A thought on the recent replica ban

So I doubt I really need to make much of an introduction here. Unless you've been living under a rock or just completely not paying attention to EGL news, it was announced quite recently that the buying, selling, and reviewing of replicas would be banned.

http://egl.livejournal.com/18686404.html

 In case you have indeed been living under a rock

Disclaimer: I'm not picking on Oo Jia cause I'm mean. She's the only one I really stay up to date with cause she's on FB. And because of how she responded to the ban. 

 First things first: I don't care either way about replicas. Personally w/e you buy is your business. As long as you acknowledge a replica as a replica and not the real thing, then we're all good. The minute anyone tried to claim it the real thing, that is when shit got serious. Fortunately I never experienced that.

Personally I own 1 replica, with 1 more incoming that I ordered just prior to the ban. 1 of them I bought a long time ago, before I became brand whore happy. The 2nd one I bought because I liked the design of the dress, not necessarily the print.

Princess Pearl's replica of IW's Band of Forest Animals

Oo Jia's replica of Midsummer Nights Dream. This is suppose to arrive soon.

So here are my thoughts on the ban: Once again I don't really care. Makes sense I suppose. I mean I didn't care that people had replicas so why would I care if they couldn't buy em? But I do think this ban is a good thing and not because it stops flooding the market with more and more prints. 

What I think this ban will do is start forcing people like Oo Jia to begin designing her own unique designs. And what better way to start representing lolita than to have unique prints/designs that are your own? Personally I wish I knew how to make lolita dresses. Cause I would have definitely designed all my own stuff. This may of course have more to do with the extreme lack of fairy things in the lolita world but I would have done so anyways. 

Here are some examples of what Oo Jia has begun to do in response to the ban of replicas. 

These are 2 of the new prints that Oo Jia has or is planning to release. The first one I definitely like. A lot. 

I think in time, people will begin to get away from replicas and being gravitating towards the indie brands as they begin to bring out their own prints and dresses that will be just as cute but significantly cheaper.