In retrospect, the mirror was always ridiculous. Bordered in faux gold and crowned with baroque molding, Anthropologie's Gleaming Primrose Mirror is 2.1 metres tall and costs $US1,600. And yet the moment I saw it on TikTok, I was possessed by the overwhelming urge to own it immediately. I couldn't afford the real thing, so I followed one commenter's advice and searched for a dupe - a cheaper alternative that should, in theory, look as good as the original for a fraction of the price.
A brief search on TikTok revealed dozens of Gleaming Primrose dupes. The most popular video recommended one for $150 (all prices are in US dollars), but it was sold out. I kept scrolling. Overstock dupe? Also gone. Ikea's wouldn't arrive until December. Another version was $175 without molding (so just a regular mirror?). An influencer sent me to Amazon, where the mirror was available for $125.99. I was about to check out when I realised the item in my cart was 3cm tall - a creepy little dollhouse mirror! Other videos suggested I make the mirror for $20 before I was lobbed back to Amazon, where I finally bought a dupe from the affiliate page of someone named Juliana, who has 2 million followers. It was $100 and arrived last week. It's the wrong size and looks awful. The glass is distorted, and when I stand in front of it I look like I'm in a fun house.
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