D- I - Why Not?

posted by anon

Jul 11, 2007 12:57PM

link to brightestyoungthings is not working for me?

posted by a lady

Jul 11, 2007 12:58PM

aww, thanks for the link! and glad you liked the necklace :)

(and just fyi, the blog name is Lacquer...I wouldn't want to get in trouble with Conde!)

posted by helen

Jul 11, 2007 1:00PM

goodness, lacquer has a gorgeous bannerhead. :)

posted by Shelly

Jul 11, 2007 1:05PM

just to play devil's advocate here -- because i love DIY as much as the next person -- but isn't copying a designers piece "do it yourself" style just as bad as forever 21 and the like copying a designers piece? I mean the you condem the copying of designer items by the retail stores, but you applaud the copying of designers items by individual people.

I can understand this from an anti-consumerism point of view...I was just wondering your thoughts.

Thanks!

posted by Anna

Jul 11, 2007 1:52PM

I think Faran has fielded this question before; the difference is that with a DIY, you're not making money off someone else's design because you're probably not mass-marketing your DIY to millions of consumers.

Now if you're putting your DIY on the internet, that might be SLIGHTLY different, but then again, a DIY so rarely resembles the real thing so closely I think. I think one is more like plucky flattery, and the other is more dishonest.

posted by morgan

Jul 11, 2007 2:00PM

yayyy thanks so much for the link to my MJ flats on brightest young things!
the actual link is:
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/style/style-diy-marc-jacobs-studded-flats/
thanks fashionista!

posted by guest

Jul 11, 2007 2:18PM

Yeah, but people sell their DIY stuff all of the time.

Also what I meant by the question is that when someone wears a knock-off of a designer item it is always highly condemed by certain types of people, why is a DIY knock-off not as condemed by the same people?

This has been my experience...I just think that it is kind of a double standard. Is it the artistic quality of the DIY item vs. the mass market-ness (for lack of a better word) of the item in question that makes a DIY knockoff somewhat more acceptable?

Fashionista.com always finds inventive ways to DIY designer items (like the Marc Jacobs headband, etc.) but critiques people for buying items at Forever 21 that look similar to (or exactly the same as) a designer item.

I get the mass marketing thing and not ripping off someone elses artistic vision, what I don't get is why it is acceptable to wear copies that you made and not to wear copies that someone else made...according to some.

I am in no way saying that the great people of Fashionista.com are hypocrites...I feel the same way about DIY vs. Forever 21, etc. but I just wonder why it is that way.

posted by eec

Jul 11, 2007 3:14PM

here is a link to some cute summer update ideas by a friend of mine for instyle's "your look" online: http://www.instyleyourlook.com/instyle/yourlook/gallery/0,28425,1581265_1621827_1357412,00.html

posted by astrid

Jul 11, 2007 3:52PM

i don't know that fashionista "critiques" people for shopping at F21. it's always seemed to me in most cases to be an FYI or a question posed to the readers: is this a good ripoff or not?

i'd like to see DIY projects that aren't copies!

posted by morgan

Jul 11, 2007 5:58PM

i think the difference between f21 knocking off a designer and a how-to DIY of a designer piece are totally different - one stands to make major money from a design that isn't theirs, and the DIY-er is showing how, with time/effort/creativity you can have something similar that YOU made - that, like anna said, is more in homage and often has a sense of humor. (and i also agree that fashionista is pointing them out similarities rather than laying down judgment).
that said, i'd never put a DIY on the internet of something that wasn't mass-produced, exhorbitantly priced, or by a designer that wasn't already established in every sense of the term. i think there's a difference between showing people how to make their own marc jacobs shoes or headband and showing them how to, say, make a vena cava dress or a kime buzzelli piece.
and i can't speak for everyone, but as a DIY-er who is also an independent designer, i'd rather save the original DIY projects to sell under my own line! but if you're looking for something to make on your own, try the built by wendy pattern book...

posted by astrid

Jul 11, 2007 6:47PM

i didn't mean DIY items to copy, i meant DIY items as features. i'm not lacking for things to make.

posted by kjd

Jul 11, 2007 10:44PM

Does anyone have any ideas about some DIY super black tights like the ones from Ruffian?

posted by kjd

Jul 11, 2007 10:45PM

Does anyone have any ideas about some DIY super black tights like the ones from Ruffian?

posted by anonymoose

Jul 12, 2007 2:30AM

re: instyle diys

most of those are meh...just cutoffs with hems redone, but the cropped trench actually turned out pretty cute.
from this:
http://img2.timeinc.net/instyle/images/2007/yourlook/050807_trench_01_400X400.jpg
to this:
http://img2.timeinc.net/instyle/images/2007/yourlook/050807_trench_07_400X400.jpg

not bad.