I actually think the cheaper one looks cuter with the little belt thing.
I think the Anthro one does come with the rope belt, because I remember seeing it IRL and the description on the Anthro site says it comes with a rope belt.
Here's my thing... how do you know if it's truly a knock-off? What if it's all the same top, but with different minor details and different tags? Cause there's lots of companies who carry the same kinda stuff but only under different labels. I know they do that sort of things with tools...
I wouldn't be surprised if it's the exact same top. I mean, Anthro has such ridiculous markup anyway that I wouldn't be surprised if they both just sell the same top for wildly different prices
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Fashion is art you live your life in. - Devil Wears Prada | formerly ttara123
I have the Anthro one and it comes w/the rope belt. It's def not the same top though, I've seen the Francesca's one IRL and it looks cheaper, the material doesn't feel as nice, etc.
I highly doubt it's the same top and that the mark-ups would differ that much between two large retail stores.
I know for all the stuff we carry in our store that we mark-up about 50-60% depending on the designer. Our prices are still competitive w/ the large retailers that carry the same pieces, I'm just assuming that the larger stores are buying more and therefore getting the stuff cheaper. The suggested retail values usually end up being the same, though.