albertabrightalberta
I’ve been a collector of Bugatchi shirts for many years. During the pandemic I discovered that sellers were offering preowned shirts ranging from $10-40. After buying 14-15 of them, I noticed something suspicious in the fit. I compared them to the other 25 Bugatchis and realized that half of the ones I bought where fakes made in China. I called the manufacturer to confirm that they were not genuine. Here’s a picture of a fake Bugatchi, followed by a list of what to look for and avoid before you buy on EBay:
- The Bugatchi tag: a real Bugatchi NEVER has one that says “Bugatchi Oumo” nor will it have a size tag attached. It will only say "Bugatchi." They also have two tiny clear plastic strips attached to the bottom of the inside collar with size and location made.
- If a real Bugatchi has an inside fabric hook on the collar, it will say “classic Fit” or “Shaped Fit, not a red blank hook.
- Most Bugatchis have a different color strip around the lower inner edge of the collar. This one is too wide and made of a very soft fabric.
- Buttons are always side by side, but they always have a stitched button-like hole between them.
Bugatchi doesn’t put a colored band on the inside top of the sleeve.- Cuff buttons are always side by side (many fakes have only one button), and they always have a stitched button-like hole between them. The fake, above, doesn’t have that.
- Bugatchi doesn’t put a colored band on the inside top of the sleeve.
- Inside the bottom of shirt, sown onto the seam, is a tag describing how to launder. All Bugatchis have a second tag that has a serial number on it to identify the style. Extra buttons are NEVER sown onto the shirt or tag; they come in the small black envelope cardboard tag found on new shirts.
The collar is never “classic” long wingtips (needed for using a tie) as shown in the drawing below. Bugatchi always uses a distinctive “spread” collar that does not button down.- Sleeve length: for size Large they are always 26-27”, the fakes that I bought are shorter, often 25”.
Bugatchi rarely has a pocket. Many fakes have most of the above mistakes.- When there’s a sown insignia, it’s never at an angle as seen in the picture below.
- If it has a tag on the inside collar saying “Made in China” and is missing the other key elements, it is a fake.
@hpenryessentials wrote:Thank you for sharing this. I've noticed a lot of these fakes in places like the TJX stores and even Nordstrom Rack. This is a great guide.
@hpenryessentials wrote:Thank you for sharing this. I've noticed a lot of these fakes in places like the TJX stores and even Nordstrom Rack. This is a great guide.
TJX stores (Marshall's, TJ Maxx, Winners (in Canada), TK Maxx (in UK) and NR stores don't sell fakes. They get their inventory from legitimate sources.
While there have been isolated cases in which a dishonest did switcheroos by buying an authentic item and returning a fake, to imply that "lots of items" at those company stores are fake is wrong!
I don't know Bugatchi so I'm not commenting on the accuracy of the "guide" posted by the OP, but just want to correct possible misinformation posted by others.
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