I recently purchased a top on Ebay advertised as "authentic Pucci."  I judged this to be a safe risk because the print was very Pucci-esque and the seller had very good feedback (although fewer than 200).  She presented herself as someone who was just selling random items from her closet that she no longer wore.  But from the moment I first held the top in my hands, I knew something was wrong.  I own several (authentic) Pucci pieces, a couple of which have even been purchased on Ebay, and I check out the latest items at Neiman's fairly often, so I know what a real Pucci should look and feel like.  I have since seen sellers with incredible feedback getting away with selling fake Pucci to ecstatic customers!  What gives???

The purpose of this guide is to alert other Pucci lovers like myself that these counterfeit garments are being sold on Ebay and to describe what is wrong with the particular garment I received.  Since this guide is the only guide on Ebay to discuss counterfeit Pucci apparel at this time, I strongly recommend viewers to vote on this guide (Parts I *and* II), and to contact me if they have additional information that could be helpful.  Sadly, I have seen two dresses on Ebay recently from another "private" seller which I believe were made by the same manufacturers/crooks.  Please continue on to Part II after you read this for more info on how to pick out these losers *before* you buy.  (Please note that many of the characteristics of modern Pucci will not apply to vintage Pucci.)

When I received the top, the first thing I noticed was how the fabric felt---It did not feel like silk.  Yet---the top had a label in it that said it was 100% silk jersey.  When I compared it to my authentic Pucci silk knits, the fabric on the fake top was thicker, heavier, and just felt cheaper.  It turns out the top was not silk; I will tell you how I found out below.

Pucci prints also typically have very fine black lines separating the colors from each other.  On the counterfeit top, these lines were thicker than the outlining on my authentic items.  I also noticed that the colors bleeded over the black lines in parts of the print, something you would never see in an authentic Pucci.  Perhaps this is why the lines are thicker on the counterfeit fabric---to try to conceal the lower-quality printing, which makes this kind of bleeding harder to prevent.  The cost involved in doing this kind of printing flawlessly is just one of the reasons why Pucci prints are so expensive.  Below is a picture showing color bleed on the counterfeit top.

 

Next, the "Emilio" signatures that were integrated into the fabric of the top were slightly different from the signatures in my authentic Pucci pieces.  Interestingly, the signatures on the counterfeit top also varied slightly from each other.  There are many subtle differences between the fake signatures and the real thing, and I can't describe them all here.  Here are the ones that are easiest to convey in text:  The final little flourish on the letter "o" goes out at just the teeniest upward angle on the fakes, whereas on the authentic Pucci signature, it flares upward noticeably.  The signatures are also larger on the counterfeits, being 21 to 22mm wide on the counterfeit and only 18mm wide on my authentic pieces.  The dot over the first "i" should be considerably higher than the dot over the second "i" on an authentic signature; in my counterfeit top, only one of the signatures had this feature (remember, they varied from each other for some reason).  Below is a picture of one of the fake signatures found on the counterfeit top; if you look carefully, you will also note some color bleeding over the black outlines.  (I would have shown more pictures, but there's a 10-picture limit per guide.) 



Below is an example of what a real signature looks like.  Note the much thinner black lines; this made the real signature a little harder to photograph.  You can also see a real signature if you go to the Pucci website.



The next issue involved the sewing of the top.  I found loose threads on the outside of the counterfeit top, and lots of thread bunched up in the finishing of the seams inside the top.  You will never---I repeat, never---find issues like this on an authentic Pucci garment.  Also, the thread used on this top is of a thicker gauge than the thread used for authentic Pucci silk knits.  Below, the first picture is of extra threads on the outside bottom of the top.  In the other two pictures you can see the poor workmanship on the inner bottom seam, and the bunching of thread inside the top.  Yuck.



The picture below is an example of the stitching on an authentic Pucci silk knit.  The stitching even on my lowly Pucci tee shirts are of comparable quality to this.  Inside my Pucci beach caftan, every seam is finished in the French style.  Imagine the time involved to achieve this level of perfection!  This is a huge reason why Pucci has such a following--a fact that would be lost on you if you thought the counterfeits were the real McCoy.



Next, the counterfeit top has a fabric facing at the neck onto which the tag is sewn.  When I lifted the facing, I found that the fabric edges underneath were unfinished.  An authentic Pucci garment will never have raw edges anywhere (unless, of course, it is done for effect on the outside of the garment, but I've never seen this either).  Below is a picture of the raw fabric edges under the neckline when the facing is lifted on the counterfeit top.  The white part you see under the raw edge is the interfacing, which is fused to the back of the fabric facing.  This unfinished edge is another give-away, by the way, that the top is not made of silk or other natural fibers, which would fray.  Oh, remember how I said I confirmed that the top wasn't silk?  I took a small piece of extra fabric from this raw edge and subjected it to the burn test.  Holding the swatch with a pair of tweezers, I placed it in the flame from my gas stove for a second and pulled it out.  The swatch continued to burn when taken away from the flame and then melted into a hard black bead.  Neither of these burn qualities are characteristic of natural fibers like silk or cotton, but both are characteristic of polyester.



Finally, the tags on the counterfeit are different from those on an authentic Pucci.  A real Pucci tag has a remarkably flat and smooth texture, with no shine, whereas the counterfeit tag has a subtle texture and sheen to it.  An authentic tag has letters that are more raised, and have more the appearance of embroidery.  Here is a picture of the fake tag.



Below is a picture of a tag from a real Pucci silk knit.  Notice how much clearer the text on it is, even though the picture is a little blurry?  Of especial note is the "Made in Italy" text, which is nearly impossible to read on the counterfeit version, even in person.  (Note that not all authentic tags will say "Made in Italy" on them, although this is usually printed on the inner tag that gives the fabric content and laundering instructions.)  Notice also how the fake tag was top-sewn vertically down the sides with blue thread. On my Pucci silk knits and my beach caftan, the tag is sewn to the garment from underneath the tag, with a few small stitches on the top left and right sides.  On my tee-shirts, there are a couple small machine stitches that are sewn horizontally at the very top of the tag on the left and right.  It's unusual to see a tag attached to a Pucci garment in the way that is illustrated above.  I also have never seen an authentic Pucci tag with the size sewn onto it; in my experience the size is always given on the interior tag (for more, see Part II).  Please note that the tags won't always be this shape; I've seem them much thinner vertically, more like ribbons.  These are authentic.  The giveaway is the fabric the label is made from.



When I filed a claim against this seller, Paypal asked me to "Please provide documentation to confirm that the item you purchased is not authentic. This documentation should be from an unbiased third party, such as an appraiser or dealer. The third party should be someone who is qualified to appraise the item you received."  Paypal would not accept these photos as evidence that the item is counterfeit because I am not an "unbiased third party."  However, they also would not provide any recommendations for authentication services, and told me that the cost of doing this would have to be borne by me.  Unfortunately, the Pucci boutique would not do this service since I did not purchase the top from them.  However, by reading another member's guide (highfashionx), I discovered that mypoupette.com does authentications for a fee (based on the value of the item and how quickly you need it).  I called Paypal to verify that this would be acceptable to them (yes), and asked for an extension so I wouldn't incur extensive rush fees.  They were nice enough to give me an additional 2 days to provide documentation and said they would reimburse me the cost of the authentication service once I sent them a receipt.  The lesson is, Paypal can be flexible if you ask them nicely :).  Ultimately I received the document from My Poupette confirming the top was fake and got a full refund from Paypal.

Please be careful when you shop for Pucci on Ebay!  Sellers of counterfeit items in general are getting more clever about how they present themselves, so as to better convince you their item is authentic.  Always ask for closeups of the tags and signatures, and anything else that looks amiss to you, BEFORE you bid, even if the seller just appears to be selling items from their personal stash.  You only get so many claims in a year, so protecting yourself in the first place is the better way to go.

Please vote if you found this helpful---it will increase this guide's visibility and better inform the people who are shopping for PUCCI on eBay!