Dappered

Affordable Men's Style

In Person: The $150 Double Monk Strap

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Savile Row Co. Double Monk Strap – $149.95

The well loved Mercanti Fiorentini Monks are all but gone.  These are a few bucks more, and since they’re both sold through DSW you’d like to think they’d be comparable.  They’re not.

The good news is that the leather quality is better than that on the Mercanti Fiorentini.  It’s thicker, flexes more naturally, and springs back easier when you bend it around.

The bad news is that they’re goofy looking in person.

For the cognaic pair:  The leather is awash with about 9 different colors of brown.  Bad lighting isn’t at fault for this pic.  It really does move from a tan, to a kinda pink, to a yellow.  The difference in the tone of each color is great enough that you can pick out the streaks when standing.  Of course some natural color varation is just fine, but these look forced.  Almost like an over the top pre-distressed & torn pair of jeans.

For the black pair: The leather is one solid color, but the very gold buckles are pretty feminine looking.  Monk straps are already too girly for many guys to feel comfortable in, and the not dulled down at all gold buckles on these give them a Mary-Jane quality.

The overall shape is great and no one will complain about the toe.  Despite being made God-knows-where (they might say “London” on them, but there’s no “made in” before that) they feel pretty durable for $150.  Plus, since they’re at DSW, if you were to wait around for a sale you could probably get them for $15 – $30 off.

Even with all that said, they just don’t look quite right.  Pass.  Here’s to hoping the Mercanti Fiorentinis come back.

I gots me the yams.  Which way to Plymouth Rock baby?

Comments

  1. Thanks for the review Joe. I almost bought these, having missed out on the Mercanti, but the gold buckles were a deal breaker. Glad I went with my gut. 

  2. I suppose the gold buckles could be replaced at a shoe repair shop, couldn’t they? I’m not an expert in this kind of thing but it seems like that would solve the main problem with the black shoes, if it’s possible.

  5. I saw these in person at the store, and they were disappointing. I really wanted to pull the trigger on them, but the nylon lining had pulled away from the leather on the straps and the buckle peg was getting stuck between the two materials. The dye was also haphazardly put on, as you could see where they didn’t clean it around the joints or under the straps. All this, and they were still “new” and around $95. Overall, I am pretty sure these would fall apart faster than Lindsay Lohan’s sobriety. 

  6. I saw these in person at the store, and they were disappointing. I really wanted to pull the trigger on them, but the nylon lining had pulled away from the leather on the straps and the buckle peg was getting stuck between the two materials. The dye was also haphazardly put on, as you could see where they didn’t clean it around the joints or under the straps. All this, and they were still “new” and around $95. Overall, I am pretty sure these would fall apart faster than Lindsay Lohan’s sobriety. 

  7. I’m pretty adventurous but I don’t get the appeal of monk straps.  I’ve never seen a pair that doesn’t look like costume shoes.  Respect to those of you who (think you?) can pull it off.

    Also think one pair of wingtips is enough for a man’s closet but that’s a discussion for another day.

  8. Regarding the Fiorentinis, has anyone with the cognac pair experienced some “fading” of the leather?  I’ve had mine for a couple months and worn them few times, having them professionally polished twice. On the most recent polish (of which I went to a different guy), the gloss was somewhat off the shoe in everywhere but the toe, and they almost seemed a bit “ashy”.  Did he do something wrong? Is this indicative of the level of the quality of the shoe? Is there anything I can do to restore it?

  9. Just got my pair in “whiskey.”  Mixed feelings about them and I may be too blinded by my jubilation of finally owning a pair of double monks to see past the flaws.  The artificial looking hand-stained letter is rather poorly executed, clearly done after the shoe was assembled which leaves unstained leather at flex seems.  The gold buckle will really annoy me once my honeymoon with these is over.  The profile is okay, but initially looks like you are wearing a boot.  For the price, I am not angry or remorseful … but at the same time I was expecting more.

  12. I am a couple days into my pair.  I am going to take ’em to a cobbler and get these cheap gold buckles replaced with something else.  The box that I got says “whiskey” but dsw has it listed as cognac … one in the same.  I wish it was just a touch darker.

  13. I don’t know.. I honestly still think the cognac ones look nice lol. I actually ordered a pair last night. This will either be a hard lesson learned, or will pay off greatly for my contrarian investment haha

  14. “contrarian investment” huh.. I reiterate my neutral coverage on this pick and advise that it will not outperform market expectations.  It is appropriately valued and all indicators point to a sideways trajectory between appropriate levels of resistance and support.  haha.

    It is a fine shoe, except for the cheap ugly gold buckles. 

  15. LOL you win good sir.

    I’d love to see how it looks when you swap out the gold buckles. Do you plan on writing up a post with the new buckles anytime soon?