Inspiration = Flattery? Paris Hilton and Valentino

I just received an email from an online store and one of the shoes that were being promoted, a Paris Hilton heel, look insanely similar.  Except for materials, the Paris Hilton Senorita d'Orsay heels look just like Valentino's d'Orsay heels.

Can you tell which is which?

Shoe 1:

Shoe 2:

What do you think?  Is this making styles affordable for the mass shopper or leveraging(aka ripping off) the work and design talent of a higher-end brand?

As I've said before, inspiration is fine.  I get that.  But I feel brands and companies at all price-points can put out good and fun designs of their own without blatently copying the hard work of others.  I want cute styles at all levels and price points.  It IS doable!

SPOILER:

Did you guess correctly?

The top shoes are the Paris Hiltons - $94.99 at Heels.com (still not cheap if you ask me and trying to rip off the Louboutin red sole).

The second shoes are the Valentinos - in black at Bergdorf Goodman for $695 or in taupe and red at Nordstroms for $645.