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Payless Shoes made up a fake luxury shoe brand and fashion influencers totally fell for it

The "Palessi" social experiment set out to prove a point—and boy, did it.

Photo by Amanda Vick on Unsplash

Even fashion influencers aren't experts at spotting luxury dupes.

Have you ever heard of Palessi shoes? It's a luxury shoe brand that only sells its shoes in pop-up events in upscale malls. But if you want to buy these shoes, you have to be one of the chosen VIPs, since shopping at Palessi is by "invitation only."

Palessi looks like what you'd expect a luxury pop--up to look like, with a sleek, modern feel and each shoe being highlighted in its own lighted space. And the shopping experience does too, with young, hip, model-gorgeous employees dressed to the nines showing off the unique, stylistic features of each shoe before casually mentioning their $645 price tag.

If you're one of the fashion influencers invited to shop at this new luxury shoe store, you wouldn't bat an eye at that price. After all, the Palessi brand means something, and that's the going price for a high-quality, luxury shoe, right?

Right. Except Palessi isn't a real brand, and that $645 pair of shoes actually cost $35 at Payless.

Yes, the exact same pair of shoes.

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Editor's Note: Upworthy earns a fee for purchases made from items listed in this article.


Imagine you're working from home, attending a Zoom call, when you suddenly feel a chill in the air. Or maybe you're out exploring nature, taking in the beauty of the great outdoors, but the temperature starts to dip, and your jacket just isn’t enough. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a simple solution to keep you warm and comfortable that was also lightweight and mobile? That’s where the Mozy 22 comes in. It provides warmth, comfort, convenience, and mobility, making it the perfect companion for video calls, outdoor adventures, and everything in between.

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Pop Culture

What Hollywood gets wrong about corsets, and how the Victorians actually got a tiny waist

Bernadette Banner, a content creator focused of fashion history, breaks down how Victorians were "masters of illusion."

Bernadette Banner/Youtube

You'll never look at a corset with disdain again.

Usually when we think of corsets, the words suffocation, fainting and shifting organs probably come to mind.

This is certainly what Bernadette Banner has come across in the comments section of her Youtube channel, where she shares all kinds of fashion history education. The general consensus is that Victorian women were either all incredibly tiny or that they went to extremely dangerous lengths to achieve the highly exaggerated signature silhouette of the era, which was to have the bust 10 inches larger than the waist, with the hips 15 inches larger. 34-26-36, for example.

This notion is certainly backed by Hollywood, where we normally see women of that time period being laced up so tightly they can barely breathe, suffering under the crushing weight of whalebone and the patriarchy.

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Pop Culture

Woman flawlessly breaks down how luxury bags—and other designer brands—keep people 'poor'

"They're targeting the people who want to look rich—middle and lower class folks who don't have a lot of money or savings. That is the bread and butter of designer brands."

Cara Nicole/Youtube

Not worth it.

It feels safe to say that we are all hoping to be more mindful about how we spend our money these days, whether it’s to be kinder to the environment, align better with our values, improve our finances or simply exercise free will against the siren call of consumerism.

That’s why this video essay created by Cara Nicole (who gives all kinds of financials and sustainability education on her Youtube channel) feels so timely.

In just under twenty minutes, Nicole astutely breaks down how luxury brands like Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Rolex create the fake illusion of wealth through “manufactured exclusivity” and getting free marketing from celebrities and influencers—who often don’t even pay for the products themselves. Meanwhile, most real rich people wouldn’t be caught dead in the flashy brands, and in reality consider them "overrated." But still, the illusion persists. Because advertising.

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