AnAuthentic.com

Hi My name is Michelle and I love shopping for and wearing authentic name brand designer clothes and hand bags. I like the way real designer clothes look and fit and how good they make me look.  

What I hate, especially now that I sell stuff, is all of the fake, cheap knock offs that people sell.  I read that over 70% of  the designer merchandise on Ebay is fake.  It seems like all most all of the jeans I look at buying for myself on ebay these days are fake. Seller's of these knock offs  even have the gall to  put “100% guaranteed authentic” knowing that most people won’t be able to tell the difference. 

Some people think that the fakes they are selling  are extra runs from the same factory or Jeans that didn't quite make the quality grade.  Actually fakes are mass produced in 3^rd world countries and specifically designed to fool the average buyer.  Wouldn’t it be great if fakes fit just as nice or were built to the same standards as authentic merchandise?  Unfortunately that isn’t the case.  I am sure many people who buy the fakes try them on and like them, but wonder what all the fuss is about.  If you have worn a pair of authentic jeans that fit, you know what all the fuss is about and understand why these jeans deserve such a premium.

I buy all of my stuff for sale at name brand department stores.  Unfortunately that doesn't guarantee they are authentic.  The problem is that today fake’s are popping up everywhere.  I have seen fakes at high end stores like Nordstrom , yes,  Nordstrom.  And don't even get me started on Nordstrom Rack.  I would say that between 5% and 10% of their designer jeans at their denim sales are fake.  It's not really their fault.  It seems some very dishonest people will buy the original jeans from the store and a fake pair on ebay and then return the fakes to Nordstrom and keep the originals.  I know go to great efforts to prevent this, but unless a person has been trained to identify a fake, they too will be fooled. 

Before I realized how to tell the difference I was fooled a couple of times and its really made me mad.  I don't want anyone to ever be fooled by fakes ever again, so here is how I am going try to help.   

10 Ways to Tell a Fake

1.     Research.  There are tons of resources on the web. A few I use are- www.no-fake-jeans.de.vu, www.honestwiki.com, and soon my own site www.anauthentic.com

2.     Ask an expert.  If you have the items in hand then take them to a shop that sells originals, like Nordstrom or Sax, and ask the people who sell them.  They usually have someone who works there that is an expert and will know almost instantly.   

3.  Post the pictures of the items on a chat board like www.honestforum.com and ask others if they are fake. This means that you need pictures of the actual jeans.  Avoid any seller that uses stock photos or the same photo for multiple auctions. 

4.     Check the Cut and Style numbers against known forged numbers.  (See my tables at the bottom of this page for a list of known fake numbers) Don’t trust a seller that won’t send you a picture of the tag showing both cut and style. The style and cut numbers should be stamped on the tag, not sewn in. 

5.     Fakes will sometimes smell funny.  Kind of like mothballs.  Sounds funny but I have found it to be very true.  I think it is because they are slow boated over from Asia.

6.     Check the tags thoroughly.  Research it and you will discover this is where most forgers make mistakes. You will also learn that some tags that look like fakes are actually authentic.

7.     Check the copper rivets.  Each brand has it's own style so make sure it matches what it should be.

8.     Visit the manufactures web site to see what the item is really supposed to look like.  Here are a few of the jeans manufactures web sites:  http://www.truereligionbrandjeans.com/, http://www.sevenforallmankind.com/index2.html, http://www.paperdenim.com/site/main.html, http://www.rockandrepublic.com/rock/?ref=none, http://www.paigepremiumdenim.com/, 

or try some of the large retailers like:

    http://www.eluxury.com, http://www.nordstrom.com, www.neimanmarcus.com,

9.     The jeans should feel like a $200 pair of jeans, not something you buy at Walmart.  The material feels nice and soft -not hard and stiff

10.  Avoid ebayers that sell a bunch of known fakes.  If they sell any fakes, odds are that all of them are fakes.  Selling huge amounts of the same style having two or more with the same cut number or not showing you a picture of the cut # is a big clue they are selling fakes.  Some ebayers may not know they are selling fakes.  If you see someone that looks like they are doing this I personally think you should let them know that you suspect they are fake and give them the chance to do the right thing.  Someone did this for me when I first started selling, and I was very appreciative.   I immediately took them off line and took them to the store for verification.  Since then I am anal about making sure I am selling authentics

If you find out you already bought a fake and its to late to do anything about it, don't feel bad, you are in good company.  One of the first pairs I bought at Nordstrom Rack I recently discovered were fake.  Really sucks that I spent $25 getting them hemmed.  I really am proactive at making sure the jeans I sell are authentic but if you see a pair that you question please let me know and I will reconfirm authenticity. 

Citizens of Humanity Known Fakes Cut Numbers

7 for All Mankind Fake Cut Numbers

These cut numbers do not guarantee the item is a fake but the odds of them being fake is over 99.9%.  If yours have any of these cut numbers,  have them authenticated.  There were a few authentic jeans manufactured with each of these cut numbers.  It's where the forgers based the fake cut  number on.  Most of these were sold long ago.

If you come across other fake cut numbers or even suspected fake cut numbers please email me at fakecut@anauthentic.com and I will update the page accordingly.