If there’s one thing that’s as common as drama on any given episode of Bravo’s reality series Real Housewives of New York it’s great handbags. The New York housewives know how to bring the heat, toting around 15 pounds of drama in their designer handbags, and yes, there are many. From Chanel and Louis Vuitton to Hermès and fake Gucci—wait, what?! Yep, that’s right, fans will recall the accusation, which was brought to light during the final installment of the season 12 reunion last week.
Uber-cool new housewife Leah McSweeney accused fellow castmate Ramona Singer of carrying a fake on the show. Funny-gal Sonja Morgan can be heard chanting ‘Chinatown,’ in the background, which is a known area in New York City to purchase counterfeits.
The argument began after McSweeney had jokingly poked fun at Singer’s over-the-top reaction to the Gucci Ophidia Snakeskin Shoulder Bag 50 of her closest friends gifted her for her birthday on the show. “Nobody acts that way over a handbag,” McSweeney can be heard stating, after claiming another Gucci bag Singer carried earlier in the season was a fake. Producers then cued to a scene of Singer with a black Gucci GG Marmont Shoulder bag on her lap.
The bag can also be seen worn over the shoulder in an earlier episode of the show, appearing to be the small size. I’m no authentication expert, and screen grabs from the scenes aren’t the clearest, but there are no outwardly jarring characteristics that scream fake to me, even when watching the show’s actual footage. Yet, McSweeney works in the fashion industry and is clearly a purse lover herself, often seen carrying Saint Laurent and other lust-worthy bags on the show. So would she lie just to make her castemate look déclassé or does her eye see something we don’t?
Well, the jury’s still out.
Loving this article! Just my type of drama! Haha!
Hopefully someone can bring clearness to this very serious matter! (Jokes aside, it is, see the article on here about the fake handbag market financing terrorism, etc!)
Ha! Thank you—it was meant to be lighthearted and fun! But yes, counterfeits are much more than just fake bags! https://www.purseblog.com/report/do-counterfeit-bags-really-fund-terrorism/
i would be a little surprised, considering she has several other designer handbags, prada, chanel etc… I just binged the entire series during quarantine and I did notice that Ramona cycled through the same bags especially during the first 6 seasons regularly, so she wasn’t out buying up new handbags, that one black prada bag was well loved. So for someone that has a relatively smaller handbag collection compared to the other girls, i would be surprised to see her buying fakes.
How can you tell a fake bag by just one look? Its hard to tell especially if its a super fake. You need to look at the stitching with magnifying glass in other words everything on the inside. Also need to feel the leather. Even the box ribbons care cards dustbag and receipts are very well copied these days.
Exactly! There are so many “experts” posting their opinions based strictly on a few grainy photos. I doubt that even real experts can distinguish authenticity without completing an person examination. I’ve submitted pictures of bags to several different online experts only to receive varying opinions, so I’m a bit skeptical.
I meant “…without completing an in person examination”.
Definitely hard to tell straightaway. Agree it could possibly be a superfake that’s why I said at first glance nothing is overly jarring about it without getting a close up look!
Exactly. Superfake bags of certain designers cost thousands of dollars and if you’re into fakes that look like the real thing – they’re worth it.
Exactly. Superfake bags of certain designers cost thousands of dollars and if you’re into fakes that look like the real thing – they’re worth it.
i was operating under the impression that for some of the real housewives (depending on who they want to court) they are given FREE designer duds (bags, chanel jewelry, etc) to wear and promote the brand, no? i see a lot of chanel costume jewelry being worn by the different housewives
Yeah, and perhaps they have stylists who are able to borrow and rent pieces to use for shooting?
Gucci could clear it up, but my understanding is design houses don’t respond to authenticity issues in order not to provide more information for fakes.
Ramona doesnt seem like a person who would wear a fake bag – she wears clothes from brands no one knows or free michael kors junk and so does luann – both luann and ramona rarely carry birkins or kellys and they keep wearing the same bags season after season – its just not worth it to buy a fake gucci bad right?
bethenny used to wear fake bags lol
Yes Bethany had a rainbow of fake Birkins. I think it’s smart of Luann and Ramona to get the usage out of their real bags.
How can you tell that Bethenny Frankel carried fake Birkins? I don’t understand why she would? She is a multimillionaire and a generous philanthropist so why would she sabotage her own public relations for 13-15K, the cost of a Birkin? I’m not a fan, but it’s not logical. Thx!
I think you would very surprised by how many rich people, both celebrities and not, carry fake bags. Some people truly just see no problem with using fake bags and even consider it a smart (frugal) choice, and that includes those who can afford the real deal. In fact, they know that because they are rich, people assume that what they have must be genuine…and that’s part of why they think they can get away with it, especially if they have the higher quality fakes that are hard to tell (which by they way aren’t really cheap by normal people standards; still can start with price tags of hundreds of dollars). Many will have both real and fake items and even mix them together, which again makes it harder to tell. To them, the idea that carrying fake bags is a “sabotage” is actually the illogical one. And you may be surprised how many people agree with them instead…remember, in general many people think spending 10k on a bag is ridiculous and laughable. And even here on PB and on tPF there are people who think there is nothing wrong with fakes, and we are supposedly already a niche part of the general populace who appreciate luxury bags…
The Real Housewives definitely aren’t new to the fake bag game. Here’s the PB article on Taylor Armstrong with her fake bag problem: https://www.purseblog.com/hermes/taylor-armstrong-fake-birkin/
Yes, I understand “celebrities” carry fakes, but to discover that Bethenny Frankel does or did came as a surprise. However, reading your response made me think of Taylor Armstrong. After her husband committed suicide she found herself in deep debt. A settlement was reached in which she agreed to relinquish her Birkin’s and engagement ring to pay off her creditors; however, it was discovered that her Birkin’s, purchased by her husband, were fake. She stated that she did not know this, but it didn’t surprise because her husband was not kind to her.
Highly doubt she would do that given she cares so much how she is viewed by others.
Ya, I assume her bag is real as well and this is not one of the more expensive bags, so it wouldn’t really be a huge financial strain for her
Sonja’s Chinatown remark was annoying, give her history of carrying fake chanel, using black magic marker to color worn corners etc. Unkind for a friend.
This show is trash, who cares!
Haha you’re keeping it real!
(I do watch RHONY but I know its trash.)
No, Ramona did not carry a fake. But there’s plenty of fake Gucci bags that Potomac Housewives newcomer, Dr. Wendy Osefo is carrying this season. That should be the next story!
Oh really?!
It was funny because it made Ramona look like an asshole LOL and she deserves it. I totally believe that, not the Chinatown part, but a superfake? Awesome!
Nah, if she wanted a real bag shed just steal it, the way she does dresses from Bethenny.
Little Ramona joke, there.
Anyway, she is one of the few on these shows who actually has money.. the price of a Gucci bag wouldn’t faze her at all.
Ramona does have money, and is self-made. There’s a lot of things egregious about her, but if there’s anything she’s done, it’s make sure she secures her bags and pockets. She wears legit bags – not many, but legit.
Now if we want to talk finesse, LuAnn is the one to point fingers at…
Oh, I thought they were all legitimately wealthy- doesn’t Bravo pay each of them like $400K per season?
No way do they make that much per season.
I mean, they each own at least one mutli-million dollar house… and Denise Richards got paid $1 million just for her first season (and the other housewives were miffed about it)….
If anyone actually knows how much they make, then please share!
?. Brings back memories of Amanda’s recaps?
I MISS THOSE! Amanda was so exhausted of writing them, but they were so much fun to devour!
Yes, I read those first thing the next morning after the shows. Fun memories!
I assumed Leah was talking about the big Gucci Soho chain bag (style from a few years back) — not the marmont bag shown in the story. If I recall, Ramona had a taupe/peachy and a black patent version of this style (the latter of which looked cheap and fake and was highlighted here on TPF). She carried the peachy one ALL the time, and I thought she used it this season (if not, definitely last season).
I thought Leah said something like “the one with the big @$$ G’s” and I immediately thought of those two soho bags vs the smaller marmont, which is more popular, prettier, and newer —seems like Leah would be familiar with that style, whereas the soho chain came and went …here’s her with the patent one.
https://www.purseblog.com/celebrities/celebs-continue-to-make-solid-spring-bag-choices/
FYI, in the article, she’s almost at the end.
Just watched the RHONY Reunion and Ramona was questioned about the whether her Gucci was a fake. She said it was real but then when Leah insisted that it was fake, Ramona smiled sheepishly and shrugged. So it seems like she did carry a fake.