Sutor Mantellassi vs. Santoni FAM for a black cap toe

[clee1982]

Hi All,

I would like to get some input on Sutor Mantellassi's and Santoni FAM's quality. In particular I am looking at these two

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-850-Sutor-Ma...3A1%7C294%3A50

vs.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-850-Santoni-...3A1%7C294%3A50

which one do you guys think is better in terms of quality? The nice shoes I currently own are Testoni (Black label), Ferragamo (both Lavorazione Originale and Tramezza). Tried Santoni at the Madison Ave. store in NYC, liked it, but wasn't ready to pay for it at $1000+.

I have heard many good things about both Sutor Mantellassi and Santoni FAM on this board, thus would like to give either one a try, just wasn't sure which one to go for and I am just happen to be in the market buying a laced up black cap toe.

P.S. I knew there have been threads on SM vs. Santoni FAM, but I wasn't able to find a thread on where people discussing various lines of SM (if there is, which I assume would be the case as I have seen they run from 800+ to 1.2K+), is the particular one here comparable to Santoni FAM?

thanks

 

[69clyde]

Not sure about the SM, but you can ship the santoni's back to the company and for $200.00 usd the will strip the shoe, resole, restitch and recondition. An obvious bonus when ponying-up a G. For a pair of shoes. And by the way, the only santoni's that cost a G. Or more are %100 handmade start to finish by one mastercraftsman, I.e. Artisan. Santoni's rock!

 

[clee1982]

I am a too cheap for 1G shoes, thus for the ebay hunting on the black cap toe (actually also have another 320 Testoni black label in mind). These are just within my budget. So you think Santoni FAM is better in terms of quality in this case?

 

[mr monty]

Originally Posted by 69clyde

Not sure about the SM, but you can ship the santoni's back to the company and for $200.00 usd the will strip the shoe, resole, restitch and recondition. An obvious bonus when ponying-up a G. For a pair of shoes. And by the way, the only santoni's that cost a G. Or more are %100 handmade start to finish by one mastercraftsman, I.e. Artisan. Santoni's rock!

Not sure about SM? The SM model is just as good, if not better than the Santoni.

The seller is a SF member. Maybe he can provide you with more info?

That's a very good price for SM w/blue soles.

Checkout the shoe construction info in the "company" section

http://www.sutormantellassi.com/

 

[Atlantic herring]

I think they are very similar in terms of construction. Both are probably blake /rapid. I would make my judgement purely from an aesthetic point of view. Both a beautiful shoes by the way. But i would probably go with the SMs.

 

[emmanuel]

Go with the sutors.

 

[nmprisons]

The sutors are the more attractive shoe, imo

 

[Poshak Man]

Of the two models, SMs look nicer and more conservative.

 

[clee1982]

Thanks guys, by the way anyone know where is a good place to find large selection of Sutor Mantellassi to try on (in NYC)? I am confident about Santoni's sizing (just went to their store 2 weeks ago), but not so sure about Sutor Mantellassi. Are they true to size, or like the usual Italian shoes which runs narrow (I also sent the seller question on this, but want to get some other people's opinion as well). For reference I wear 8.5G on Testoni, 8.5EE or 9EE on Ferragamo, a US 9.5E by measurement.

Santoni was just a bit too tight on the width on their 9.5 for me (hitting the toe, definitely too close for comfort even if they do stretch in the future), and a bit loose with 10 (which I can probably fix with a tougne insert). Do shoe strech work (say by a professional, not myself, any shoe repair guy to recommand in Upper East Side/Mid town east in NYC?), or that's not a good idea in general?

Basically should I get a 9.5 and most likely stretch it (width wise), or get a 10 and put a insert/pad which ever way works.

P.S. I am leaning toward Sutor Mantellassi as well, but not yet putting Santoni FAM out (in the ideal world I would just make more $$$, and buy both, plus the other Testoni I was looking at

, but since that's not possible, the Testoni is out in this case...).

 

[rjmaiorano]

I only have experience with the Fams, but I would go with the Sutors based on styling. Construction differences and quality are pretty negligible between the two.

 

[acidboy]

I have both SM and Santoni shoes, and the Santonis definitely has nicer leather and a more deep color to them. Though between those two styles I'd probably get the SM.

 

[SirWilliam]

I just bought the same SM only in brown from the same store and I love them...the quality is excellent. I am kind of pissed that those have the painted soles and mine dont.

Word of the wise though be careful what you step on while the blue paint is still on there. I stained one of the floor mats in my car because another pair I have got wet.