While they do say that imitation is flattery, it seems that all fashion styles are borrowed here and there. Target and J.Crew seem to have done the same. Which came first? Not sure. But it sure is the same look for less.
J.Crew Penelope Mary Jane, $235.00 or Mossimo Vester Mary Jane, $24.99
Have you found other same looks for less while browsing through other retailers’ websites?
puglady says: Target knocked off 2 other J Crew items that I know of. One is the broken-in deep v-neck French terry hoodie – Target copied every bit of it right down to the grommets where the hoodie strings came out. I stopped in my tracks when I saw them in the store, watched them like a hawk and when they went on clearance I bought about 4 of them. I will have to send you a pic!
Target also knocked off the French market tissue tees not so long ago. The fit, everything. Some were solid and some were prints but I knew right away where the inspiration came from.
Oh yeah, a year or two ago Old Navy totally ripped off the washed linen academy jacket but ON gave it these giant dreadful buttons. :-/ So even though it came in a Papaya-ish color, which I love, I couldn’t bring myself to by it. 
Leigh says: I definitely believe it. Target has been in trouble with this trouble before. I know they were sued by Coach and Diane von Furstenberg.
Rae says: Shoot! I totally missed out on those Target items puglady talked about! I looove Target – it’s one of my other favorite place to shop, besides J.Crew. =) But I have noticed that J.Crew “copied” (ok, was inspired by) Marc Jacobs Ruffle Tank for the Beaded Cashmere Ruffle Shell, which was then knocked off by Forever 21 (which I’m having trouble finding the picture of!).
Leigh says: Oh wow, Rae! Those tanks are super similar. Do you know which came first? J.Crew or Marc Jacobs?
Rae says: You know what? I don’t know! The earliest post I’ve seen of the Marc Jacobs tank is May 2008. Here’s a blog post of the Forever 21 tank:
“Is it time to boycott Forever 21?”. The Forever 21 tank does look more similar to the Marc Jacobs one rather than the J.Crew one, but they all look very similar! I can’t remember, but did J.Crew’s version come out sometime Spring?
Rae says: (Sorry, I keep forgetting to close the link. =P)
puglady says: Well, let’s all think about that scene in The Devil Wears Prada, though, where the Stanley Tucci character explains the evolution of Anne Hathaway’s tired old blue cableknit sweater (which may even be from JC, lol). He accurately details the way fashion starts way way up high and slowly trickles down to the masses, to where it becomes affordable for us sale-rack schmucks. This is one of the ways that happens (ie via Target and F21). It is troubling from an intellectual property perspective – lord knows I’d be livid if I were the designer being ripped off – but imitation *is* the highest form of flattery, right? And once stuff is out there in the public domain, there isn’t too much you can do about it. There’s a fine line between ‘inspired by’ and ‘totally stolen from’ – especially these days. All that said, I do find that with the exception of that sweatshirt/hoodie, I have the curse of knowledge about the ‘real thing’ – that is to say I know what the material and details of the original were and it’s so, so rare that the knockoff measures up.
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