JL or Mantellassi?

[MilanoStyle]

Guys,

What do you think about this Sutor Mantellassi shoes?
http://www.sierratradingpost.com/pro...x?baseno=77974

I like them since I can do dress up and casual with it (I think due to those hand stitchings!)

But with that price, I can easily get JL or EG.

So many shoes, so little $$$!

 

[Edward Appleby]

Kind of Italian pimp to me. But then again I often feel that way about Mantellassis.

 

[zjpj83]

Lobb or EG for sure

 

[whoopee]

Those are terrible.

 

[aportnoy]

No contest. EG or Lobb, for certain. I'm sure we can help to recommend some models..

 

[Roger]

Originally Posted by MilanoStyle

But with that price, I can easily get JL or EG.
You most assuredly won't get either JL or EG for $549, unless you're talking about eBay perhaps. For Sutor Mantellassi, your best bargain may well come from Lance Hughes at Virtual Clothes Horse--although he may not have the style or size you want at any given time.

http://www.virtualclotheshorse.com/i...id=81083253317

IMHO, Sutor Mantellassi makes very good shoes--with their higher-end ones close in quality, I would say, to the Santoni FAM line. Comparing Sutor Mantellassi to either JL or EG is difficult because you are comparing two quite different style esthetics. If you like the Italian sensibility, then SM is hard to beat for quality.

If the shoes shown from STP are, in fact, hand-lasted and hand-welted (as STP claims), this would put them ahead of both JL and EG RTW (which are Goodyear welted) with respect to hand processing. In any case, it would seem that they are at least welted--something not always true with Italian shoes. There is evidence of high quality from the bottom view, where you see fully-channeled soles and considerable brass slugging in the soles and heels, features generally seen only on higher-end shoes. My only quibble about these particular shoes is the decorative stitching above the outsole stitching that makes the shoes look vaguely Norvegese. FWIW, I see nothing pimplike whatsoever about them, and I would expect STP to be about the last place to go "pimp."

 

[MilanoStyle]

Roger,

Yes. I ment buying JL and EGs on eBay.

I personally like the Mantellassi shoes on STP. Those are hand made line Sutor Mantellassi (SM) as the name is written not labeled on insoles. I believe those shoes are just as well made as JL or EG, if not better.

 

[discostu004]

that shoe is a great shoe. i had several like it in my inventory, just different colors (and price was about $120 less than that). that being said, good looking shoe

 

[itsstillmatt]

I think Mantellassi makes a more comfortable, more meticulous shoe than either JL or EG. I think that this particular pair is quite ugly.

All three companies make very nice shoes. None of them make superlative shoes (although some of the JL Prestige are close). If you can find a shoe that you really like from any of the three makers at a good prive, you should buy it. You really need to jump up a solid level to something like a Vass to find more than a negligible difference between makers.

 

[aportnoy]

Originally Posted by iammatt

None of them make superlative shoes (although some of the JL Prestige are close). You really need to jump up a solid level to something like a Vass to find more than a negligible difference between makers.

Matt I think that's pretty harsh and only true if you're atomizing the shoe down to it's base elements of construction. To say that the JL "Jermyn II" or The EG "Dover" is not superaltive strikes me as approaching the bizarre.

I suppose this is the same old discussion about "handwork" or lack thereof. IMHO, Lattanzi makes some of the best made, butt ugliest shoes on the market today. I would much rather "settle" for the elegance and refinement of the less handmade shoe than simply wear an ugly one because the welt was hand sewn.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

Matt I think that's pretty harsh and only true if you're atomizing the shoe down to it's base elements of construction. To say that the JL "Jermyn II" or The EG "Dover" is not superaltive strikes me as approaching the bizarre. I suppose this is the same old discussion about "handwork" or lack thereof. IMHO, Lattanzi makes some of the best made, butt ugliest shoes on the market today. I would much rather "settle" for the elegance and refinement of the less handmade shoe than simply wear an ugly one because the welt was hand sewn.
I definitely do not mean to be harsh. I do think that the Jermyn II is a great looking shoe. I am not a big fan of the Dover, but then again, I don't really like French cuffs. I think Lobb and EG are nice shoes. I own several pairs. I just think that there are classes of shoes above these two in construction and/or styling. In my estimation, it is not just handwork, but better leathers and certain lasts and finishings that just cannot be done by the methods employed by the above makers. My real point was not that EG, JL and Mantellassi were not great, just that they are all about the same, and that they are all avery nice shoes made for everyday use without a lot of the bells and whistles of some other makers (not that bells and whistles are always good.) You are certainly correct in saying that Lattanzi makes some of the best made butt ugly shoes in the world. He also makes some of the best made, best looking shoes. Certainly the percentage of wearable shoes is higher for EG, but the number of pieces of art is higher with Lattanzi. YMMV.

 

[aportnoy]

Originally Posted by iammatt

You are certainly correct in saying that Lattanzi makes some of the best made butt ugly shoes in the world. He also makes some of the best made, best looking shoes. Certainly the percentage of wearable shoes is higher for EG, but the number of pieces of art is higher with Lattanzi. YMMV.

Totally agree. Hell they're all pretty damn beautiful and I can't get enough of any of them.

 

[Roger]

Two things:

(a) For you guys with lots of shoes and shoe knowledge (Iammatt and Aportnoy, and others), how would you rate the top-line Sutor Mantellassis and the Fatte a Mano Santonis against one another?

(b) Lance has a new shipment of SMs that has just arrived.

Perhaps I should add the usual disclaimer noting that I have no business affiliation whatsoever with Lance at Virtual Clothes Horse aside from having bought several things from him and been very happy with them.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by Roger

Two things:

(a) For you guys with lots of shoes and shoe knowledge (Iammatt and Aportnoy, and others), how would you rate the top-line Sutor Mantellassis and the Fatte a Mano Santonis against one another?


Same stuff to me. Despite my rant above, I prefer EG and Lobb to either of these lines. I find 95% of SM and Santoni to be butt ugly, and the other 5% to be wearable, but not inspiring.

 

[aportnoy]

Originally Posted by iammatt

Same stuff to me. Despite my rant above, I prefer EG and Lobb to either of these lines. I find 95% of SM and Santoni to be butt ugly, and the other 5% to be wearable, but not inspiring.

I prefer SM, especially their Norwegians, to Santoni mostly because I feel Santoni has gone off the deep end with their faux patination obsession. But to echo Matt's point, I couldn't see myself picking either over JL or EG.