/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Friend of mine knew I was into lolita fashion and asked me for advice on how to get started. Spend like 2-3 hours telling her about all the different second hand stores, helping her figure out substyles she likes and the brands associated with them, even tell her how to buy new if that's something she's interested in. She sends me a message the next day, "I just put an order in with Milanoo! Thanks again for all your help anon!"
I immediately told her to cancel and that she was getting scammed, but why didn't she just listen to any the advice I have her before? I'm sad.

>>10403443
To be honest? Because I care about designers, I want them to succeed, and it sucks to see them suffering and having to close shop. Brands and designers have been in a tumultuous situation for a while, but Covid has made the issue so much worse.
When I was new, I was close to buying replicas myself. Saving, budgeting, and prioritizing hobbies was a foreign concept to me because I was young and amazed by all the cute new things I was seeing on the internet. I had no idea the amount of time, skill, and sacrifice needed to create these things - they were just objects to me.
When the replica ban happened on LJ, I was angry and defensive. This was just mean, judgmental girls who looked down on me, trying to tell me what to do - who cares what I do, it's my money, and I'm not hurting anybody, right? But I read all the arguments people made back and forth. There was a post that was something like,
> Even if you never plan on buying the original, and the designer won't get your money, giving money to people who steal from them only encourages them to steal more. They're making money off of someone else's work while doing nothing themselves.
And that really stood out to me. I really loved what these designers made, and without them, the things I liked wouldn't even exist. The idea of giving money to randoms who ripped off their hard work just to make a quick buck is sad. But I wouldn't have come to this conclusion at all if people hadn't debated and argued their points.
I genuinely just want replica-chans to second-think giving money to thieves. Yes, saving up and paying the original artist means you don't get to have 10 ugly lumpy plushes that end up in a landfill in a few years, but those artists put a lot of genuine effort into providing you with not only their original work, but high quality work that will look beautiful and last a long time. Knock-offs won't look pretty, won't make you happy, and you'll end up tossing them eventually because of that fact.

>>10158049
No.