To DIY or not? It’s a topic I’ve thought about many many many many many many (you get the idea) times since I started DIY-ing up my own versions of high-fashion items - where does one draw the line? It’s a grey area, for sure; while I’m 100% convinced that it’s NEVER not okay to at least cite your influences (ahem, Erin Wasson), is there truly a difference between, in the comfort of your own home and for personal use, DIY-ing a Marc Jacobs accessory vs. recreating a piece by a relatively unknown and quite-possibly-struggling young designer?

For ME, accessibility and price point is what it comes down to - if the item isn’t available to the masses (see: Style Bubble’s Acne cage skirt conundrum), is listed as “price upon request” or has an outrageously stratospheric number attached to it, it’s fair game. DIY-ing isn’t the same as, say, Forever 21 copying a designer piece and selling it for profit. Which is where things should get sticky for me, because I LOVE IT WHEN PLACES LIKE FOREVER 21 COPY A DESIGNER PIECE AND SELLS IT FOR PROFIT.

Take this past Spring’s peep-toe, snakeskin D&G lace-ups (pictured above, far left). I don’t even want to know what the price is, nor do I care. There isn’t a shot in hell I could have afforded it; it doesn’t matter. What DOES matter is that F21 is now offering a verrrrry aesthetically similar version for $27.80 (and thank you, Geometric Sleep, for the head’s up). Are there a great many reasons why I should be morally opposed to buying these shoes (or their little Miu Miu rip-off cousins)? Yes. There are. In fact, writing about it makes me feel a little dirty. And while I don’t have a solid argument with which to defend myself, I do have this theory:

Remember that scene in The Devil Wears Prada where Meryl Streep’s character explains THE FASHION INDUSTRY to The Princess Diaries? Something about how she thinks she’s wearing a cobalt blue sweater because it’s functional and was on sale, but it’s really because two seasons ago a designer declared blue the IT color and it trickled down the eschelon until that particular shade ended up on the inexpensive sweater that she bought from the bargain bin. That is not a quote, and I don’t subscribe to it completely, but you get my point. Trends are started in places both high and low, but the fashion runways do play an exceptionally large role in either setting or reinforcing them. What used to take years to apply now takes mere hours because of fashion’s internet prevalance, and we’ve gotten to the point where the trend cycle happens so quickly that there’s no time for dilution. The snakeskin peeptoes at Forever21 are aesthetically similar to the snakeskin peeptoes at D&G are aesthetically similar to the snakeskin peeptoes at Nine West are the same as the next pair and the next. And they’re all available at the same time. We’ve reached a point where nothing is underground and every influence is accessible; one merely has to LIKE something and it will be available to them within their particular spending range.

My whole issue of DIY “morality” vs. the immediate gratification of fast fashion is a confusing one, I know. And I realize that I’d be without the whole conundrum if I were to only shop vintage/thrift/indie/green/ETC - but the fashion-minded among us who do that already are still shopping those resources with one eye on some sort of trend (think about the really good eBay or etsy vintage shops - the appeal of all rests on a tight mix of personal + current style), so let’s be real here - what are your thoughts on all of the above? Is DIY-ing designer pieces an art form or on the same level as fast fashion? And is fast fashion unavoidable because of the way information and influence now spreads? CHIME IN.

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