Shoe Deja Vu: Schuh ‘Garda’ Vs Charlotte Russe gingham wedges

Charlotte Russe gingham wedges

Recognise these, anyone? I certainly did: colour aside, they’re almost identical to the Scuh ‘Garda’ wedges I bought last summer:

Schuh Garda wedges

And actually, even although the black version is the only one currently available on the Charlotte Russe website, they’ve been previewing these in red, too, so I’m assuming the red version is coming soon (it may actually already be available in store).

Now, Charlotte Russe, as I’ve mentioned before, is currently one of the worst offenders for copycat shoes, and is rapidly approaching Steve Madden territory in that respect. If you take a look at their website, you’ll find yourself feeling a whole lot of deja vu in the shoe section: there are too many designer dupes there for me to highlight them all here, but what’s interesting about this particular example is that it’s NOT a designer dupe. It’s a high street dupe, and this is something we’ve started to see a lot more of over the past few years, with budget brands copying, not just designer shoes, but mid-to-low range shoes, too. Kurt Geiger, Carvela, and River Island have all had styles copied recently, so if you really like a shoe, you generally don’t have to wait too long to find one “inspired” by it: even if it’s a style from the good ol’ UK high street.

Of course, this is good news if you’re in the UK, and really wanted a pair of Gardas: their twin sisters are just $32 at Charlotte Russe!

4 Comments

  • I find it amazing that shoe “designers” can get away with this. There is nothing different about those shoes, when compared with the originals.

  • Eh, I want both, and I barely ever wear wedges (I feel like I have to ‘carry’ the wedge and they rarely work without ankle straps – I like the look of the ankle straps but I need to be able to kick off my shoes under the desk/in the car and stretch my poor soles, and then quickly slip the shoes back on.). Ever notices how black gingham kinda looks navy? I am still on my nautical/country kick. Which is lovely, considering this morning Moscow was a balmy 0F.

  • hmmm you know what? for high street brands “copying” each other, I feel like it’s not the case. I feel like they probably all got the shoes from the same manufacturer in china or something and they just re labeled the shoes to their own label…sometimes i feel its the same case with their clothes also because there are times when I find the exact same top in topshop as in Zara. Ofcourse I dont think that they buy everything and relabel, I think they have a balance : some they have designed for their own company and some I think they buy wholesale from facctories and relabel it with their brand. I mean brands like topshop, zara and H&M have waaaaaaaaay tooo many stocks to have everything all designed specially for them. I think it’s the same with the shoes too, some they buy and relabel. hehe…just putting my two cents in because i feel like a lot of the things look toooo mch alike, they probably came from the same factory!

  • I think Life is a Shoe has a good point. And also I think I am going to buy myself a pair of these when I am in the states next month. YES!

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