It is, apparently, illegal to knowingly buy fakes abroad and bring them back into the UK. But how do you know they are fakes when you buy them? I have never bought anything fake abroad, but that's probably because I go to the wrong places. We usually go to America where I do my shopping in the US equivalent of T K Maxx, where discount clothes are half the price they are here.
But if I went to Turkey, for instance, and needed a couple of extra polo shirts, would I start demanding the provenance of a Lacoste label? Or just buy it at a bargain price? I mention Turkey because many years ago, a pal regularly holidayed there and said good polo shorts were dirt cheap. I gave him a tenner and he brought me back half a dozen.
And could you tell the difference? Well, yes, actually. Five of them became misshapen or the colours ran after the first wash and looked like tat. They were swiftly binned.
