trends developed by trying to find knock-offs of what rich and famous people are buying, Lolita is really not that much different in that respect. Knock-offs are certainly not unique to Lolita, so please, stop acting like you never even heard of fake Gucci bags and those "Smells Like..." perfumes you can buy at Walmart until Bodyline released a Fruits Parlor print with "Angelic Pretty" edited off and it opened up your eyes to the world of evil design thefts. Just because other fashions do this, doesn't make it perfectly OK, but it doesn't make it an abhorrent evil that knows no rival just because it's done to something you really like.

Enough with that rant XD If you're still with me, and haven't closed your browser in anger and rushed off to weep on a Gothic & Lolita Bible over the crimes committed against Asuka and Maki, today were going to be talking about the different knock-offs that Bodyline sells. The good, the bad, and the ugly ones.

The Good Knock-offs

These Bodyline replicas are actually very cute. They seem to be made of good quality materials and either look just like the originals, or are changed a bit but still look pretty damned good.

Originally an Angelic Pretty coat, Bodyline makes a pretty faithful replica. The hearts are moved up a bit, I think in order to be pockets.

Aah shoe replicas. Unless a pair of shoes are made out of leather, I won't spend 100+ on them. No injection molded pleater shoe is ever going to be worth much to me. Brand or not, they are cheaply made, and they should be cheap. Bodyline's knock-off of these famous Baby, the Stars Shine Bright shoes are nearly identical.

Don't confuse this Innocent World knock-off with a "bad" knock-off just because it uses the same fabric. Not all brand dresses custom print their own fabric, but instead buy it from a fabric shop. The fabric used in this Bodyline knock-off is almost gaurenteed to be the exact same fabric as the brand version. Metamorphose, and I think a couple indies brands, have also used this same fabric.

Originally an Atelier Boz JSK, Bodyline makes a pretty good copy. As is typical of Bodyline knock-offs, it doesn't look like it has much poof. Maybe they just don't use a very poofy petticoat, or maybe, as a cheaper version, skimp on the skirt yardage a bit.

An oldie but a goody! This was a skirt Bodyline used to sell years ago, and it's a knock-off of an old Angelic Pretty skirt. The lace is a bit cheaper the the original, and the bow looks a little deflated, but other than that, it looks cute to me.

The "Bad" Knock-offs

These are the knock-offs that make people the most upset, print knock-offs. While Bodyline has never made a knock-off with the original brand's logo on the print, they are still not fooling anyone.

No one ever bothers to mention this print when they talk about Bodyline knock-offs. Originally an Angelic Pretty print, Bodyline edits out the "Angelic Pretty" and turns it into a simple JSK.

Another, bit more recent, print originally from Innocent World that is often forgotten about when people talk about the evils of Bodyline. It was released along side the Fruits Parlor skirt, but hardly gets any attention. Once again, "Innocent World" is edited out of knock-off and replaced by a little bow.

Probably the most infamous Bodyline Knock-off, and the one that caused some uproar on EGL, Angelic Pretty's Fruits Parlor. The Angelic Pretty version, when it bothered to pop up for sale, would often go for hundreds of dollars more than it's original price on the second hand market. Owning this fruit covered stripe and polkadot extravaganza from Angelic Pretty was a status symbol, no doubt about it. Then Bodyline released a version for $50, the skirt was sold as low as $11. And soon everyone had the skirt (which I promise you is not as fugly as the dress) in every colorway Bodyline Sold it in.

The Ugly Knock-offs

These dresses are either a total failure, or the original design was so WTF it's a wonder why anyone would want to make knock-offs of it in the first place!

While the Bodyline dress is not really ugly at all (depending on your opinions on the fabric, which tends to be love it or hate it), but it looks nothing like the Angelic Pretty original. I actually laughed out loud when I saw this dress next to the dress it wishes and hopes that it will one day grow up to be.

Eh, points for trying I guess? This Bodyline knock-off is an ambitious replica of a very elaborate Baby, The Stars Shine Bright dress. Poor fabric choices and a general lack-of-effort makes the Bodyline knock-off look very blah.

I am saving the worst for last with this Moi-même-Moitié replica. The original, while, in my opinion is not that great, it at least doesn't look like a misshapen bunch of satin rags attached to a pencil skirt.

Knock-offs, unless they are commissioned by a very fine seamstress, are pretty much never going to be as nice as the originals. Do you really expect to be able to buy a $300+ dollar dress for $50? Of course not. If you have been into Lolita for any amount of time, and own even a small amount of brand dresses, you know that they prices they charge aren't too ridiculous for what you are getting, soft, thick cotton and yards upon yards of high-quality lace. But knock-offs are a way of getting a similar style of dress for much cheaper. If you can find, afford, and fit into the original dress, then by all means, go for it, it will most likely be a thousand times lovelier than any knock-off. But sometimes one of those 3 things will set you back, you might just not have the hundreds of dollars, the right waist size, or the dress might be from so long ago in the Lolita time line you have very little chance of ever finding it. Or maybe you just want a piece or two in a style that you are still flirting with and don't yet feel comfortable dropping a large chunk of change on it ("I love it for $30, but not for $300!"). If this is the case, there's really no shame in a replica or a knock-off. If you love and want a dress, buy it, even if, for some reason, you have no choice but to buy a knock-off.

If you are interested in checking out many more of Bodyline's replicas, mostly for a good lulz, check out this site. It's a very comprehensive listing of most of the knock-offs Bodyline has put out over the years. I never even knew some of these pieces were knock-offs! Some pieces that I always though of as "Classic Bodyline Fug" are apparently pretty accurate replicas of real brands. I guess that just goes to show you that just because it's brand, doesn't mean it's tasteful.