The Ultimate Designer Dupes Guide: Bags, Shoes, Fragrance & Beauty

I’ve been hunting designer dupes for What The Fab for years—Louis Vuitton totes, Chanel slingbacks, the Hermès sandals everyone wears in Europe, the fragrances that get complimented constantly.

Somewhere along the way that turned into more than two dozen posts, and I realized there was no single place to see them all together. So here it is: every designer dupes guide I’ve published, organized by brand and category, so you can jump straight to the one you’re after.

A quick word on how I think about dupes. I love luxury. I also love not spending four figures on a bag I’m going to stuff with toddler snacks. A good designer dupe borrows the silhouette, the color, or the overall vibe of a piece at a price that doesn’t make you flinch. Most of my picks do that without a logo. When one carries the real print, I say so, and the call is yours. I’ve spelled out the difference in the dupe vs. replica section below.

Bookmark this one. I update the individual guides as products sell out and new finds show up, and I’ll add new posts here as they go live. 🛍️

How to use this guide: Each section links to the full post for that brand or category. The full posts have the actual product picks, photos, and my honest take on what’s worth your money and what isn’t.

Louis Vuitton dupes

LV is where the dupe obsession started for me, and the Neverfull is still the single most-requested dupe on the blog. That classic open tote with the slim straps is easy to find without a monogram anywhere on it, which is exactly the point. My favorites are in my Louis Vuitton Neverfull dupes post.

If you’re after other LV shapes, my best LV dupes roundup covers the silhouettes I get asked about most. I keep that one refreshed regularly, so the links there are current.

One thing I’m always upfront about with Louis Vuitton: a couple of picks in those posts carry the monogram print, which makes them replicas rather than dupes. I flag every one so you know exactly what you’re buying.

Chanel dupes

Chanel has more posts than any other brand on this site because the classics translate so well to dupes—the quilting, the two-tone cap toe, the pearl-and-chain jewelry. Start with my Chanel dupes overview for the big picture, then narrow it down by category.

For shoes, the two-tone cap toe is the detail everyone wants. I covered both versions in my Chanel flats dupes and Chanel slingback dupes posts. The slingbacks are my personal pick if you can only get one pair.

For jewelry, I’ve done Chanel earrings dupes, Chanel brooch dupes, and Chanel necklace dupes. The brooch post is a sleeper favorite—a camellia or pearl brooch on a blazer lapel reads expensive with zero logo involved.

And for bags, my Chanel Boy bag dupes post rounds up that boxy, chain-strap shape. Same as LV: if a pick carries the interlocking CCs, it’s a replica, not a dupe, and I’ll say so right in the post.

Celine dupes

Celine’s whole appeal is quiet luxury—clean lines, minimal hardware, nothing screaming for attention. That makes it one of the easiest brands to dupe well, because there’s no signature print to work around. My Celine bag dupes post covers the shapes I get asked about most.

I also have a dedicated Celine belt dupes guide, because that one deserved its own post.

Hermès dupes

The Hermès sandal is the shoe of every European summer, and honestly, of every Napa summer too. That flat leather slide with the cutout H is such a specific look that dupes are everywhere, and quality is all over the place. I sorted through them in my Hermès sandals dupes post.

Hermès bags are a different story. That’s a category where the “dupe” market tips into replica territory fast, so I’m careful about what I recommend. The one I do recommend is in my Hermès Kelly dupe post—a structured, logo-free take on the shape.

Goyard dupes

Goyard is tricky. The thing that makes a Goyard bag look like a Goyard bag is the chevron print, and that print is trademarked. A tote with the Goyardine pattern on it is a replica, and I label it that way whenever I link one. What’s easy to find as a true dupe is the shape—the lightweight, structured, coated-canvas tote with the little pouch inside—in a solid color or a totally different print.

My Goyard tote dupes post breaks down the Saint Louis shape, and I touch on a few more Goyard-style totes in my DHgate dupes guide.

Polène dupes

Polène already sits on the approachable side of French luxury, which is why the demand for Polène dupes surprised me at first. Then I looked at the waitlists and shipping times and got it. Those sculptural, pleated shapes are so distinctive that a well-made dupe is hard to tell apart from across a room. I rounded up the best ones in my Polène bag dupes post.

Polène is also a great example of why dupes and quiet luxury go together so well. There’s no logo to copy in the first place, so the entire question comes down to shape and leather quality—which is exactly what the vetting checklist further down is for.

Dior Dupes

Dior’s saddle shape and the quilted Cannage stitching show up in dupes constantly, and the stitching is fair game as long as there’s no “Dior” charm or Oblique print copied onto it. My Dior bag dupes post walks through what to look for.

Designer fragrance dupes

Fragrance is where dupes make the most sense to me, because you’re paying for a scent profile, not a logo. A well-made fragrance dupe can land surprisingly close to the original for a fraction of the price. These are the scents I’ve tracked down alternatives for:

• Coco Mademoiselle dupes—the one I get asked about most, by a wide margin
• Miss Dior dupes—soft and floral, and easy to find a close match for
• Byredo Blanche dupes—clean and musky, my fav for everyday
• Dior Sauvage dupes—for the men in your life, or for you, no judgment
• Creed Aventus dupes
• Le Labo Santal 33 dupe

One tip that applies to every fragrance dupe: check the concentration. An eau de parfum dupe of an eau de toilette original will wear differently, and that’s not the dupe’s fault.

Beauty dupes

Beauty is where the “do I really need the expensive one?” question hits hardest, because the gap between drugstore and prestige pricing can be huge for what’s sometimes a very similar formula. These are the products I’ve hunted down alternatives for:

• Olaplex dupes—bond-building treatments that don’t cost a salon visit
• Beautyblender dupes—because the original is easy to lose and annoying to replace
• Charlotte Tilbury powder dupes—the setting powder everyone wants a cheaper version of
• Aesop dupes—for the hand soap and body care that makes a bathroom look put together
• Bum Bum Cream dupes—that Sol de Janeiro scent without the Sol de Janeiro price

Beauty dupes are a slightly different game than bag dupes, because there’s no trademark question to worry about. A drugstore powder isn’t pretending to be Charlotte Tilbury. The only thing that matters is whether the formula performs, so those posts lean heavily on how each product actually wore over a full day, not how the packaging looks.

Fashion and lifestyle dupes

This is the catch-all for everything that isn’t a bag, a scent, or a beauty product—cult brands with one signature piece people want at a lower price:

• Amina Muaddi dupes—the flared heel
• Selkie dress dupes—the puff-sleeve fairy dress
• Are You Am I dupes—the slinky going-out pieces
• Lululemon dupes—my most-clicked athleisure post
• Barefoot Dreams robe dupes—the softest robe on earth, for less
• Crocs dupes—yes, really
• Nugget couch dupe—for the playroom
• DHgate dupes—my guide to shopping DHgate without getting burned

How I vet a designer dupe before I recommend it

Every pick in the guides above went through the same five checks. If you’re shopping on your own, run through them too—they’ll save you from the “looked great in the photo” returns pile.

1. Dupe or replica? I check first and I tell you. Logos, monograms, and signature prints are the line between the two. Most of my picks are logo-free. 
2. Materials that match the price. Real leather or a good vegan leather for bags, metal hardware instead of painted plastic, and fabric with some weight to it. Cheap materials are how a dupe goes from “looks expensive” to “looks like a dupe” in a month.
3. Construction you can see in the photos. Even stitching, lined interiors, zippers that don’t look like an afterthought. Zoom in on the seller’s images before you buy.
4. Reviews with photos from real buyers. Staged product shots tell you nothing. Customer photos in bad lighting tell you everything.
5. A return policy. Colors and proportions are the two things that most often disappoint in person, so I only recommend sellers you can send it back to.

If a dupe passes all five, it makes the post. If it only passes four, it usually doesn’t.

Dupe vs. replica: what the words actually mean

“Dupe” gets thrown around loosely online, so here’s how I use the words, because the difference matters when you’re deciding what to buy.

Dupe: A product that borrows the silhouette, shape, color, or overall style of a designer piece without copying its trademarked logo, monogram, or signature print. A quilted flap bag with a chain strap and no CCs is a dupe.

Replica: A product that copies the trademarked elements—the LV monogram, the Goyard chevron, the interlocking Cs, the Dior Oblique print—and is made to look like the real thing.

My rule is transparency, not a ban. Most of what I recommend is a true dupe—the shape, the hardware finish, the color story, no logo. When a pick does carry the print, I say so in plain words, right next to the link, so you can decide for yourself. And when a brand’s whole identity is the print, like Goyard or monogram Louis Vuitton, I’ll tell you that too.

Designer dupes FAQ

What is a designer dupe? A designer dupe is an affordable product that mimics the style, shape, or color of a luxury item without copying its logo or trademarked design. Dupes are legal alternatives, not counterfeits.

Are designer dupes legal? Yes. Dupes are legal to make, sell, and buy because they don’t reproduce trademarked logos, monograms, or signature prints. Replicas that copy those elements are a different category, and I label them clearly whenever one shows up in a post.

What’s the difference between a dupe and a replica? A dupe copies the look. A replica copies the brand. A dupe gives you a similar silhouette and style with no logo, while a replica reproduces trademarked details so it can pass as the real thing.

Which designer brands are easiest to dupe? Brands built on shape rather than print are easiest to dupe well: Celine, Polène, Chanel shoes, and Hermès sandals. Brands whose identity is a trademarked print, like Goyard and monogram Louis Vuitton, are the hardest to dupe legally.

Are designer dupes good quality? It depends entirely on the seller, which is exactly why I write full guides instead of one-line lists. Look for real leather or a quality vegan alternative, metal hardware instead of plastic, and stitching that’s even and tight.

Tell me what to dupe next

That’s every designer dupe guide on What The Fab, all in one spot. I’ll keep this page updated as new posts go live and older ones get refreshed.

Is there a bag, shoe, scent, or product you’ve been eyeing that I haven’t covered yet? Drop it in the comments below or DM me on Instagram @wtfab and I’ll add it to the list. And if you’ve found a dupe you love that I missed, I want to hear about that too. 💌