Rock & Republic

Authenticating ROCK & REPUBLIC

A pictorial guide

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THE BASICS

OK, ok, I know I say this in my other guides too, but that's because it's important! There are quick red flags to look for that will alert you to a fake without even studying the finer points.

· Seller is selling many pairs of brand new with tags pairs at dirt-cheap buy-it-nows. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, IT IS. NWT jeans cannot be profited on at $50 a pop. Retail price is calculated as 2.2 times the wholesale price. So if a pair of Rock & Republics are ordinarily $190 then R&R corporate sold them to the retailer for $86, and there is no bulk discount. An eBay seller can't possibly sell large amounts of real NWT product for less than wholesale.

· Seller has any feedback indicating non-authentic goods were received or has private feedback or private auctions

· Avoid items from sellers located in Turkey, China, Phillipines, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, or any other obscure country. These are all counterfeiting hubs where there are no repercussions to this type of activity (and no real way to go after them if you get ripped off). T

· There are only stock photos (professional looking photos stolen from an online store/website) and no photos of the actual pair in the seller’s possession. If they won’t show you exactly what you’re getting, there’s likely something to hide! Similarly, multiple backgrounds on home-taken photos may indicate that the seller “borrowed” their photos from another eBay seller!

ROCK & REPUBLIC AUTHENTICITY

There are many ways in which Rock & Republic jeans can be authenticated. It is best to use several of these features in concert, rather than focusing on just one aspect alone, since things can differ among the various styles. R&R is constantly changing their tags and other small details, so the only way to tell real versus fake is to look at the jeans as a whole. When you are first starting to authenticate R&R, it is very helpful to use an authentic pair for comparison .

Inner tag

R&R uses several different inner tag formats. Though the tags may change, the font and size stay specific to that particular tag format. Some errors in fake jeans include

• shiny tags
• incorrect font (often in smeared ink)
• a “washed” appearance to the tags (wrinkled and worn when the pair is new with tags)

There are usually two tags, one size tag and another tag that lists the material content, care instructions, style code, cut #, RN and CA #’s. Some pairs use the large rectangular cloth tag with a raised, waffled texture. This tag will be paired with a size tag that says 'Rock & Republic Digitally Mastered in the USA', the size stitched in red, and a silvery thin line of microstitching. The “microstitching” on fakes will just be a line of silvery thread (like Christmas tree tinsel). When put under high magnification, numbers or letters should be revealed. Some older pairs do not have microstitching. The newest tags also do not have a security strip/microprinting

Another type of inner tag used on authentic R&R is the white papery style. It is paired with the size tag described previously or a newer style tag with the size stitched in big red cursive style that does NOT have a security strip with microprinting anymore. The style code will tell you everything you want to know about the jeans – cut, wash, and style. An example of a style code is crthawpb. It can be deciphered as Crystal Roth in Addict Wash with Purple and Blue stitching. Another would be cmrdcwnp – Crystal Madrid Crown Pink. Looking out for the C’s at the beginning can alert you to an irregular pair that is missing the crystals it should have!

With either tag type there may also be variations in the placement inside the jeans. Some may have the 2 tags on completely separate seams. Others may have the 2 tags stacked directly on top of each other.

In addition, on newer pairs you may find a small white tag behind the main tag that has the new R&R logo on the front with the word 'Authentic' printed below, and on the reverse of the tag contains the new microprinting strip, a serial number and is actually embedded with "Rock Rock Rock" in the stitching. One row faces forward, the next faces backward, all the way down the tag, almost like the watermark on a check or piece of paper!

NOTE: On some much older pairs there may also be a BLUE papery style tag, and on really ancient ones, a white papery one with a totally different format. Please visit Authenticforum if you would like pics/more info on these or authentication of them by our experts, ebay only allows 10 photos per guide :)

Note how the top tag looks papery. WRONG. The font is wrong on both tags. The Rock & Republic is not centered properly on the bottom tag. Heck, they didn't even spell Mastered right on the top one!! (masteVed)

Buttons/Rivets:

R&Rs uses 2 different types of rivets. There are the ones with one R backward and one R forward. There are also the plain rivets with concentric circles on the back and no R&R logo R’s. The rivets with the circles on the back are the newer style rivet. They are not indicative of fakes. Buttons will be engraved; the writing should be raised. Certain styles may also have specialty buttons and rivets, such as the skull jeans which may have matching Skull hardware.

Wash/Inseam

R&R jeans are characterized by neat stitching and amazing washes. The quality of the material is a big factor and usually a dead giveaway with fake R&R. Fakes will often have cheap, crooked stitching with exaggerated fading and pronounced whiskering. The wash should generally be smooth and even, not streaky or grainy. If you are not very familiar with washes, it helps to have an authentic pair to compare to. The inseam for all new R&R should not be less than 34” unless the jeans have been hemmed (the hem width on unaltered R&R is standard at ¼”). Be aware that some older pairs may have shorter inseams. Just because the inseam is shorter does not mean the jeans are fake, but it is a very strong indicator on newer styles.

The fake is streaky, harshly and abruptly faded and whiskered, and just plain cheap and disgusting!

Unless the jeans are irregular (stamped in small black letters on the lining of the inner pocket), all the above should apply. For irregular jeans, the denim quality of the jeans should not change. Common flaws that result in the 'IRR' irregular designation may be: points of over distressing, missing crystals/studs, nicks or holes, improperly sewn labels, or other small flaws. This often does not affect the overall look of the jeans.

Crowns

The crown jeans designed by Victoria Beckham for Rock & Republic are the most faked style out there. For authentic crowns, the crown should take up most of the back pocket, though they may seem slightly smaller proportionally on larger sized pairs (due to the same crown pattern being used regardless of size).

Fakes usually get the size of the crown wrong, either too small or huge, or skewed to the top or bottom (improperly centered)/improperly touching the pocket-rimming stitches.

The crowns should be finely detailed and pretty. The stitching on real crowns is tight and well packed. Note the flowers on the crowns; they should have a 3-D effect and be slightly raised. Regarding the navy blue back waistband patch, the stitching on the patch should be straight and lined up with the top of the waistband.

For crystal crowns, the crystals should be placed neatly within the outline of the crowns, and contain precisely 49 crystals total per pocket. All crystal R&R use genuine Swarovski crystals, which are extremely light reflective and sparkly. The crystals on fakes are cheap, plastic looking, and dull. For non crystallized crowns, there are stitched dots where the crystals would be on crystallized crowns. Also note that there are irregular jeans that were not completed with crystals because they already were found to have flaws in the denim, and thus have empty spaces where the crystals are supposed to be.

Note that on the fake on the right, the shape is off and crystals are badly placed. The stitching is sparse and crooked. The crown doesn’t fill the pocket like it should, and is misshapen, with a flat top.

Crystal R’s/Standard R’s

The crystals should be sparkly and placed within the outline of the hollow “R’s” on the back pockets. There is some variation (where the placement is very slightly differing) but this is almost always the case. The crystals should appear orderly and uniform, unlike many fakes with clearly haphazard and imprecise placement. The shape of the R’s should be sharp and defined.

Note how on the fake on the right, the shape of the R is totally wrong and does not properly fill the pocket (very malformed especially on the left aspect, where the arc is not deep enough, the lower side that comes to the point is overangled, and is overall skewed to the top of the pocket resulting in foul looking empty space and poor balance) and the crystals are haphazardly placed, some going outside the lines, some just crooked, and all-over in the wrong pattern with improper space in between the rows.

Shape of the “R”

The R’s on the rear pockets of authentic R&R always have a distinct outline and unvarying shape. They have defined and strong points. Fakes rarely get this right. Instead, the R’s will be curved or chubby. The R’s are not always completely symmetrical, however. For example, sometimes one R may go slightly further over the pocket edge stitching than the other, but never in a blatant and careless fashion. Compare the two pictures of the crystal Roths above to see the difference.