Fake Shoe Saga: Lace up your Tenbarlands, boys and girls.

So

I was strolling through the market a few days ago with some friends of mine. I had bought everything I needed, so I was just along for the ride (well...walk). We were about to leave when, as we crossed a shop, something truly magical caught my eye.

I turned around sharply, as if I had just smelt something familiar that reminded me of home, or as one who had just been stung by a bee. I walked back to the shop slowly, stricken with awe, coming closer to what it was, and THIS, is what I beheld

 

Tenbarland! I was about to burst out laughing, when the shop owner appeared out of nowhere, a grin lighting up his face when he saw the bemused look across mine.

"You like am?" (Do you like it), he asked, grinning from ear to ear, as if in my hands I held the cure for cancer, and he was about to hand it off to me. 

"Small o. But I thought it was Timberland?" I managed to make this inquiry with the straightest face I could muster, while my friends uncontrollably laughed across the road.

"Forget that one!" He waved something away as he said it, as if Timberland boots had flown up to him to pester him and he was getting rid of them. "This one na original, na only this one wey dey market now!" (this is the original, this is the only one in the market now). 

I looked at him, wondering if he honestly believed what he was saying. He seemed to be. I certainly didn't. I set it down, saying that I didn't have any money on me. Screwing up my face as if I was truly disheartened that I couldn't afford them.

 

He snatched them from my hands almost immediately, as if I were a flight risk, and turned back to enter his shop.

I panicked! I couldn't let the opportunity to capture a pic of these beauties pass me by. My mind worked, not as fast as he had retrieved the shoes from me, but still pretty fast!

"Wait!", I screamed, the desperation in my voice laid bare and overt. "Mek I snap picture, my guy go fit like am. E dey like all these boots". (Lemme take a picture, my friend might like it). 

He regarded me through slits in his eyes, cautious of my intentions. Then, after what seemed days, he handed them to me. 

I quickly thanked him, fumbling in my pocket for my phone. I brought it out, and every time I clicked and heard the shutter sound, a new wave of joy washed over me.

I thanked him profuse;y and handed them back to him, careful not to drop the shoes, lest they break. I quickly sprinted away, not giving him a chance to think too much about what had just happened.

Counterfeit shoes definitely didn't start anytime recently. I just started taking notice of them and taking pictures of them around this period. Although, nothing can beat the true gems, like these bad boys

I got this picture off of google, but I actually remember a time when I saw them in real life. I was much younger and didn't own a phone, and I legitimately thought Apple had started selling shoes.

That's the thing though, it's easy to think that some of these things are real. I did a google image search for Tenbarland, and A LOT of results came up. Though nowhere near as many as the leading, well known, world renowned brand, Abibas.

Lush...

If you google Abibas, tons of results pop up. All the logos are probably just made in jest, but many are real. Abibas has t shirts, tracksuits, shoes, slippers. To an uniformed observer, Adidas is the actual knock off, not Abibas.

Shame on you...

Of course, some don't make the effort. Many of them just go ahead and play alphabet soup with the letters and just slap on whatever comes out

C'mon guys...make an effort.

Well, I guess that's it. I don't even know what "it" is exactly. Just know that there are fake shoes out there, and they're crazy as hell. So watch out. And if you have any examples, fell free to put them up, let's all have a good chuckle.