We were watching the horse racing on TV on Tuesday (the day of the Melbourne Cup, the richest and most challenging horse races in the world) and during a segment highlighting the Myer Fashions in the Field competition, we could help but spy what we thought was Victoria Beckham’s Carmontelle dress from her Fall 2009/10 collection.
But after watching an interview with Sarah Kelly who went on to win the coveted prize, it was revealed that it was not a Victoria Beckham dress or even a Roland Mouret piece. Intead Kelly had picked up the two-piece look consisting of a pencil skirt and sleeveless jacket from Australian chain store Cue. Formally known for their business attire, the chain went through a rebrand a few season ago resulting in more edgy runway-inspired looks.
It’s almost no surprise that the Victoria Beckham Carmontelle dress looks strikingly similar to the Cue look – the dress has certainly been doing the rounds on the likes of Mary J Blige, Elle Macpherson (on the set of The Beautiful Life) and Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf on the set of Gossip Girl since July 2009.
It is shocking however, that judges didn’t spot the copy and Kelly won for her look that The Age newspaper’s fashion editor Janice Breen Burns called elegant. But it was her performance after her win that seemed to impress Breen Burns more, describing it as “a figment of Helmut Newton’s Paris in the mid-20th century”.
We have yet to go into Cue to see how much the two-piece ensemble will set you back, but we estimate it would cost around AUD$500 – 600 (approx USD$450 – $550). It’s not Forever21 or Bebe prices but it is a substantial mark down from the real Carmontelle dress which sold for USD$3,145 on Net-A-Porter.com.
Do you think Cue was inspired by Victoria Beckham’s Carmontelle dress
when they created the matching two piece look?
Pictured above in Victoria Beckham’s Carmontelle dress:
Elle Macphereson, Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) and Mary J Blige.
I think it’s a classic peplum shape, so I don’t think it was a direct copy.
Gorgeous on all shapes that style, sooo flattering.
Love it!
It’s no surprise that Cue’s dress is similar. Their “thing” at the moment is to copy runway looks from the likes of Prada, Miu miu and Costume National.
The dress is pretty, but could only look good if you’re stick thin like Victoria Beckham herself. The woman only designs for skinny figures.
yes of course…..almost all brands by the likes of country road and witchery has been literally copying from designers in one way or another, making minor tweakings to avoid copy-write issues. These brands probably don’t even have a pattern-maker or designer and everything is done offshore to cut costs. These knock-offs are getting increasingly annoying and honestly even $50-$100 price tag is expensive for their copied designs.
Looks like it, but they are not the only one copying…