A New York City-based TikTok user went viral after she posted a video warning other women about a Tinder match that allegedly stole her beloved Tabi shoes and gifted them to his girlfriend.
Lex, better known by her TikTok handle @nextlevellexuss, recently posted a video that quickly went viral and now has 967.8K views and counting. The young woman’s video detailed a fun hook-up gone wrong to help other single women using Tinder. The clip starts with her talking to the camera with the dating profile of a man named Joshua in the background to share the horrific story of how he stole her Mason Margiela “Tabi Mary-Janes” designer shoes, which retail for $990, her dad gifted her.
“This man is out here on Tinder and Hinge and he will steal from you,” she began the video.
@nextlevellexuss Girls and gays of TikTok please get to work 😭 #nycdating #tinderhorrorstories #hingedating #margielatabis #nyc#greenscreen
She explains the moment she shared with the man, pictured in the background while walking around in SoHo, was a Tinder match. Afterward, the man sent Lex a DM on the app to confirm the self-proclaimed fashionista was the person he “locked eyes” with earlier that day. When she verified it was her, they began chatting and decided to meet for drinks. She shared, “Everything seems cool, and he seems like a nice guy and like someone I’d just hang out with for a little fling and just sleep with.”
After meeting for drinks, the man requested more time with the knitwear entrepreneur, so they hung out at her place, which led to the pair having sex. Before they parted ways in the morning, they talked about him wanting a pair of Tabis. The woman noticed her Tabis were missing but decided to scour her apartment before contacting him. When she reached out, she noticed he had unmatched her on Tinder and deleted his number from her phone’s call log.
Thanks to the magic of social media, Lex shared an update that she was given the suspect’s Instagram by someone who knows him. She didn’t want to post his page because she was concerned with taking a “tactful” approach to ensure she’d get her missing shoes back.
@nextlevellexuss The procurement of the tabis. The chuckling and shrug is very 👹 #nycdating #tabigirl #tabigate #nyc
She followed up the video everyone had been waiting for, confirmation that she got her “split-toe” heels back. She disclosed she was unable to contact the Tinder thief, so she reached out to different family members and friends of his after receiving anonymous tips from the public. About two hours later, he called her regarding the matter, denied taking her shoes and said that “was out of his character.” He offered her $500, then $1,000, which was suspicious to Lex. The Chicago native sent him a screenshot of his girlfriend wearing her shoes once she learned he gave them away, causing Joshua to confess he’d been “caught.”
Unsure of how he stole them, Lex revealed she assumes he stuffed the shoes inside his pants or put them in his pockets since they’re small and slim.
“I’m pretty sure he put it in his pants’ waistbands because he was wearing like cargo pants, like kind of baggy pants, like kind of baggy shirt…a bigger shirt,” she said.
