I shamelessly white elephant-ed a bottle of Aesop soap last year and it has brought an essence to my life that I never knew I could know. Alas, like all fleeting moments, each pump has more air than the last. These days I take a long, deep drag to take the edge off before rinsing and reminiscing of the early, brighter days when I could lather with lavish abundance.
But I’m no fool. I knew this day would come. That’s why for the last 8 months I’ve opened countless bottles of soap at various grocery stores and TJX affiliates with the conviction that an Aesop smell exists at the price I’m willing to pay for soap. I’m looking for a dupe. (Having not tried it, I cannot yet attest to the quality).
In a world run by thieves, the bootlegger is a saint. Bootleg is a verb and a noun and an adjective. It occupies both physical and transcendental states. I’ve had a long, textured relationship with bootleg and feel uniquely qualified to comment on the matter as I don’t think anyone else has spent more conscious energy on the subject that could have otherwise been applied to something remotely constructive.
Bootleg is good. Bootleg is for good. Dupes pollinate their ecosystems and their existence is to the benefit of the original products of attention (herein referred to as “the Muse”), they exist for themselves and can sometimes be better/preferred than the original, and they reveal what we truly value and how we consume.
Bootleg to deceive is bad. Counterfeit is bad. Counterfeit is not bootleg. Good bootleg has specific requirements. It takes the buyer to know that they're buying a dupe and specifically want a dupe, not to pass off as the Muse but receiving the intrinsic value of the dupe itself. It also requires the seller to acknowledge the dupe and not try to pass off as anything else. Seller acknowledgement need not be explicit in the traditional sense, but can be implied through price. A painting being auctioned off for millions only to be exposed as fraudulent is not a bootleg painting, this is counterfeit. A jacket with 4 stripes purchased by someone knowing the difference is bootleg. There’s a fine line here but guidelines are price and intention to deceive. How much the buyer is willing to pay is ultimately up to how much they think it’s worth to them.
The world is a better place with bootlegs in it. The more “fakes” the more the original is valued as being “original” and genuine. This breeds lore and intangible equity. Meanwhile, bootlegs address the underserved culture carriers. Bootleg cassettes served those who were paying attention and wanted to get a piece of something otherwise unattainable. No bootleg is more quintessential to the sustained reverence of a brand than Lugz to Timberland. We’re going to wake up one day to hear that Lugz was a covert operation run by Timberland to strategically knock off their own products and also own the bootleg share of the market. Bootlegs sometimes serve as placeholders until the Muse becomes attainable. This can easily turn into decades of longing and desire for the “real” thing.
“I just took the knock off from online, and knocked it off. That sells for $65 dollars. My knockoff will sell for $6,500”
- Tom Ford when he made a dress based on a Jay-Z Magna Carta tour shirt
The “better” the dupe, in the traditional sense of being closest to the original, the worse of a bootleg it becomes. A “Channel bag” is more endearing to me. It’s more unique. It takes more moxy to wear. It transcends the initial limit that was inherently placed upon it when it fell off the back of a truck and blossomed into its own. Processed cheese does not remotely taste like cheese. It’s so bootleg that it’s evolved beyond its existence to establish its own category of product . No other kind of tshirt warms my heart more than a one from a stadium concert tshirt bootlegger. Highly niche and astonishingly plugged in, tshirt bootleggers outside the show are peddling better merch than what’s being sold inside. They are also seemingly immune to inflation.
Bootlegs live at the intersection of our self-assessed value and someone else’s assigned value of a good. Naturally, they’re tinged with connotations of being lesser / less good. But that assumes the original is always better. Take a sample for instance, it has the ability to exist as its own entity, in a new song, without any association to the original artist, lyrics, context, or melody. Is a sample in its new form any less good? I say no. Authenticity and value from being authentic is not unequivocally derived from the creator. Only banana flavoured antibiotics must be consumed as prescribed.
tasting notes | august 2025
Make believe I make believe - Tei Shi
Feels like reconnecting with an old friend who’s moved back to down
The Passionate Ones - Nourished by Time
This is like going to a restaurant where your friends know the owner and they serve you some off-menu dishes on the house. You stay after closing and drink from the bottle underneath the bar and have expensive wine from unfinished bottles.
Patricide - Father
Feels like the fleeting moment between having a great time and getting the spins.
Soft Error - Yves
Feels like a rush from eating a mountain of delicious butter croissants without crashing out.
Rocket - Dominic Fike
For anyone wanting to throw themselves into the warmth of a lazy summer on demand.
CRYSALIS - Jenevieve
Lose my number if you can sit still while listening to this
AIN’T NO DAMN WAY! - KAYTRANADA
Feels like when you’ve been eating well that your expectations have gone up without you realizing. You’re so used to delicious flavours that you become ungrateful and unappreciative of how high a level you’ve been privileged to entertain.
Volver - Sofia Kourtesis
Feels like getting smacked in the face with the aromas of Resurrection Aromatique Hand Wash for the very first time and getting thrown into an existential crisis about how much you’re willing to pay for soap.
I Love My Computer - Ninajirachi
Feels like the moment when you realize you really shouldn’t be here but it’s too late and the only way out is through.
Baby - Dijon
Like Dijon and friends visited the Prince estate and couldn't wait to come home and tell everyone about it
Yes - Laura Groves
Sounds like a syrupy, cool August night that feels like it could go on forever
Essex Honey - Blood Orange
What I’d want the introspective, on-stage production of my life to sound like.
XO - RADA
Sounds like walking home at 3am by yourself except you’re confused by how much energy you still have so you start running instead.