Luella may be gone, but it’s far from forgotten, as Boohoo have proven with their latest additions…
They’re selling half a dozen different dresses with heart-shaped cutouts on the neck, as well as a few variations of the black and silver polka dot print from Luella’s Spring 2010 collection. I’d advocate a good old moan and groan about this under normal circumstances, but given the fact the Luella collection will never see the light of day, it’s the closest we’re gonna get.
Polka dot strapless dress £20 and black heart cut-out dress £20 both from Boohoo.com. More variations here, here and here.
Alex January 13, 2010 at 9:46 am
Oh, they’re so pretty! And cheap! I’ve never bought from Boohoo though, what’s the quality like?
Gemma January 13, 2010 at 10:34 am
It’s hit and miss. Obviously at those prices we’re talking on a par with Primark / Peacocks, not Reiss and COS!
Harriet January 24, 2010 at 6:29 pm
I’m so torn over this. I loves Luella, and it seems wrong to buy something that is a bit of an obvious rip off. But then, as you say, I’m never going to be able to get the real thing…
Gemma January 24, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Harriet – I think it’s a tricky one too. High street retailers copy designers all the time and this would probably be less of an issue if Luella *hadn’t* folded somewhere between boohoo seeing the dresses and putting a cheaper homage into production…
I suppose it depends just how much you love the style. I spotted in a mag this week that Matalan is also doing a version in a yellow floral even closer to the original.
Gemma January 26, 2010 at 12:10 pm
And here’s the Matalan one. It’s near-identical, even down to the styling. Rach has a point on this one – at least Boohoo changed the fabrics a bit.
http://style.bitchbuzz.com/matalans-blatant-obvious-copycat-luella-frock.html