Thursday 30 August 2012

When in Rome...

You might remember that while I was in France, the French police uncovered a ring of  Hermes counterfeiters.

Bizarrely, while I was in Rome a similar thing happened - police in Milan seized over 40,000 counterfeit goods! Incredible, don't you think? The items, discovered in Chinatown, included Burberry and Louis Vuitton scarves, as well as various other accessories.

It just goes to show, both designers and law enforcement are deadly serious about clamping down on the sale of counterfeit goods.

Bemsy x



Thursday 23 August 2012

Travel Essentials #3 - Rome, Italy

Rome Essentials

Rome Essentials by emmatje

I'm going on a little jaunt to Rome with my mum and brother at the weekend. I'll be there for 3 full days, so I won't need to pack a lot. These are my essentials...

1. Dresses - I'm taking these 2 maxi dresses so I don't have to worry about covering up in the churches, etc. I'll bring the blue floral dress for an evening out, and perhaps another shorter dress for the evening.

2. Sandals - 1 pair of flat sandals as they are so comfy for walking around in all day. Then 1 pair of simple heeled sandals for the evening.

3. Cardigans - thin knitted cardigans will be perfect for covering up, day or night.

4. Handbag essentials - Sunglasses, of course; my camera for capturing the sights; a guidebook so we can make the most of our trip; and my kindle to relax with in the hotel bar after a day of sightseeing.

5. Handbag - I'm going to take an across body bag so that I don't have to worry about someone grabbing my bag while I'm gawping at the architecture. A simple suede bag will take me from day to night.

6. Accessories - as I will be keeping my outfits simple, I will make the most of being able to wear lots of lovely jewellery and hair accessories. 

Have you been to Rome?

Much love, Bemsy x

Friday 10 August 2012

Naughty Romwe

Now don't get me wrong, I love Romwe. They have a lot of great items, and the fact that they stock new items daily is a great help when it comes to procrastinating.

There are, however, some items that I just can't bear to look at, let alone see other bloggers wearing, and these are the blatant copies of designer logos.


These examples clearly show the use of Chanel and YSL's logotypes. In my opinion, they dilute the brands and clearly infringe trademark laws, and I think it's a real shame that many well-known bloggers have bought these items. It perplexes me that bloggers are encouraging their readers to buy such items, which benefit Romwe and only succeed in harming the established brands. An alternative would perhaps be to show readers how easy it is to make your own DIY t-shirt if readers cannot afford the real thing. If you don't make money out of your DIY, and neither does Romwe, then surely this is the way forward?

I have contacted Romwe about these items, and while they were grateful for my concern, they did not remove them from their website. While the efforts of Chanel's legal team is currently focused on counterfeit handbags from China and Vietnam, how long will it be before they start clamping down on sites like Romwe?




What is your opinion on this issue?

Much love, Bemsy x

Thursday 9 August 2012

Girl Crush #2 - Daisy Lowe




Daisy, what a babe. Her rock chick style always seems to have a chic edge.


The oversized leather jacket perfectly complements the teeny tiny girly patterned dress.

Festival chic. A cute girly dress is toned down with leather ankle boots. Love her slightly disheveled look here.

Wow does she clean up good! Perfectly chic, with a hint of her rock chic style in her messy hair.

A perfectly relaxed yet stylish outfit, thanks to the cute jacket. 

So simple yet perfect. 

Here's how to recreate Daisy's style. I've tried to keep the items as affordable as possible.

Girl Crush #2 - Daisy Lowe


Much love, Bemsy x

Friday 3 August 2012

Big win for MAC & Estee Lauder


MAC cosmetics, part of the Estee Lauder family, brought a case against a ring of cybersquatters and was recently awarded $90 million in damages by a New York court. The Chinese defendants were operating out of 112 websites and sold counterfeit MAC products.

As the defendants never responded to MAC's complaint, the residing Judge ordered that any funds in their PayPal accounts should be paid to MAC.

While this is certainly a big win for MAC, in my opinion the best outcome of this case is that the Judge ordered a permanent injunction to prevent the defendants from operating through these websites, and to stop any third-parties from providing services to the defendants in the future, such as search engines and  payment processing companies.

Not only has MAC succeeded in protecting their brand, but they have also taken a big step in protecting consumers, as fake cosmetics are not subject to the stringent tests that ensure they are safe for the skin.

Have you ever bought fake cosmetics? Would you?

Much love, Bemsy x