Discussion
Buy them from a decent manufacturer like Crockett + Jones or Church. Don't bother with the cheap tat sold in junk shoe "stores" as it's all eastern european rubbish or even 3rd world slave products which last until you get onto the bus on the way home. My Crocketts have lasted (first pair) 33 years, second pair 10 years and just bought my third as I needed another colour! And if you work that out around £200 is cheap at that price!!!
Homo timmy30 said:
venice. genuinely. eat while youre there too, the local cuisine is passable. Milan has better shops than Venice. Or even Padua if you refuse to go to Milan. But not Venice it's full of tourists and priced accordingly.
Italy does good looking shoes but none that last (thin soles, decorative, usually badly stitched from what I've seen but hell I'm not the world's authority on shoes),
SO if you've a gay sorry fashionable tendency and deep pockets buy italian, if you want something to last buy from a reputable Northampton company!
JMGS4 said:
venice. genuinely. eat while youre there too, the local cuisine is passable.
Italy does good looking shoes but none that last (thin soles, decorative, usually badly stitched from what I've seen but hell I'm not the world's authority on shoes),
SO if you've a gay sorry fashionable tendency and deep pockets buy italian, if you want something to last buy from a reputable Northampton company!
"Italy does good looking shoes but none that last" that's just bollox. I'm sorry but it is. Italian shoes come in many different styles, some are light and thinly made, they are for a thing called 'summer' that Italy has, others are very substantial.
Shoes in Italy are certainly cheaper than in the UK.
All IMO of course. Maybe I have been lucky with the shops I go to?
timmy30 said:
"Italy does good looking shoes but none that last" that's just bollox. I'm sorry but it is. Italian shoes come in many different styles, some are light and thinly made, they are for a thing called 'summer' that Italy has, others are very substantial.
Shoes in Italy are certainly cheaper than in the UK.
All IMO of course. Maybe I have been lucky with the shops I go to?
Timmy, glad you've had good experiences, usually italian shoes in milan are around €300,-/pair and are cheap thin tat...but as I said those are the ones I've seen.....Perhaps you could point me to a shop in Milan as I'm there every month....?
JMGS4 said:
venice. genuinely. eat while youre there too, the local cuisine is passable.
Italy does good looking shoes but none that last (thin soles, decorative, usually badly stitched from what I've seen but hell I'm not the world's authority on shoes),
SO if you've a gay sorry fashionable tendency and deep pockets buy italian, if you want something to last buy from a reputable Northampton company!
Absolutely right! Remember, shoes made and sold in warm dry places tend to be designed for.....warm and dry places!
Unfortunately you will struggle to find many decent shoes at a reasonable price these days. Most of the UK shoe industry has disappeared and the majority of what is left imports their product from China or India. But, nothing inherently wrong with that, so long as decent materials have been specified. The workmanship is usually excellent.
As far as "sweat shops" are concerned....well in my experience (previously Global Sales Manager for a shoe components company) there's not many of those left. Sure, the wages paid would not satisfy anyone in Western Europe, but then the living costs in these countries are not comparable either. The factories tend to be very well run (otherwise they don't get the contracts) with worker representation and usually have a queue of people waiting to work there.
Sorry, rambled a bit, but this image of us western consumers taking advantage of dodgy sweat shops in the Far East is way off the mark these days......the fact is that Western manufacturing simply didn't invest enough to remain competitive and Govt wasn't interested as the service sector was where it was at...now that sector is going the same way (surprise, surprise) and panic has set in......
I'm just glad I'm well out of it all!!!
I always buy Church’s.
Little tip (as i like the look, but prefer to spend a lot less)
Try and find a shop that sells seconds. I found one about 8 years ago in a little back street in Leicestershire that sells Church’s shoes (rejects) for about £45.
They are perfect in every way except they might have a small scuffmark or small crack (who is going to notice and you’re going to say £150..)
Oh and don’t forget to polish them...
Little tip (as i like the look, but prefer to spend a lot less)
Try and find a shop that sells seconds. I found one about 8 years ago in a little back street in Leicestershire that sells Church’s shoes (rejects) for about £45.
They are perfect in every way except they might have a small scuffmark or small crack (who is going to notice and you’re going to say £150..)
Oh and don’t forget to polish them...
JMGS4 said:
"Italy does good looking shoes but none that last" that's just bollox. I'm sorry but it is. Italian shoes come in many different styles, some are light and thinly made, they are for a thing called 'summer' that Italy has, others are very substantial.
Shoes in Italy are certainly cheaper than in the UK.
All IMO of course. Maybe I have been lucky with the shops I go to?
Timmy, glad you've had good experiences, usually italian shoes in milan are around €300,-/pair and are cheap thin tat...but as I said those are the ones I've seen.....Perhaps you could point me to a shop in Milan as I'm there every month....?
But it hasn't got a website, I'll try and do a multimap to the place I go to, might take me a while though. Do you know the Party Nopeia restaurent? It's very near there.
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