Big companies stealing ideas from independent designers is not an unheard of phenomenon, unfortunately. But what is even worse is when the little guys start stealing from other little guys. We've seen it before on sites like Etsy and eBay, where unscrupulous "artists" sometimes blatantly steal the designs of other true artists, recreate them and sell them as their own, original work. Well, it's happened again, and this time it's personal.

Trashy Diva is a very small, New Orleans based company that has been selling vintage style clothing for nearly 12 years. Designer and owner Candice Gwinn takes great pains to adapt and modernize vintage patterns and tweaks them so much that these styles are truly her own, vintage inspired designs.

One of her best-selling designs, the 1950s style halter top "Trixie" dress has been tweaked and perfected many times since it made its debut in a silk ballerina print in 2002. Gwinn released this dress in an affordable cotton version in 2007 and it has been an even bigger hit, with both her retail boutique and web customers and wholesale customers alike. Only one of those wholesale customers, Unique-Vintage.com has now taken it upon themselves to steal this dress design, have it manufactured in other colors (pastel yellow, baby pink and black with white polka dots) but using the exact pattern, and sell it as their own. When asked about this blatant theft, Unique-Vintage did not deny it.



In order to help clear up any confusion, Trashy Diva has decided to pull this dress style from their wholesale offerings and they are now selling it directly to their retail customers exclusively through their boutiques and website for only $34 (half off the original retail price).

You can find out more of the details of this egregious design theft on Trashy Diva's Myspace or contact Unique-Vintage directly to let them know what you think of this immoral behavior. Take a stand for independent designers everywhere and please don't support rip-offs and fakes.