Mantellassi price points and quality?

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by Chris "Italia"

If you are going to pay for the top line Mantellassi; go with Bontoni.

I would opt for Bontoni over Mantellassi.

Why?

 

[aportnoy]

Talk about thread drift...yikes.

Sorry to disagree Chris, but....

As for Bontoni, I have seen it at Louis, Boston and Korshak and have been wildly underwhelmed. I find the styling to be average and the leathers to have an almost plasticky quality that was more reminiscent of corrected grain leather than anything else. Basically I find them to be Berluti lite. None of the good parts of Berluti and all of the bad.

Mantellassi , on the other hand, has always impressed me as an excellent shoe. They have multiple quality ranges but the design and leather quality are excellent in them all.

 

[Chris "Italia"]

Hmmm...

I have seen only a few Bontoni's and I thought they were awesome...

But, you know more about shoes than I do considering your collection.


To me; there is only one Italian shoe for me: Silvano Lattanzi.

The Price is:

Just too much for my blood now.

 

[aportnoy]

Originally Posted by Chris "Italia"

To me; there is only one Italian shoe for me: Silvano Lattanzi.

The Price is:

Just too much for my blood now.

We completely agree on Lattanzi in terms of both quality and price. There are a handful of smaller Italian makers like Ugolini, Bessetti and Scafora who far less known but have outstanding quality and design.

 

[Chris "Italia"]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

We completely agree on Lattanzi in terms of both quality and price. There are a handful of smaller Italian makers like Ugolini, Bessetti and Scafora who far less known but have outstanding quality and design.


Yes; problem is; we both have to go all the way to Italy to get those 3 shoes...

Aren't Ugolini made by Vass? Their RTW line is?

and the bespoke line is made by the Ugolini factory in Florence?


My favorite shoes by country as of now:

Italy: Silvano Lattanzi.

UK: Edward Green.

France: John Lobb Paris.

Give me those 3 RTW shoes.... and I will be very pleased.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by marc237

I have certainly heard other products having been described as not all that pretty to look at, but of real high quality.

Kind of like these Berlutis?

 

[Chris "Italia"]

Oh God.

Why???

 

[j]

Hey, Frankenstein's Monster needs to go out pimpin' too...

 

[Christofuh]

I hate Mantellassi shoes. Especially those made for Borrelli. There, I've said it

.
Uncomfortable as hell; to a point where you wonder if they were made to go on a display mannequin that won't care one way or another. The leather soles are stiffer than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad @ a Salute to Israel Parade. In that they simply wouldn't bend. Priced higher than either EG or JL shoes.
Here's one pair of wingtips that seems decent all-around ( I've seen this particular model in person ) being offered by our snappy friend from Cambridge. He claims their original retail was over $1800.

 

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by j

Hey, Frankenstein's Monster needs to go out pimpin' too...

 

[Artisan Fan]

The leather soles are stiffer than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad @ a Salute to Israel Parade.

LOL.

Who's the avatar? She's hot.

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by Chris "Italia"

Yes; problem is; we both have to go all the way to Italy to get those 3 shoes...

Aren't Ugolini made by Vass? Their RTW line is?

and the bespoke line is made by the Ugolini factory in Florence?


My favorite shoes by country as of now:

Italy: Silvano Lattanzi.

UK: Edward Green.

France: John Lobb Paris.

Give me those 3 RTW shoes.... and I will be very pleased.
Ugolini bespoke are made in his "factory" which consists of five guys with hammers and thread sitting at a low wooden table on a side street in Florence. They are quite different from the Vass shoes.

 

[marc237]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Kind of like these Berlutis?

Well, now that you mention it, yes - just like those.

 

[Roger]

Originally Posted by marc237

Well, now that you mention it, yes - just like those.
I'm not sure this is that good an example! The general consensus wrt Berluti (RTW) is that the "quality" (in the sense that you'd use the term) is not very good.

(Or were these bespoke?) To my eye the quality of the design and last are very poor--still "quality," mind you.

 

[pejsek]

Well now, perhaps this thread was just off to die a natural death. And if that's the case I apologize in advance. Now that I'm acquiring some photo skills I thought I'd add a couple of shots of my Mantellassis (all thrifted in San Francisco in the past couple of months). They are all from the top line with Sutor Mantellassi stamped in script on the sock liner. They are among the most versatile shoes I own and never fail to elicit complements. Very comfortable too. I walk a lot and have never experienced any fatigue in these.