Lorenzo Banfi shoes

[chobochobo]

Today I wore a pair of Lorenzo Banfi shoes to work. They were one of my first ebay used shoe purchases and at the time, I didn't really take note of them. They were cheap and grey; I did clean them and used black shoe cream to give it a different hue. They then lived under my sofa aka makeshift shoe storage space until last night when I was tidying and decided to give them a shot.

They're monkstraps, they're snug and the sole is cut almost flush with the uppers making the shoe rather 'small' looking, in comparison to say my Tramezzas with the long toes and generous sole. They're comfy and I had a look at the sole which in addition to the manufacturers name and 'Made in Italy' also has a 'Lavorazione a mano'. So it seems its a fairly well made shoe that I'm beginning to like more and more. In fact, probably I'll start 'saving' it for 'special occasions'. Does anyone else do that? Wear the more run of the mill shoes (usually the shoes you bought first before your tastes became more refined) first, perhaps hoping naively that they'll wear out and you'll be left with a higher quality selection?

I'd be grateful for any comments and experiences with this brand. I see from googling that they're part of the Avventura group.

 

[acidboy]

can you post images of your banfi's?

 

[amemovox]

Originally Posted by chobochobo

Today I wore a pair of Lorenzo Banfi shoes to work. They were one of my first ebay used shoe purchases and at the time, I didn't really take note of them. They were cheap and grey; I did clean them and used black shoe cream to give it a different hue. They then lived under my sofa aka makeshift shoe storage space until last night when I was tidying and decided to give them a shot.

They're monkstraps, they're snug and the sole is cut almost flush with the uppers making the shoe rather 'small' looking, in comparison to say my Tramezzas with the long toes and generous sole. They're comfy and I had a look at the sole which in addition to the manufacturers name and 'Made in Italy' also has a 'Lavorazione a mano'. So it seems its a fairly well made shoe that I'm beginning to like more and more. In fact, probably I'll start 'saving' it for 'special occasions'. Does anyone else do that? Wear the more run of the mill shoes (usually the shoes you bought first before your tastes became more refined) first, perhaps hoping naively that they'll wear out and you'll be left with a higher quality selection?

I'd be grateful for any comments and experiences with this brand. I see from googling that they're part of the Avventura group.

A good friend has a couple of pair of Banfi shoes and is impressed with them.
Recently, I tried on a pair of bals from Banfi and they appeared to be made from high quality material. They were probably blake stitched but the construction was first rate. It was one of the only balmoral that had closed
stitchiing when laced.

This surprised me because of my high instep. The shoes were definitely made
of full grain leather. Should have bought 'em!

 

[chobochobo]

First, apologies for the poor quality. I only have a phone camera.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b5...u/DSC00448.jpg

You can see the poor plastic shoe trees (I can't seem to get cedar wood trees in Hong Kong for love nor money) which are better than nothing. The colour was originally grey, but after polishing with black Saphir cream it's turned out very nice - a dark Walnut I'd say. It's a monkstrap - the leather is soft and seems padded on the inside. Comfy but a bit snug. You can see that the sole is cut very close to the upper, this contributes to the small size of the shoe which is an inch shorter than my Tramezzas. They began as a bargain buy from Ebay (I think along with many other items from a single seller - I forget who) that were forgotten after being cleaned up, but now I appreciate them more.