STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Something happenened the other day that I have thought about over and over.  A co-worker of mine has what I thought was a LV Damier Azur Speedy.  It is so gorgeous and I have commented on it to her about how pretty it is.  She responded by saying 'Thank you.  It was a birthday present. "  The other day at our Christmas party at work, she had it with her and another co-worker looked at it and said,"I love your Louis Vuitton, is it real?"  I almost died that someone would ask that.  I thought it was so rude.  Anyway, I looked at my co-worker almost in disbelief when the one with the "LV" sort of looked downcast and said, "No, it is a replica."  I didn't think badly of her because I never asked her if it was real (I never would) so she never had any occasion to tell me.  Then, the other co-worker went on to talk about how her daughter had saved up for some real LV luggage from her substitute teaching money.  I felt so sorry for my co-worker with the "LV" because obviously she never expected that she would be asked about authenticity.  I mean the bag looks genuine. I think the LV Damier Azur speedy is so gorgeous and I have drooled over it.  I could not tell the difference, but at the same time I am not sure how I feel about replicas.  I know there are sites out there that clearly state they sell replicas, but still it kind of seems like stealing someone's design.  Anyway, I think I felt worse for my embarrassed co-worker.   I just wanted to get this off my chest.