Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, has a favorite, go-to pair of shoes. They look lovely, they go with almost everything, and they must be comfortable, since she wears them so often. The L.K. Bennett nude, platform heels cost Duchess Catherine something like $300, but the knock-off versions going like the proverbial hotcakes in Ireland sell for much less at a shoe store called Korkey's—as low as $43.70. And s
ales there and at other shoe stores around Dublin have skyrocketed over the past year, reports the Herald. Fortunately, the stores can always get more stock.
They call it "the pink shoe," although the shade of nude the duchess wears looks more gray than pink—at least in pictures. Kate Middleton has had hers since before the royal wedding. "The nude heel is our most popular every week without fail," a source in the Irish capital reports. "There was also a nude wedge that Kate wore last summer which would sell out after people came in wondering 'where can I get the same shoes as Kate Middleton?'"
It's been called the "Kate effect"—the phenomenon which makes women all over the world go crazy to have the same clothes as the Duchess of Cambridge. "Kate's been a massive influence on Irish women," said one shoe executive, "and they (the customers) have been flocking in trying to recreate her look. They (the shoes) sell out on occasion but we always re-order them as they are so popular." Usually, the customer is hoping for something similar but cheaper.
Meanwhile, sources report the real thing, from L.K. Bennett, is now available in NYC at Nordstrom.
© Cindy Kroiss – Gather Inc. 2012
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