Can you be Fasionable and be 100 pounds overweight? I don't think so.....

Time to Update......it's been awhile. Time flies when you're not paying any attention, doesn't it?! I've been away from blogging for awhile. Where was I on my fashion discussion? Oh yes, I had explained the replica market, or what I knew about it, which wasn't that much.

Jumping ahead to the year 2009: I decided in 2009 that I really needed to get my weight under control. Weight had been creeping up on me for 10 years, 10 pounds a year, and before I knew it, I was FAT! I knew it, but I was in big time denial. I think since 2005, and my return to California from Bend, OR, I was contemplating weight loss surgery, actually the lapband procedure. That's the only WLS I knew about except for the gastric bypass, which sounded way too drastic. I thought lapband would be OK and all the hype was that it was great. IDK why but I procrastinated on actually doing it. So in 2009 and another 30 pounds, I thought "this cannot continue! I have to DO something." I started researching WLS again and had a consult with a surgeon for the band procedure. I was basically SOLD on it and was going to get it. You have to undergo a few pre-op tests, so after I got those out of the way, I was basically ready to submit to the insurance company for approval. While I was doing that, I was still reading the weight loss forums for advice and other people's experiences. The more I read, the more I started thinking that I DID NOT want the lapband procedure. I read about a lot of people having problems with their bands after a few years. I started looking for alternative procedures, and discovered the gastric sleeve. If you want to know more about sleeve surgery, visit www.verticalsleevetalk.com for a wealth of information. I asked my band surgeon if he did the sleeve. I didn't hear back from his office. Interesting, huh. Finally I got a response from his coordinator that he did do the sleeve, but then the communication lines went down again and no more responses. I started looking for a new doctor on the weight loss boards. I came across one that everyone thought was great. OK, I thought, he sounds good BUT he is in Mexico. So as we are all programmed to think that having surgery outside the United States is risky, I was hesitant. However, after reading more and more, I decided I think this is THE guy. I got it set up and on August 10, 2009, I had my sleeve surgery in Mexicali. Everything went great, I was in a hospital for 3 days, and everyone spoke English; it was just the best surgery experience. So fast forward to June 2010, and I've lost 103 pounds and wearing a size 4-6. NOW I was ready for FASHION!!

Before photo on the left; obviously the after photo on the right:

So How did I get Addicted?

to Fashion, that is. I went on a cruise in 2005 to the Caribbean. While there I was looking in local shops and in one in particular I saw what purported to be Dooney Bourke bags. When I looked closer, they weren't exactly replicas, but were the same canvas style without the branding. I had always thought DB was cute, so I bought one bag (since sold it.) When we got home I decided I'd look around on eBay for DB at a discount. I didn't know anything about replicas being sold as authentic on eBay, so I naively went down the la-la trail of designer bags. I bid on a white canvas bag and won. When the bag arrived, I inspected it and thought, Wow, this looks really cheap and crappy! I didn't think it could possibly be the real thing, but I was trying to talk myself into it because I didn't want to admit I'd been taken. I contacted the seller on authenticity issues, and they quickly offered to refund me upon return of the bag. I was glad to hear that, so I promptly sent it back and did get the refund without a hassle. Yay!

Not long after that fiasco, I started looking at Juicy Couture bags thinking they were cute. Boy were there a lot of sellers of JC bags! Then it dawned on me that probably all the sellers were not selling authentic JC. I started to become aware that replicas of all brands were rampant on eBay. I started Googling replicas and found a mother lode of fake bags out there. I really wanted to buy authentic bags but at a discount; I thought there had to be a way for this to be true. Unfortunately, there wasn't, but I didn't know that then.

In 2005 Chloe bags were very popular especially the Paddington satchel. I still have one. I hooked up with an eBay seller who sold me a fake, but I didn't know it then, and we actually became friends. I figured out that the bag was fake and asked to return it based on my husband being upset that I'd spent so much on 1 bag. That was a rouse, but I didn't want to confront the seller that I knew it was a fake. I just wanted my money back and was quite willing to tell whatever fairy story I had to to get the refund. After that matter was resolved, I started asking her questions on where she got her bags. She would never tell me directly, but I kept at her and eventually got some answers. One of the places she told me about was an online seller with allegedly authentic bags. Their name was Queen Bee and the bags looked amazing and they were expensive, like the real ones would be, but at a substantial discount than full retail. I placed an order with them and when the bags arrived, I was sure they were the real deal! The Fendi Spy bag was one of the items I'd ordered, and when I received it, I just knew it was real. Boy, did I have a lot to learn! I set myself up on eBay to be in the designer bag business. I'd sell these authentic bags and make some money. Little did I know that although these beautiful leather bags were appealing and realistic looking, they were fakes! Yep, good fakes, but still fakes all the same. Of course I didn't know that until I sold a few. My "customers" were happy with the bags they received, and it wasn't until I sold that Fendi blue Spy Bag to someone in Florida, that I got a big surprise. She told me it was FAKE! I couldn't believe it; I still didn't believe it and I figured she was just sorry she had spent so much money for the bag. However, I refunded her and got my precious bag back. I put it up for sale on eBay and sold it again; the next customer was thrilled to death to get it, loved it and there were no complaints of fakes. I figured that first woman was just plain wrong! The photo of that beautiful bag is at the top of this page. I had a lot to learn, but being an Aries, I had sort of jumped into this designer bag business without doing a lot of investigation or research. Oh I "thought" I had, but I hadn't. I didn't know what I know now about how rampant replicas are all over the world. But this is not a story about replicas, they were just something I discovered on my path to how fashion stole my heart.

How Fashion Stole My Heart and much more....

Where to begin? I've always been interested in fashion, but in a sort of general kind of way. I worked in the legal field most of my adult life, and as such had to be professionally attired for work. Of course, this did NOT mean fashionably attired, just had to look put together enough to see clients and be seen in the office. I did my best with the resources I had and limited knowledge of high fashion otherwise known as haute couture. I retired from the legal world in 1999, but after a move out of California (to Oregon) I went back to work for one year from 2004-2005. Trust me, where I was working in Central Oregon, fashion was not on anybody's mind, at least not from what I saw. Maybe up in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon, there was more fashion exposure, but I never spent any time there. So how did I become interested in high fashion, premier designer fashion? Funny, but it all started with purses (bags), and it's sort of an interesting story which I will tell you in short order. This is simply my introduction for now.