Antonio Meccariello Shoes

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Oops I forgot Bocache & Salvucci as well. I am about to pick up a pair from them in like an hour. A pair of convertibles (loafers ?).
You can purchase those as well for the same price as YK RTW and these are Bespoke.

 

[clee1982]

YK is not that much more expensive than GG deco? and YK is HW I suppose that alone would count as something, also YK's last is about as "aggressive" but still fluid as I have seen

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

I have not looked into GGs prices recently, so no idea. YK makes a beautiful shoe make no mistake. I rather at least MTM from him. Bespoke is like a 2/2.5 year wait if I recall correctly.

Speaking of shoes, I would love some sort of gray grained derby of some kind. Perhaps make that my first MTO from AM ?. I better do my homework for sizing instead of disregarding it haha.

I think we (@clee1982) wear the same size. What size do you wear in one of those round lasts?

 

[clee1982]

unfortunately haven't tried any round last yet...

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

I'll make you a proposition then so we both can try out the rounded last.

You foot the bill for the shoe. Anyone you want. I'll take care of your shipping costs. You allow me to take it for a spin for a few weeks. I'll let you know what I think, and give it back to you. If it doesn't work for you, we chalk it up as part of the learning experience. ?

Actually that would be rather interesting if a group of people wore the same size and bought a "test" shoe to use as a sizing reference. Split the costs amongst that group and bought several lasts. Then turn around and sell the shoe(s) on Ebay (or similar marketplace) or just kept the shoe(s) altogether.

 

[clee1982]

interesting concept

 

[LThomsen]

Does any one wear a UK size 11 E?

 

[WhyUEarly]

@BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes You, Clee, and I all wear the same size. In NYC too, so idea not completely crazy

 

[Jamesbond1]

Oops I forgot Bocache & Salvucci as well. I am about to pick up a pair from them in like an hour. A pair of convertibles (loafers ?).
You can purchase those as well for the same price as YK RTW and these are Bespoke.

Please post pics for inspiration!! And congratulations!!!

 

[Jamesbond1]

Does any one wear a UK size 11 E?

I do in most brands but i was told in AM i might be a UK11.5

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

@BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes You, Clee, and I all wear the same size. In NYC too, so idea not completely crazy

I would not be opposed to it. Would save us time in wondering whether these lasts or those lasts fit or do not. Plus charges in shipping are murderous as well as the mystery on whether the item arrived or not.

 

[BomTrady]

This is the point I had been trying to make to BomBrady. People turn to AM shoes due to the perceived value he offers. A well crafted shoe for an excellent price. In most cases, it is the GYW shoe and in other cases his HW Argentum.

If an individual was willing to fork over $2k+ for a pair of YK shoes, I am sure if they wanted to try AM as a maker and spend that sort of money, they would either go the Aurum or Bespoke route.

StC's (who most see my name attached to amongst many makers haha) offers truly exceptional value for a MTO at almost $1000 less. Is that YK RTW that much better?

@clee1982 you mentioned that that YK shoe is bespoke standard. Probably is, but at this price point most of the makers like StC, Stefano Bemer, Clematis Ginza, AM Aurum, Yanagimachi MTO, Materna, Ramon Cuberta, Saskia Wittmer, Bolero (Off the top of my head) can offer the same or better.

I would have thought the pricing of YKs shoes would be in the realm of GG/EG/JL. I guess they assume the construction and namesake justifies the higher price tag.

i see your point...and no one can reasonably deny that for the price, AM produces highly exceptional footware. However, we shouldn’t assume that everyone is a price conscious purchaser. If you are not, AM’s competitive pricing is meaningless and you are simply buying the shoe because you like it. And then you have a totally different fcalculus, buying GG, EG, Bemer Trad Collection, YF, Spigola, et. al. without regard to price. And, personally, while I have accumulated a fair amount of bespoke pieces, I like many other gentlemen, am lucky enough to have a super east fit foot despite being an avid runner and having played sports for many years - no fallen arches, planter fasciitis, corns, bunions, hammer toes, spurs, etc. I’ve never had a breaking in period for any shoe I‘ve ever purchased. Suzuki-San told me I had the foot shoemakers use as a model (8/8.5UK). That’s luck for which I am grateful. I am also (knock wood) the same for tailored clothing / easy fit so I don’t mind paying higher prices for RTW clothing. I see very little delta between my bespoke clothing and my RTW and MTM stuff and buy what I like within my budget So, I think we may be in agreement 90%. And I do really like my AM shoes and follow this thread because I like hearing all the great things he’s doing

 

[BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes]

Please post pics for inspiration!! And congratulations!!!

Not sure how the AM sect would feel about posting another maker's work. Provided it is for inspirational purposes, I could probably include the picture as an attachment vs unto the body of the message.

 

[winghus]

I'm typically 10.5UK but may need 11UK in AM

 

[shirtingfantasy]

I agree with what @BomTrady said. It feels like déjà vu, but we seem to have this discussion over and over again, each and every time, when a new comer asks "Is AM shoes better than brand XYZ?". Let's face it: this thread is effectively an AM fans club, and to ask this kind of question and expect an unbiased answer here is at least unwise, and can potentially be seriously detrimental to health (financially, that is).

We live in a world where information is much more available than before - say, even 20 or 10 years ago. We are responsible for actively trying to find an answer ourselves and not just take opinionated arguments as fact. There is unintentional information and there is deliberate misinformation. You, as the proud owner of your next beautiful pair of (handmade) shoes should be wholly responsible for your decision.

i see your point...and no one can reasonably deny that for the price, AM produces highly exceptional footware. However, we shouldn’t assume that everyone is a price conscious purchaser. If you are not, AM’s competitive pricing is meaningless and you are simply buying the shoe because you like it.

I think this is Golden. Trying to become a price conscious purchaser can sometimes lead to actual difficulty in enjoying menswear. There are a few friends of mine, who, by virtue of their training (they work in the financial sector), try to reduce purchases to checklists. They try to quantitative ascertain how much a 180-degree hand-welting is worth. They try to calculate how much they should pay the maker to get a better cut of the leather 20 cm closer to the spine of the calf. They try to compare the exact width, in millimetres, of a fiddle-back waist to see which maker delivers the best waist for the buck.

Do you enjoy your AM shoes because his stitching is 3.5 spi denser than Vass? Do you enjoy you AM shoes because his triple-box tannage leather resists 1.5 millions more flexions compared to Crockett & Jones handgrade leather? Do you enjoy your AM shoes because Mr Meccariello spent 2 hours polishing your Aurum pair before delivery, whereas Gaziano & Girling paid young Justin FitzPatrick to do it for 1.5 hours only? Perhaps we do - or we don't - but the bottom-line is we like shoes not only because they are a quantitatively meaningful portfolio yielding N% of compound interest per year. We like shoes because owning them and wearing them makes us happy.

If one is truly looking for the best "value", he should leave the discussion here and start WeChatting the latest bloom of Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian shoemakers - who have literally all the time in the world to do everything by hand (sometimes also due to a lack of machinery) and pay full attention to your pair. As long as you can ship them a piece of leather (who cannot buy Ilcea or Annonay hide from AA Crack or Rocky Mountain Leather Supply these days?) and instruct them to take the best cut from it, the alleged "Makers in China/ Vietnam/ Indonesia cannot get good leather... they have crap leather an make you crap" can immediately be disregarded. The value-conscious buyer would become the happiest man in his (own) world - and immune from potential adjustment disorder when he discovered that there is a new and unworn pair of Gaziano & Girling St James II on eBay, priced at EUR 15.9 lower than his Aeris Principes II - with lasted shoe trees and free express shipping included.