Those Dior earrings. Who hasn’t worn them at this point? From Rihanna and Emma Watson to bloggers worldwide, these BALLer (get it?) pieces of ear decor have been a huge hit. But is everyone sporting the famous Dior version? Let’s find out.
Ever since I noticed a few designers/websites knocking off the Dior tee shirt earrings (also known as the “tribal” earrings) I’ve wanted to write about the issue. But now, it seems that most people are actually wearing the faux version instead because there are so many more knock-offs on the market than we could have ever anticipated. After a little Facebook ad popped up in my newsfeed yesterday notifying me that even Target is on board, I thought now was the right time to have this little chat.
It’s no new news that knock-offs are an issue in the fashion industry. There’s the illegal “fake” items that are made with the designer’s logo and everything (of course, all unauthorized) but then there’s the “look-alikes” where the designer most likely does not have that item trademarked or patented so everyone from Topshop to Zara can take very literal inspiration from the runway and sell it for a hell of a lot less. But that’s what makes these retailers so popular…why would they ever stop doing what they do best? Same goes for these earrings. After all, the real deal is about $400 (with the resale value at even more than that right now) while their look-alikes are mostly under $40. And after seeing how popular they’ve become, retailers figure why NOT make a cheaper version? But how did this accessory of all things become such a hit in the first place?
The first time I ever saw this Dior earring was on Emma Watson at the Golden Globes last year (and might have single handedly started the single earring trend, by the way). With pearls becoming popular again, everyone just loved this look…including myself. After some serious stalking (which I’m really good at when it comes to clothing and accessories I just can’t live without and are not readily available online or in stores) I finally found them. I decided to go for the mixed metal version because I thought I’d get the most use out of those. After I ordered them, I found out they weren’t single earrings at all…you actually get two (and I somehow felt like I was getting a deal). For a while, I wore one/both just about every day. Then more recently I started to notice a lot of people wearing them (mostly online, not necessarily in Chicago) and I wondered why was it so hard for me to get these when everyone else seemed to obtain them quite easily. Cue BaubleBar…then it all made sense. At the time, I had only seen the real version on Emma Watson so I was surprised to see this was worth knocking-off, but clearly it was and now everyone is doing it. But what about Dior? Shouldn’t we care about their feelings too? You know, Raf and the team?
Listen, I get the whole look-for-less thing. Fashion wouldn’t be what it is unless we had that option…otherwise we’d be broke in head-to-toe runway looks or just completely naked. But where do we draw the line? For me personally, I’m a little bummed I spent my hard-earned cash on these earrings when you can get ones that look EXACTLY the same for $30. Most of the time when something like this happens, the difference between the real version and the look-for-less is pretty obvious. And if that was the case, I wouldn’t be so bummed. But considering I can’t tell the difference with most of the options out there, yeah it sucks a little…not going lie. However, that just brings up another topic of discussion — is it worth the wait? Because I’m super impatient, I wanted these earrings ASAP. This has happened to me with other items in the past where I buy something right away then it becomes extremely trendy and soon I’m over it. Then I’ve wasted money and am disappointed that I still haven’t learned my lesson yet. These earrings, though, I never thought would get to the level that they have. I didn’t think two balls in your ear could be that popular, ya know? But they are. And if I only waited a few more months, I wouldn’t be in this situation. The fact that I’m even complaining about this is pretty embarrassing. There’s much worse problems than my Dior knock-off situation, but it’s an issue I had to bring up and as always I want to know what you think.
Are you team Dior or team Fior (faux Dior)? Do you even like these earrings to begin with? And just for fun…there’s one pair below that’s actually Dior. Can you tell which one?
Images via Pinterest & Dior
They actually sell them at Target too! I bought mine a few weeks ago. I first saw a hand-made version at a boutique in Amsterdam about three years ago. Emma, of course, made them popular, especially with bloggers.
They are very cute though.