#FakeoutFriday Going undercover in Chinatown

The last time I went undercover, I was embedded with the LAPD in 2010. We were on a stakeout of a counterfeit ring selling close to $1.5 million in fake NFL and MLB merchandise. This mission was different, mainly because I was by myself (meaning no protection of law enforcement) and sellers of the merchandise seemed more aggressive/protective of their pieces. I was on a mission to find (and show) how easy it is to get a Celine Nano Luggage bag AND how similar they look (mostly so you can call out your friends for carrying a fake bag). Check it: 

Met a vendor who approached me. "You looking for a handbag?" He asked. "Yes, of course I am! Celine Nano Luggage to be exact!" He walked swift and was taking me to a "secret location." 

 I spy a table full of "designer" sunglasses. And I have to give the counterfeit manufacturer credit, these do look good. But let's be real, they are FAKE Tom Ford, Prada, Gucci and Celine. 

From a distance, they look good. My undercover photographer Jack, agrees. 

Fake or not? Clearly yes since I am downtown and you probably wouldn't get a pair of legit Prada shades on the street. Which is my first point: if a pair of designer shades are being sold on the street for $30, they ARE NOT DESIGNER! 

The vendor is sensing something is wrong. At this point, I have less than one minute to try and find out where she sourced these sunglasses, who her supplier is and if she is selling more merchandise around the area. 

No dice. The vendor realized I was taking pictures and got pissed. This was her feeble attempt at blocking my photo of the fake items. Nice try. 

Pretending to talk to my sister. Notice how the vendor suspciously looks at me as I wait for the Celine handbag. 

I got it! The Celine Nano Luggage bag. But clearly it's fake. Below are five ways you can tell if a Nano is fake or the real deal. 

What's up with Black Friday 2016?

I went on MSNBC to talk about what to expect this Black Friday. As I said in an earlier blog post, this year's Black Friday is more of a "Grey November" and more people are starting to do their shopping online starting September 30th. One difference in this year's Black Friday is the uptick in app usage to find good deals. People are using apps like RetailMeNot to show price differentiation to make sure they're paying the best price possible. Apps like RetailMeNot are able to check which discounts are going on at which stores, and then offer coupons to users to get even better deals. Clearly the Internet Age and the ability to research beforehand is having an effect on consumer behavior—smarter purchase decisions are just a click or an app download away!

Ferocious Prabhakar Herzog 2003-20

My original baby died today from complications of oral cancer. She was 13 1/2 years old. For long time followers you know she was on the recieving end of any and all "Indian mom in training" energy and love I had. She grounded me. Taught me to see the bigger picture. Defined unconditional love. I feel lucky to have known this incredible soul. Fortunate she chose me to be her mom. I want to thank the doctors at Blue Pearl Animal Hospital for taking such good care of her, specifically Dr. Jodi Kuntz, Dr. Andrew Kaplan from CityVet and Dr. Wendy Mcculloch at Pet Requiem. Thank you to all of my friends and family for being so supportive. Ferocious saw 3 presidents (one president elect), the first black president of the United States, cats become more famous than soap opera stars, the iPhone, the iPad, Facebook, Twitter, lived through a recession, met and charmed famous people in our home, survived pancreatitis, ingesting lillies, her brother dying, her mom getting married and Mayor de Blasio. She died the same year Bowie, Prince, Glen Frey, Muhammad Ali, Phife Dawg, Arnold Palmer, Leonard Cohen and Gwen Ifill. This was a life well lived. 

How A Fox News Feminist Changed Things From the Inside Out

Feminism. When I was in the 7th grade the word made me want to apply to all women colleges (yes I was thinking about college at age 11). When I got to Smith College and graduated to a job in investment banking, the word made me recoil. The connotation inferred I was a sideline extremist complaining about things that went against the very nature of "God given gender roles." This was in 1998. In 2016, "feminism" means an entirely different thing. I'm vocal but in my own way, which I talk about in this piece for Tuesnight.com. Writing it was both reflective and cathartic and made me homesick for my mom. On the eve of electing the first woman president of the United States, she is someone I would love to be with to watch it all unfold. - Hitha Herzog

Why is Black Friday so early this year? watch Abc World at 6:30PM Et. to find out!

Got questions about Black Friday? You're in luck. Catch me on ABC World at 6:30 ET for all the details!

#FridayFakeOut: Is this Goyard real or fake?

I'm working on the sequel to my book Black Market Billions. Research has taken me back to the same places I hit while writing my first book. Last weekend, it was Chinatown. Things have changed a lot in what I call "the epicenter of counterfeit handbag sales in NYC"  since 2010. First, people come up to you asking if you want a luxury handbag. A couple years ago, those bags were displayed in the street on blankets. Second, the police presence is felt. Third, the "good fakes" are almost always in upstairs rooms where it can take up to 20 minutes for someone to take your request, fetch it and bring it to you. Last, sellers of fake goods are aware cops are around, and don't want to get caught. 

As an experiment, I went to Canal Street. An Asian man approached me and asked what type of bag I wanted. I told him "Goyard." The Goyard brand has been around for more than 161 years. It started out as a luggage and trunk maker based in Paris. It's been a favorite of the well traveled elite, created an air of mystery around it, and has become a favorite of the hip-hop set thanks to style icons like Pharrell, A$AP Rocky and Lil Yachty. I picked it because it's incredibly difficult to identify the real from the fake. Check it: 

Goyard bags are sold in limited quantities and in limited places in the United States. Retailers like Barneys (see above) or Bergdorf Goodman have the exclusive rights to sell these bags. Caveat Emptor if you are purchasing a bag on eBay, Craigslist or some rando site that doesn't have a verification process in place. 

To the untrained eye, this bag could look authentic. The plastic wrap around the handles is a dead give away it's not real, however the chevron logos and the placement of the Goyard lettering is spot on. 

Aha! Indication #1 this is a fake Goyard bag: logo placement by the stitching. Real Goyard St. Louis bags do have white stiching on them. In fact, do you see where the logo gets cut off at the top left hand corner? Goyard bag patterns don't cut off the logo in that way. 

#2 indication this bag is fake: The color. You may be saying to yourself "this fake bag is the same color as the real trunk below- what gives?" You are right, however, the St. Louis Goyard bag comes in a darker blue which is almost a navy color. 

Goyard display at Barneys New York. If you want the real deal bag, save your money and come here instead of Canal Street in Chinatown! 

Jewels: A Tony Duquette love story

Designer. Theater producer. Visionary. These are some of the ways people described Tony Duquette whose insanely gorgeous 32 piece collection of unique jewels went up for sale last August. The amazing Frank Everett, Sales Director for Sotheby's Jewelry in New York invited me to Sotheby's to take an exclusive view (and let's be honest- try on) prior to the pieces hitting their first-ever online only sale. According to Frank, Tony Duquette was a man of many talents including interior, costume and of course jewelry design. His "more is more" aesthetic were coveted by women like the Duchess of Windsor. If I was one to throw caution to the wind, I would have cleared out my savings to purchase a cocktail ring! 

Hitha Herzog showing off a stunning Tony Duquette bracelet. 

Hitha Herzog wearing a Tony Duquette bracelet.

A few Tony Duquette cocktail rings. 

An assortment of Tony Duquette pieces. 

Hitha in Tony Duquette, a stunning violet dress, and cheetah print high heels.

Frank Everett, Sales Director for Sotheby's Jewelry in New York with Hitha Herzog.

#TBT NYFW SS17

Honest hour: The month of September was horrible for me. Not sure if it was mercury in retrograde (or what that means), an overwhelming sense of being 10 steps behind on literally everything, or if my beloved Ferocious the cat was diagnosted with a terminal illness. One highlight: #NYFW SS17 shows and presentations. The week is always hectic, but it reminded me what I do what I do in the first place: this stuff is dope. 

Entrance to the New York Fashion Week Shows, held at Lincoln Center.

Inside New York Fashion Week.

Stunning gold gown by Oday Shakar, from his Fashion Week debut.

A gold Oday Shakar gown from the back.

Gorgeous Oday Shakar top in this year's It Color, Rose Quarts, and white pants.

Menswear from the Tom Ford Collection.

A collection of men and womenswear from Tom Ford.

Models from the Tom Ford presentation.

Art, Fashion, and Sotheby's

It's no secret we live in a visual culture. Art and fashion play into the same pleasure of looking at (or designing!) something beautiful. They are also both economical behemoths, with individual pieces costing well over thousands of dollars. With both having a high symbolic value in our culture, it may be easy to write it off as something frivolous and ignore the painstaking details and creative elements included in any garment or artwork. Fortunately for me, keeping up with those details and elements is part of my job. This summer I was invited to be a host for Sotheby'sFacebook Live Shows, where we discuss the details of art, photographs, contemporary furniture and jewelry being sold that month online or IRL. We have more coming up, so I hope you will tune in! 

Makeup Vibes: Sotheby's Facebook Live Show

Despite what Instagram would have you believe, it takes a village to get camera ready! For my Sotheby's Live Show, we wanted to do a look that was classy, polished, and had an autumn tone! Rockstar makeup and hair artists Sherry Stinger and Laura Weinstein killed it again, and were nice enough to share their secrets with me—check it out:

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Hitha Herzog getting her hair teased and combed. 

Product shot of different styling brushes, and Oribe dry texturizing spray.

Sherry Stinger on hair: 

"To achieve a full bodied straight hairstyle, I used Matrix Wonder Boost Root Lifter on the roots of Hitha's wet hair and blew the roots dry with a vent brush. Then I proceeded to dry the shaft of her hair with a large round brush. Finishing the ends with a Mason Pearson brush for straight ends. I flat ironed only the ends to add an extra touch of shine. To finish I added Oribe Dry Texturizing to add texture and volume. To give her hair a final polished look, I used Kenra Shine spray."

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Hitha Herzog getting her eye rimmed with black eyeliner by a makeup artist.

Hitha Herzog getting her eyelashes coated in mascara. 

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Product shot of makeup used on Hitha for the Sotheby's Live Show: pictured are Inglot Lip Duo, Makeup Forever Professional HD High Definition Powder, Makeup Forever Lip Palette, various lip glosses, makeup brushes, and an eyeshadow palette. 

Lauren Weinstein on makeup:

"Today's look was created with Autumn in mind...a spiced latte color scheme. Prepped her skin with with Eve Pealr Primer, Too Faced Lid Primer, For her eyes, I used a combination of Naked Palette: Half baked on center of lid, Rule in crease, Corduroy on outer corner. I lined her lid in Feline pencil, and Voluminous Mascara by L'Oreal. On her cheeks, a combo of peaches on the apples and matte bronze. To get the lip look, I prepped with Rosebud balm, then lined with Makeup Forever Acqua Lip in 4c, and covered the entire lip in Mac Lipglass in Hot pepper! Finally, I blot her face with Mally Evercolor Poreless Face Defender

Hitha Herzog getting her makeup done by Laura Weinstein, while looking over notes for the Live show.

Hitha Herzog, smiling while looking over talking points for the Live show.

Hitha Herzog doing a run through of the Live Show. 

Hitha Herzog doing a run through of the live show. 

#RetailDetail

308: The number of events including runway, presentations, appointments and parties on the inclusive women's fashion calendar. #RetailDetail via @hithaherzog on instagram.