I hate rubi shoes: mainstream crap is killing innovation and growth
Posted by charmedquark | April 22nd, 2009
I hate ‘fashion’ outlets that flood the market with the same cheap ‘stock’ crap.
I’m talking cotton-on, rubi shoes, supre etc. I can’t dispute that from time to time you can find really nice things, and that sometimes a girl just needs a simple singlet or skirt. However when places like these become the go-to places for fashion, then I start to lose hair. It’s just depressing seeing the same outfits wandering through Perth. The clothing isn’t thought out, it’s probably made in a sweatshop, it’s poor quality and what’s worse – it was probably fairly expensive! Supre, cotton on, rubi shoes are all marketed to be fairly cheap fashion outlets but when you examine the quality of what you’re buying and compare it to the price, you’re being ripped off.
Look at rubi’s stock item: ballet flats. At $15 for one pair that fit well, initially I was stoked. But these shoes were made in a cardboard factory! Or at least that’s what one would assume, judging by how long they last. You can always tell when a girl is wearing rubi flats, because you look down to her feet and are disappointed.
Who is to blame? Stores are just trying to make a profit and will respond to demand like any other business. It’s your fault. You the reader, the consumer, who spends their money at supre or dotti, instead of trying to find an independent business to support. Without support, small independent boutiques will die, leaving Perth a cultural wasteland and me bald. If you buy rubi shoes, don’t. Look online, shop around, spend a little more because when you work it out a pair of shoes that lasts you a year will cost you the same amount of money as buying one pair of rubi’s every 2 months. And they will look better and speak volumes and do wonders.
Someone please go harass the morons at frankie mag forums.
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:03 pm
I agree.
But I guess those stores will always exist for the majority. Buying from small shops with locally made unique items is such a great experience.
When you come to Melbourne, we have a thing here called ‘Rose St Artists Market’ where all these artists come and sell things they’ve made. From clothes to bags to diaries to jewellery. Its amazing because every item is so unique and you are paying for these people to continue to create art instead of pay to support a sweatshop derived item.
I’ll take you when you come here.
May 6th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
ps. I decided to take a chance with rubi shoes a week or so ago and bought a bag, and the handle’s already coming off!! Such crap
May 11th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
i love this post
May 15th, 2009 at 12:34 am
No surprise that Rubi is a sub company of Cotton On. I’m pretty cynical when it comes to fashion. I cringe when I see jocks and bimbos dressed head to toe in cotton on / surf brand crap, thinking they look something else. A lot of them just don’t know any better, or are scared or just too lazy to enter a boutique store. I live SOR, and see so many ‘lowest common denominators’ taking a day trip into the city on the Mandurah train only to stock up on Supre, Cotton On and Jay Jays, all the while thinking they’ve bought into something special.
May 18th, 2009 at 11:25 am
barf… cotton on…and now this? trust.
oh well, you kinda expect it. I hope they close down and get replace by…..anything BUT
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:06 am
you make some good points, but the suggestion that everyone should boycott rubi shoes, cotton on, etc. just because their stuff is cheap/knock-off/poorer quality than handmade stuff is ridiculous. and it is not ridiculous because in a perfect world that is what should be done, but it is ridiculous because this is not a perfect world, we can not all afford to ‘buy locally’ and we certainly can not all afford the kinds of fashion that chain stores etc. may be attempting to recreate.
buying a $15 dollar pair of flats from rubi shoes will undoubtedly mean buying poor quality shoes made in a sweatshop, but buying $$90 shoes from a more expensive chain (miss shop, betts, etc..) will 90% of the time mean supporting a sweatshop too. the latter will usually be better quality, but more often than not i will buy cheap shoes etc not because i want to wear them over and over again, but because i need them for a special occasion/outfit/need.
the call that ‘mainstream crap is killing innovation and growth’ is a bit over the top-we all have need for basics, i hardly think we need to redesign the wheel when it comes to a basic pair of ballet flats, a simple top, etc etc, all of which can be bought from chain stores at a decent price, and one which is affordable to most people.
if you have objections to sweatshops and unoriginal clothing, you’re going to be pressed to dress yourself without spending a lot of money, making your own clothes, or buying everything from opshops.
i generally do the latter, but that being said, let’s not go over the top with cutting down people who may just need a quick and cheap purchase-in the perfect world, they would be able to buy better, but don’t hold it against them if they can’t.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:33 am
You said >> “the call that ‘mainstream crap is killing innovation and growth’ is a bit over the top-we all have need for basics..”
I said >> “I can’t dispute that from time to time … a girl just needs a simple singlet or skirt.”
How does innovation and growth have anything to do with basics? The point of my article is that people buy second-hand ideas from these stores, neglecting those who came up with the concepts in the first place. Hence destroying creativity.
There are a lot of good stores out there with decently priced items – everything at dotti, cotton on, supre is way overpriced. Pay like 10 or 20% more and you have yourself a dress from cite or fi and co or something. Sorry if the article offended you.
PS you’re getting ripped buying rubi shoes. They’re worth like probably $2!
May 24th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
it didn’t offend me!
i agree with most of the things you said, and i love reading your articles
i think it’s just always a toughie when it comes to chain stores, even the whole innovation/creativity thing can be seen from both ways-you can buy a stack of cheap imitations of the aesthetics spawned by the top designers, and chain stores can be really handy for people who want to sprinkle their wardrobe with a few ‘trend’ pieces, even if they can’t afford the original..i highly doubt the designers dotti etc. rip off are really affected at all, because the demographic buying from murray street mall are not likely to be the type to buy mcqueen/balenciaga/whoever made the latest $2000 key piece..
ps i have been to poor to buy retail for AGES so don’t worry, i’m not really buying anything, let alone rubi
May 26th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
well I know what you mean about expensive/being poor.. I tend to trawl ebay for designer pieces =P so much cheaper.
May 28th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
While I understand your points, I am vegetarian so I shop at stores like Rubi Shoes and Spendless shoes because they make shoes that follow trends but are entirely synthetic. It’s incredibly hard to find shoes that aren’t ‘daggy’, are reasonably priced and are not at all leather anywhere other than chain stores. Not cheap + quality = leather, unfortunately.
May 30th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Zu and another shoe store on murray st near myers have some synthetic shoes, zu is really good quality. I know it’s hard, I do a lot of shoe shopping on ebay too
June 1st, 2009 at 11:57 am
As a 16 yr old girl I love rubi shoes
I cant afford to shop around and I cant buy things on the netas I’m not old enough and my mum won’t buy shoes of the net for me because my foot is such an awkward
I get paid $14 in cash a week so I use my money sparingly.
I no there just cheap poorly made but thiers nothing else out thier thats releative comfy streches to a size 11 or 12 (which i am) and costs less than $70-80. My rubi shoes flats fitted me better and lasted longert that my dianna firrari ones that gve me huge blisters. Though now my silver rubi flats have split down the middle after running in them down a hill (dont ask) they had a very good run for a pair of my shoes as most of the time i wear one pair of shoes everywere until they break.
if I can find something that doesn’t cost over $100 an item I’ll shop thier but thats not often so us teens just have to be head to toe in surf brand and cotton on crap.
June 12th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
We need a firestorm of purity to cleanse the earth of places like Rubi, Cotton On, Jay Jays, Diva, Live, El Dorado, Supre, Myer, R.M Williams, Rivers, Foot Locker etc. We just need a firestorm in general.
June 12th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Hi benji. I think you might need to chill out just a bit there
June 23rd, 2009 at 7:50 pm
How about a firestorm for equip???
And maybe than Big W, Target, than general pants.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Quit your complaining lol….
If you don’t like there style or the quality of their stock don’t shop there…simple enough?
I bought a pair of pointy white flats from Rubi for $14.00 there great!! Still in fine condition and if they did fall apart who cares they cost $14.00. I don’t know about you ladies but I don’t wear the same pair of shoes over and over all year so I don’t see the problem if they fall apart 4 months later. They stock simple cheap shoes that look cute. Fair enough every one has there own taste but Rubi shoes is just easy for us poorer shoppers, I feel you can’t go wrong with their prices.
I’m curious how does girls wearing the same outfits around Perth affect you? Why do you let it get to you?? As long as you think you look good and you’re comfortable in what you’re wearing who cares?!?!?
As for trying to find a simple singlet or skirt Supre, Dotti, Jay Jays and Cotton On all have basic singlets in different colors and cuts ranging from $10-20 dollars. Depends on what kind of skirt you’re looking for but I know Supre stock simple short denim skirts and a bunch of other styles to.
All the “mainstream” stores you have listed above are pretty much all the fashion outlets you would find in your local Westfeilds? So what stores are not mainstream and cater for people who don’t have a lot of money to spend on clothing?
What it comes down to is these stores are always going to have cheap, not so good quality clothing, shoes, accessories etc and the little boutique-ie stores can’t compete.
Fashion is always changing so majority of girls and women don’t mind If its not going to last a year when its super cheap and you know it probably won’t be in fashion in a few months to come.
I’m sure you complaining to Frankie Mag isn’t going to do anything lol It just the ways things are and always will be.
So tough titties.
August 4th, 2009 at 2:29 am
lets face it, rubi shoes are wear and tear!
October 27th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
GO KRYSTAL – totally agree. Just stumbled accross this page looking for the Rubi Shoes website – I want some for Derby Day to avoid being barefoot at the end of the day.
December 13th, 2009 at 11:25 am
How about we just face the facts Everything we buy now we are being ripped off, It may cost a store like cotton on less than $5 per item but we are paying more than triple that. SO I Just think we should get over it! our only other option would be to Make the Bloodly clothing at home…….
February 24th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Some of these comments are crazy.
“We need a firestorm of purity to cleanse the earth of places like Rubi, Cotton On, Jay Jays, Diva, Live, El Dorado, Supre, Myer, R.M Williams, Rivers, Foot Locker etc. We just need a firestorm in general.”
and
“How about a firestorm for equip???
And maybe than Big W, Target, than general pants.”
Where do you people shop. Because I reckon I could find something to say about any of the stores you shop in.
April 7th, 2010 at 10:43 am
I recently brought a cardigan from cotton on thinking it was cheap at only $40!! Then after the very first wear it was rather pilled and had a hole. What a fricking WASTE!!
April 13th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
It really is sophie.. honestly it’s better to wait for things to be on sale somewhere decent and buy then rather than waste money at dotti or cotton on. Better to save up and buy something that will last and is quality.
April 13th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
[...] – in Australia it’s inevitable because we get used to dry weather and flimsy shoes (see rubi shoes). Then when the rain starts to pour (like tonight or March 22nd) we start going over our options. [...]
July 7th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
everyone says rubi flats are cheap and break easily. but who cares? as a teenagaer, i have 4 pairs of em and i wear em everyday for a month straight, and they still look almost new? plus they were only like $5 each so wat more couold you want?
July 11th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
well i think thats all a load of bullshit because the rubi shoes’ flats last half a year and then you can buy new ones it’s worth it. so fuck you your just some chick who needs a life and can’t keep their opionins to themselves bitch.
July 12th, 2010 at 11:32 am
livirz – are you trying to advocate censorship? Shouldn’t I be allowed to say what I think? This coming from a girl who doesn’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re”.
Livirz, I’m sorry you can’t afford better shoes, I wish you luck with your cardboard shoes in all the rain we’re having. Have fun watching them dissolve
@sariiieeeeee, I happen to know they’re at least $15 each. With $60 for the four you paid for, you could buy a pair of better quality shoes. Trust me, it’s worth it.
July 19th, 2010 at 9:17 am
hmmm… thankyou charmedquark for the good advice