Real vs fake in a recession - what would you do?

So it's official - we are in a recession. If you are looking to buy some new furniture and are thinking of going down the Designer route, should you still buy the real thing or is this the time to get yourself a cheap(er) copy? It may be a little harder to justify buying the real McCoy in these credit crunch times. At face value you are going to be comparing around £5000 for a genuine Eames Lounge Chair & Ottoman vs about £500 - £750 for a copy. Or you may be looking at a Saarinen Tulip table where a copy will set you back around £200 for a copy vs around £1200 for an authorised original. But the reasons to own the real thing haven't changed. Most people end up disappointed when their fake turns up - it doesn't quite look like the lovely image on the web site they ordered from. This is often because the companies in question "borrow" the official images from the genuine manufacturer's websites so the customer has pretty high expectations of what the product is going to look like. We've heard many customer stories from people who have bought copies (sometimes unknowingly). Typical problems include: the laminate layers start peeling off on a Series 7 Chair copy; or the chrome flakes off the frame of an Eames "inspired" Aluminium chair, or the stitching splits open on a repro Jacobsen Egg chair. So people end up very disappointed. And don't even get me started on the "after sales" service from these companies. Nobody ends up particularly proud of owning a copy. So my advice is to either wait until you can buy the real thing, or buy something else. If you are looking for a Lounge type piece you may be able to wait. But if you need a set of dining chairs now, why not go for slightly cheaper originals, such as Magis Butterfly chairs instead of Vitra Eames or Knoll Tulip chairs. At least this way you know that the Designer in question will still be compensated for their design and you won't end up feeling disappointed....