On last night's episode, Elle sent Olivia Palermo to purchase items for a piece on why designer knockoffs are bad. Much like a fake Louis, Olivia's Canal Street experience wasn't at all authentic.
But what's to be expected of a "reality" show that's completely staged. (Including Olivia's "accessories department" position at Elle. She's actually working in the PR department, but her name does not appear in the magazine's masthead.)
I've been down to Canal Street many, many times, and no one will sell you knockoffs (the kind that actually have designer logos on them) in the middle of the street. They won't even sell them to you in the shops. You have to specifically ask for them from one of the employees, who will first deny carrying such bags, but once it is established that you are not a cop, the employee will pull out a walkie talkie, mutter something into it, and then turn to you and start screaming and pushing you toward the back of the store, where a hidden door opens up, arms reach out, yank you in and slam the door behind you.
It's basically a very tall closet with lots and lots of convincing knockoffs. Once your transaction is complete, you have to wait for walkie talkie clearance to exit the hidden room.
However, if you do manage to strike up negotiations with someone who does not have a storefront, they will never ever show you bags in the middle of the street. There's usually some kind of rendezvous point (like Sbarros or halfway down the stairs to the subway entrance) where they will reveal the merchandise, and then get super pissed off at you when you don't want to buy anything.
The fact that Olivia made her illegal purchase from a guy whose face was not blurred out on camera is probably the biggest indicator that the entire thing was staged. But what else is new with this show?
credit-jezebel, mtv
Staged or not, I loved this scene! Olivia was acting like she was buying illicit drugs - hilarious!
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ReplyDeleteThis is so stupid! When I was in NY a guy came at me with the exact sale paper with aaaall sorts of things on it, like shoes, bags, watchs, wallet. So I dont know who wrote that shit but he might need to Check his facts.
ReplyDeletei dont think even about Roxy that she is working for public revolution, when she is an actress... What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a riot when Olivia was looking over her shoulder to make sure that no one was watching....when we all know that she is being followed by a camera crew.
ReplyDeleteEven though I think that Olivia seems to be a mega snob and probably hard to deal with in real life, I felt that Erin has been a bit hard on her. I don't know if it's just for the camera or not but it seems as if Erin wants Olivia to fail.
10:22
ReplyDeleteI agree. I thought Olivia stepped up and went totally out of her comfort zone so I thought she deserved some acknowledgment before all the criticism. But then on the other side, I think Erin has worked very hard to get to where she is so it must be hard to watch Olivia waltz in and be handed a job.
I do think they should be able to find some middle ground but then it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining to watch, would it? ;)