"famous brand" athletic gear is a ripoff

I hate to admit it because I consider myself to be someone who researches this stuff rather thoroughly before spending my money in my life but I have been duped for many years by the "system."

Upon discovering a discount athletic store in my community named Decathlon, i started to realize that the "performance gear" I have been purchasing from the major athletic gear companies are completely full of crap and not worth what they are charging for them.

I present to you (left to right) my $50 Nike Dri-Fit shirt and my $3.50 Kalenji shirt that makes no such claims but the fabric feels the same. Both of these shirts claim to be made of materials that sweat evaporates quickly from and that the material "breathes" a lot better than say cotton would.

I have used both of them for a while now, both in an air conditioned gym and outside doing sporty stuff.

Both shirts are manufactured in countries with cheap labor, so neither company can make any sort of claim to have "European Design" or "Made in the USA" as if that actually meant that it would be better quality. Both shirts were acquired in Asia and I will admit that "luxury brands" such as Nike are generally more expensive here than say in the States, purely because of supply v. demand.

These two shirts feel EXACTLY the same when you are wearing them and both of them live up to their claims of drying quickly and being breathable. The fabrics have the same "flexibility' and by that i simply mean that they are not rigid like a cheap cotton shirt would be. The neck also has elastic that hasn't worn down after wearing them both dozens of times. They both hold up in the washing machine.

_{the reflective stripe down the back is the same too... i'm quite certain Kalenji copied this intentionally but...whatever!}
Basically, I am never going to purchase some new technology made by Nike, Reebok, Asics, Puma, or whoever.... ever again. I paid 15 times the amount for the Nike shirt because their marketing strategy worked on me and I presume it does the same to millions of other people as well. This company is completely full of poo poo. There is absolutely nothing special about their "Dri-Fit" technology.

The last time i was in the Decathlon store I noticed that they also have a wide array of athletic footwear and everyone can agree that the likes of Nike have had a strangle-hold on this industry for as long as most of us have been alive. If the shirts are exactly the same, how would the shoes be any different? My next pair of shoes are going to be from these lesser-known brands as well.

This sort of deception is what drives these industries and it extends to all parts of life. Their marketing budget entitles them to charge more for something. Nike pays celebrity athletes millions of dollars to wear their shoes and Kalenji I presume pays no one since I had never heard of their brand before.

Maybe I am just getting older and brands mean less to me than they used to but I have to admit: I feel a bit stupid having wasted so much money in my life on what turns out to be a product that has no added benefit to it at all. :(