imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

I just saw this post on Kingdom of Style, and adore the editorial "Light and Fantastic" from UK Vogue February 2008. It's not new, but it was new to me.

However, the above photo seemed very familiar. Hmmmm.

I fell in love with this Melanie Vote painting last year, so of course, when I saw the Vogue UK spread, my first thought was, "Oh my God! They totally ripped off Melanie Vote." However, their photo was printed in February of last year, and I can only confirm that Vote's piece was painted in 2008. I'm not sure what month her painting made its debut. Additionally, it would be much more plausible to recreate this photo as a painting than the other way around (the clothes might be a little hard to track down). And this is a much more specific copy than Shepard Fairey's iconic Barack Obama graffiti art (he's now being sued by the Associated Press). The dress, bloomers, hair, glasses, purse, knee socks, even the model's likeness. It's pretty much a straight up recreation. I can't say for sure who has the rights to what. All I can be certain of is that someone should probably be pissed.

I should note that it's possible that permission was granted in this case for the image to be recreated (either by Vogue UK or Melanie Vote). In which case, way to collaborate guys!