Okay, i don't own a pair of the VB Crowns yet (still saving up!), but i've seen so many people asking for authentications of obviously 100% ugly, fake ones that i decided to put this up. These are the absolute basic tips for spotting fake crowns! So if you're new and looking for an authentic pair of crowns, do check against these basics first - you'd be surprised at how many fakes fail these criteria immediately.

For those who actually own crowns, please do volunteer more advice and ways to spot fakes Everyone wants crowns, but i just feel like they're such an unfortunately overly (and badly, at that) faked pair that i'd really love for people to see what they should be getting.

#1: Simplest but most basic rule - compare the pair you're considering against a REAL pair of crowns.
- Real pairs are pretty! Very, very pretty. For the price these retail at, you should expect nothing less than perfection.
- Look at the picture below: notice how the real crowns are beautiful, detailed, and excellently defined.
- Now look at the fakes: they don't even begin to compare! Just like that you can tell the real and fake apart easily.

REAL


FAKE


#2: Size of the crown in relation to the pocket.
- Real crown jeans are full and pretty big, taking up much space within the pocket.
- Fake crowns tend to be much smaller - it must be cheaper to produce, hehe.

REAL


FAKE


#3: The light blue tag
- Many all the fakes i've seen have given themselves away by the fact that they come with this light blue, ball-and-chain tag which says 'Rock and Republic' on the front and 'Dry Clean Only Do Not Wash!' on the back, in red lettering.
- There ARE some authentic pairs that do come with this tag, but by and large the blue tag is not a good sign. Take a look at the jeans a little more carefully if they have the tag - it is not the ultimate deciding factor, though! (Thanks MacChick.)

THE TAG (also see first 'fake' picture - the tag's there too)


#4: Wash
- I'm not too good with spotting washes, but i know this: it should look expensive and beautiful, not cheap and streaky. Once again, a comparison to the real thing could help you here.

REAL (notice how nicely the wash is blended)


FAKE (the blue tag again! Also see how the whiskering at the hips looks streaky, and the fading down the thighs stands out too much.)


That's all i can think of, but usually one or more of these details help me to spot fakes from the real thing. Like i said, i hope people who actually own crowns will help me out here, because all of my post was only derived from what i've seen in my own search for real crowns. Please correct me if i've made any mistakes at all.

Hope this was useful, and good luck to all who are searching (including me, hehe)!

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WISHLIST!
SFAM or Paige straight-legged jeans (Kates, Hefners or Melrose, Blue Heights)! Preferably in dark washes or white, but am open to all washes! To fit a TTS 25.

I have an authentic pair from eluxury that came with a blue tag with a rivet in it. I will take a pic. Most of the time those are fake, but NOT all of the time. I will get a pic

Oooh, cool! Most of the tags which i've seen on eBay those from Nordstrom, or this black tag with an orange attachment. Maybe your blue tag could look different from the fake ones, though - we'll see!

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WISHLIST!
SFAM or Paige straight-legged jeans (Kates, Hefners or Melrose, Blue Heights)! Preferably in dark washes or white, but am open to all washes! To fit a TTS 25.

Oh, and for authenticating, I also look for the stitching on the back pockets, rivet placement, and the Victoria Beckham Navy Tag placement. Sloppy stitching gives it away sometimes, as does where the tag is placed. Unless it partially covers the seam above the back pockets, it's fake.

Good info..

I will have some pics and explanations of fakes up in a bit too

Hurray, MacChick! With your help, fake crowns don't stand a chance

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WISHLIST!
SFAM or Paige straight-legged jeans (Kates, Hefners or Melrose, Blue Heights)! Preferably in dark washes or white, but am open to all washes! To fit a TTS 25.

Let me know if you need any help..

New styles will have this hangtag, such as my Anthrax Crowns and Borax Roths. So don't be worried if you see this hangtag.

Also, the new styles also have this new size tag, so don't freak if you guys see this:

Here is the common hangtag that is seen on real R&Rs, BUT, they can be easily slipped off a pair of real ones, so don't always go by this. Also, the fakes who don't steal tags and make their own tags for the R&Rs like to try to copy this hangtag, but it often looks cheap and crappy!!

Tacky fakes (crowns and other styles) sometimes have a VERY crappy hem. Real R&Rs have 1/4 inch hem that looks like this, and when you see some hem that is like an inch wide and the seller says they are New With Tags, ya right. If they have been hemmed w/out the original they will look different, and more different if they are not hemmed with the original. But new with tags should look like this:

And finally, the "blue tag". REAL R&Rs CAN COME LIKE THIS, so don't use it as the final word. These are real crowns I got from Neiman Marcus, and I have a pair of Glycerine Roths from eluxury that had the same hangtag on it.

The back patch issue: sometimes tacky fakes have got the placement right and the stitching right, but the font will be off. The V and B will sometimes look REALLY f'd up, so make sure everything is even and neatly done, and not sloppy. Also make sure the stitching is straight, and neatly flush with the top of the waistband. Make sure you can see the tiniest bit of waistband above the tag, the tag should not fold over the top of the waistband.

Also in that last picture, note the color and placement of the crystals. Note that on the bottom of the crown, how the crystals are placed every OTHER space. Tacky fakes often not only get the crown shape wrong, make it too small or waaay too big, but they slap the crystals on in a messed up way, waaay off, and don't get the spacing right. Also, the crystals they use are cheap and don't have the right light catching ability.

I will, thank you!

Also, check the styles and crown color of the crowns you intend to buy. If the style is some crazy name that you've never heard of like "Victoria Beckham Snake Crystal Crowns" then hah! That's not right. The quality of the material is also a big factor. The cheap denims will look thin, flimsy, and the streaking and crosshatching will be off. Watch for uneven fading, like one leg waaay more distressed and faded than the other.

And, funky crown colors! i dont' know where to start with those. I have seen the tackiest "gold" crowns in this hideous neon yellow color. That isn't right either. Always get tag pics, unless you are sure they are real. A tag pic can tell you a lot. I have seen misspelled words on tags, tags in funky places... all stuff to watch for. Rivets! If you look at the pix above, R&Rs come in two diff. rivets. The RR ones where one R is backwards and one is forwards, and the ones in my pics, with the circles. The circles are the newer style rivet. If the fake is bad enough, the rivets will obviously be wrong.

Someone needs to stop me here! LOL

If a seller has a lot of the same jeans up, then that is a clue as well. If they have 50 victoria beckham crystal crowns, all different sizes, or if they are based in China or Mexico, that is a big indicator that they buy lots of fakes. I have seen authentic sellers with several crowns for sale, like 5 or so, but when you see 20 tacky fakes ALL with the SAME gallery pics or image pics, hello, that is just tacky fakes right there.

Haha no, don't stop, MacChick! This is great - it's helping me too, since i'm still searching for crowns!

I've also edited the part about the tag - i've qualified it to say that many of the fakes do have it, and potential buyers should check out the rest of the jeans more closely if its there. But i've also stressed that it's not the deciding factor.

Can this be a sticky? MacChick's fab info needs to be shared

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WISHLIST!
SFAM or Paige straight-legged jeans (Kates, Hefners or Melrose, Blue Heights)! Preferably in dark washes or white, but am open to all washes! To fit a TTS 25.

Whiskering that goes onto the butt is wrong. Front whiskering should not go onto back pockets. Also, some fake crowns have the width of the crown ok but not the height. I have seen tacky crowns where the top of the crown hits the top of the back pocket. Yuck! Also another little detail is the flowers on the crown. There are two "flower-looking" little things, one on the left and one on the right, as seen on this Apricot Crown. Sometimes the fakers will get everything else right, but not the flowers. They will just be... "off". Sometimes "off" is hard to explain, but a picture says a thousand words.

Hold on, I got more stuff and pics coming

Ok, I have seen some tacky fakes where the distressing was on overload. This is the kind of gentle distressing there should be on back pockets. Note the crown itself is not distressed. If there is a tiny tiny bit that isn't a big deal but if a whole corner of crown is gone, that is fake. This is the distressing that should be there. Also, note on this picture the difference in the shapes across the bottom of the crown! I cant tell you how many fakers get this wrong. They are NOT all the same shape. And you can also see the crystal placement is every other space. Some fakes I have seen put crystals in the darndest places, like those little round areas under the two flowers? A lot of fakers stuff a crystal into each of those. Unless they have been customized by someone to do that on purpose, that is NOT how they come.

Here is an example of an older tag with the silver strip and the older rivets with the two Rs on them, one backwards. These size tags and rivets are O.K!