The Fake Debate

I have a weakness for animal print and Louboutin shoes, so it was inevitable that I would fall for his Miss Clichy 140 boots. The only problem is if I were to buy them I would have to live on air and toast for two months. And there would be no magazine budget at all.
ASOS, the online retailer which always has a copy of everything, have produced some similar leopard print boots - off-puttingly titled ''in the style of Cheryl Cole''.

They're not as nice as the Loubou's (obviously) and there is the Cheryl Cole reference, but I do quite like them. I'm not very good at fakes though. The only fake item I've ever bought was a Chloe Paddington bag, which I was £20 from Camden Market. I used it for a few weeks pretending it was the real thing, but it felt fake. It was a complete waste of time. Also I'm now much more aware of the counterfeiting industry [read a great article by Dana Thomas on fake bags HERE] and feel terrible for ever buying a fake, it's not something I would do again.

Obviously the ASOS boots are just similar to the Louboutins, they're not an exact copy and they're not being sold on street corners. It's nothing like the fake Chloe bag as ASOS is a great company and everything I have bought from them in the past has been good quality. But there would still be the feeling that it's not the real thing. I'm not sure whether I can look at them without thinking of the Louboutins.

So then there comes the tricky questions:

Do you think it's ok to buy a fake if it comes from a reputable store and it's just lightly inspired by the item?

Are we lucky because we can get designer looks at all kinds of prices?

Or should it be the real deal or nothing at all?

The ASOS boots are not online yet but the product code is YH1OG
View the Christian Louboutin Miss Clichy 140 boots here.