Psst, fancy a Gucci handbag for just £25? Just go to M&S! (Well can YOU tell the difference?)
Hell has frozen over. After decades of me deriding the frankly awful, plasticy, mumsy bags in M&S, they have gone and toppled my entire belief system – that a designer handbag costing over a grand is an ‘investment’.
The reason? This batch of badass beauties, no less.
They are such near-perfect doppelgangers for Gucci and Prada, you wonder why lawsuits haven’t been flying.
Marks and Spencer have released a line of handbags that are dead ringers for designer brands like Gucci and Prada, but cost a fraction of the price. Pictured, a Gucci model (left) poses with a bag that costs over £1,000 while the Marks and Spencer version (right) costs under £40
The Italian designer bag costs £1,260. Liz says: Yes, the M&S version is missing the GG motif of the Gucci house, but think what you could do with the £1,220.50 you’ve saved
The Marks and Spencer bag comes in at just £39.50. Liz says: The M&S top handle tote is sturdy, light, a great colour and it’s not leather – great for animals and the environment!
A Gucci tote (left) comes in at £1,540, but the Marks and Spencer doppelganger only costs £79. Liz says: THIS tote is real leather, it’s really soft and it even smells expensive. Roomy, with classy lining that doesn’t make the usual M&S mistake of being patterned. Absolute bargain. The Gucci bag, with its gilt GG, is a bit gaudy in comparison
And it’s not just the shape that’s familiar to those of us who drool at the windows of their flagship stores in Old Bond Street, but every detail down to the gilt chain strap, the twist lock clasp, the eye-popping colours.
No wonder fashion sales at M&S are at long last on the up.
It’s a change of tack: Marks has wasted millions employing teams of designers, and stars such as Alexa Chung, to come up with new ideas, but why bother when you can copycat the catwalk? So why are the new M&S bags not only as good as the originals, but better?
A red quilted Gucci clutch bag costs £715. Liz says: I love the tassels and the padlock on the Gucci, but is the bag worth the outlay?
The Marks and Spencer clutch costs just £15. Liz says: OK, spot the difference. This is a teenager’s bag: she will have her hands free to text, and you will still be able to afford her school fees. The M&S bag is 100 per cent synthetic – great for those eco-conscious young women who want their veganism to be wraparound
The Prada shopper bag costs a whopping £1,780, while the M&S copy is just £39.50. Liz says: Even with my 20 per cent discount, the Prada bag is off the scale. The only thing missing from the M&S lookalike is the gold cipher, some interior pockets – and the price tag
Well, aside from the prices, they are much lighter.
The new black Prada tote (£1,780) weighs a ton, whereas Marks’s super-soft dead ringer at £39.50 means you will also save the hundreds you’d have otherwise spent on a chiropractor.
Admittedly, the M&S bags are made in China or India, but the ‘Made in Italy’ label doesn’t have the cachet it once had.
Liz says: So the M&S bag is polyester and made in China, while the Gucci bag is in red signature leather and made in Italy. Who cares? Pictured, the Gucci clutch costs £1,260
The M&S version is just £25. Liz says: The Marks bag is sturdy and light - and at this price you will still be able to afford M&S ready-meals
The black Gucci bag (left) comes in at £1,340, while the Marks lookalike (right) costs £85. Liz says: The Marks hobo tote is leather. The Gucci tote is calfskin. The Marks tote is lined in polyester, and made in India. The Gucci tote is lined in cotton, and made in Italy. I know which one I would go for, especially as the gaudy logo is soooo last century. The M&S bag is super-soft too
Most importantly, for anyone who cares about animals and pollution caused by tanneries, the fact that most of M&S bags are faux is a definite plus.
My only provisos are that the lining should be sturdier as I’m worried it will tear, and a few more zippable pockets would be good.
But at these prices, I’m quibbling.
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