Racing Fashion: Copy CAT! Flattery or a cheap RIP OFF?

What is a copy and what is inspiration?

Is it flattery or is it a rip off?

These are questions constantly being asked and you only have to google copy and see all the rip of Louis Vuitton and Prada bags to see that you are in good company when you feel like the system has failed.

Recently in the world of Millinery, there has been dispute regarding a hat that has been made and clearly looks like 'inspiration' from an overseas Milliner. There is nothing worse than feeling like that a part of your soul has been taken and your artistic creativity has been compromised.

As we know there is no copyright in Millinery and Dress Design, although in the world of Millinery it is an unwritten law among this group of artists that you do not 'copy' another designers work.

There does come a grey area where Milliners are most of the time using the same fabrics, similar blocks and allot of the mediums come from the same distributor. It is hard with say a generic pillbox with silk flower on top to say that is my design.

One Milliner I do know well, glared at a hat made in a similar design to theirs and remarked “It is meant to be flattery!”.

I guess as soon as someone sees something they like, they think, Yes, I want that, but at what cost?? Racing Fashion although it was a very small community when it started now has an international following and I am proud that I can bring the love of the races, fashion and hats to all. When I was interviewing for extra bloggers and guests for the show, many were just more interested in entering the 'Birdcage' with the excitement of Melbourne Cup Carnival and meeting celebrities rather than looking at hats, horses and people.

I head to the races just about every week feeling fantastic and a fabulous hat, that is what I care about and having a punt or two. Fashion is just a part of the races, we must be mindful of horses, riders (Jockeys and Strappers), trainers and the bigger picture of what the races are. Dare I say, even more than just wearing a HAT!

Be mindful of the charities that sponsor races and Jockey Trust Foundation. We are lucky to have this sport of Kings where we can embrace fashion.

This is OK, because we all have different motivations as why we do things.

My motivations have been going strong and I love what I do, I make no money.

But back to the Hat!

When you are a master in your craft, really anything that anyone else does just looks like a cheap rip off and most of the people will know. I mean how could someone copy Stephen Jones or Philip Treacy, they can have a really good go, but they are not even going to be in the ball park.

In this instance the hats in question have been a focus on facebook. It has been a name and shame incident. I am not saying which party is correct, but the hats were so similar I think that in some instances we do have the right to say 'Hey', this has been done before in remarkable similarity.

In the days of social media, it is very difficult to keep a tab on images and who owns what.

I made a mistake with music a long time ago, approximately 15 years and I learnt my lesson. When you own something, be protected. Sketch the hat, photograph the hat and date it and seal it in an envelope with a postmark. Don't open it, but keep it in a file called, copyright.

In legal dispute the letter shall stay unopened until the point the judge asks for proof of copyright. It will be sealed with the date and thus YOU WIN!!!!