A. Testoni on Giltman – Sale Starts Thursday 10/21 – Noon ET
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UPDATE: Got an email this morning from a reader named Matt. Check out what he has to say:
RE: A. Testoni & Gilt – I got on that Gilt Sale back in about February and snagged a pair. I regret it. The A. Testoni shoes they show in the pictures resemble what you see in Saks and Bergdorf, however, when they arrived they are not from Italy, but Morroco. Inside they say “A. Testoni Basic”….the leather is not of the company’s usual quality one expects. It’s a very hard, cheaply made shoe. Just a buyer beware for your readers. If the origin on the shoe says Italy on Gilt, then it’s one of the actual shoes they’re putting in the dept store, which are above the $208 price point that I gave for the ones I have. Just an FYI.
– Matthew
(Huh. Well… damn. On with the original post)
A few weeks ago the argument was made for spending more than $150 on a pair of shoes. The American made heritage shoe brand Allen Edmonds was having a good sale, and a bunch of you guys hit the comments section to rightfully sing their praises. But then a week after that feature first hit the site, reader Adam left this understandable comment after receiving his new pair of Allen Edmonds:
“The AE Fifth Avenue just arrived in the mail — I’m disappointed. It’s like it’s designed to make your foot look short and stubby. The part with the laces is unusually long, and the cap on the toe is unusually short. Both of these things make your foot look shorter.” – Adam
Yeah. That’s my concern with AEs too. Traditional in shape, but to some that also means blunt. I’m not looking for foot spears, but I do prefer my shoes a little more modern looking. So where to turn if you wants a sleeker silhouette but still all the quality of an expensive shoe?
Enter Gilt and the Italian brand A. Testoni. Italian made SOMETIMES Italian made… with slim lines through the toe, these shoes can retail for upwards of $700
See below for a comparison between the A. Testoni M45209 & the Allen Edmonds Fifth Ave:
I was ready to drop up to $350 on some shoes at the strike of noon. I waited on the website and yeah refreshed a couple times before noon. 🙂 At 12:01 I was in the A. Testoni sale page and I went straight to the shoes I wanted, they were just about all sold out! I tried another shoe style, sold out. BullS**t. lol I’m getting tired of buying stuff online that I can’t try on anyway <– My cop out, I wanted those shoes!
It seems like the other European high-end shoemakers (including the various well-known English ones) often have more stylish shapes, like Testoni. The stumpy look seems to be a particularly American phenomenon, at least now.
Allen Edmonds’s “Executive Collection” line is worth a look too: it takes the things that suck about the traditional AE/Alden shoes and fixes them, making something that’s quite attractive. It has a more elongated shape, and while the sole is made of leather, it has a layer of rubber on the bottom (essentially like a topy), so it has better grip, durability, and comfort.
Unfortunately the line is pretty limited — I believe they only have one shoe (the Lombard) made in Walnut.