Basically, I stumbled across this whole rabbit hole while, like, trying to find a decent deal on a Dior belt. I’m not gonna lie, those things are EXPENSIVE. So, naturally, I was hitting up the second-hand sites. Think Jolicloset, Vestiaire Collective… the usual haunts where you can (hopefully) snag a bargain and save up to, like, 70%! (Which, honestly, is still a lot of money, but whatever).
And then I saw it. Or, rather, *them*. Posts for “Brandless DIOR Belt.” Now, I’m not talking about a belt with no branding at all. I mean, it’s *obviously* trying to be a Dior belt. Like, it’s mimicking the style, the buckle (that iconic CD buckle!), maybe even the calfskin leather. It’s basically a dupe, a fake, a knock-off, whatever you wanna call it. But advertised…differently.
It got me thinking, though. Is it *really* a bad thing? I mean, if you’re on a tight budget but you really dig the Dior aesthetic, is it so terrible to go for something that *looks* the part? I’m not condoning blatant counterfeiting, obvs, but there’s a grey area here. Like, maybe the person selling it is just trying to be honest and not claim it’s the real deal? Honest duplicity? Is that a thing?
Plus, and this is just my personal opinion, sometimes the quality of these “brandless” versions is surprisingly good! I mean, not *as* good as the real deal, probably. You’re not getting that Dior craftsmanship, that buttery-soft leather, blah blah blah. But, for the price, it might be worth considering. Especially if you’re just gonna wear it with, like, jeans and a t-shirt and nobody’s gonna be all up in your waist trying to authenticate it.
