P: Alright so next up is Velasca, I believe. Are they
actually a Genuine Italian brand? R: Yeah. P: Are they German too?
R: Yes, they are. They're an Italian brand, I think, founded in Milan.
Okay but then the shoes are made in like, middle Italy, I think
town of Marquette. It's like a city that makes a lot of shoes
and so most of the Italian-made shoes we review here probably all come from the
same town, it's just how they how they work, right?
Oftentimes, you have that concentration of silk industry in Como,
wool fabric industry in Biella. It's just very
funny how there's a strong concentration where 150
families all choose to do the same thing. P: So what was interesting about
contacting them is that they ended up sending us
multiple pairs. In my case, I got two fairly different styles. This one here is a
black single monk strap shoe, on the
box that I was given they called the model the Verduratt
but I believe it's marketed under a different name on their website now.
I believe it goes under the name Garzon. R: Alright.
P: So whatever the case may be that's this model it's the black single monk
and the other one, this is called the OST and it
is as you can see a brown loafer style. R: Okay, it looks very soft there.
P: Very soft, yes, I'll get into that in a moment. R: the model Cavadent, first impression out
of a box, it felt like, pretty nice shoe for under $200
um yeah, leather seems nice and soft I think Italians are really good at
having like softer shoes; like the British shoes are in general, all
a little stiffer, right? Italians are just softer. P: Right. Yeah, my first impressions
for each of these: the single monk I thought, it was a
nice, sort of understated dependable shoe; not too
flashy. This is actually the first monk strap
shoe in my collection. Black is definitely more a conservative
color, you know it's a very kind of
conservative cut as well, so venturing into that world of monk
straps but taking a very small step with a conservative style. R: Got it. What
kind of surprised me was that their styling was more English or
conservative. The last ones weren't as kind of refined.
They were almost a little kind of boxy and clunky in the toe, very round,
very traditional. P: Yeah
R: I was surprised by that because typically when you think of
Italian, they're a little more fashion-forward
and those lasts were not all like that. P: right R: Now with their suede, what I really
like is they made it waterproof, so suede can be hard to clean and then
sometimes you have to spray stuff on but it wears off.
Here I think they put it in the tanning process and on their website they're
very like, detailed. They say it's a calf suede
and they explain that you can have different ways to make
a suede; you can just turn it inside out or you can kind of sand it, they didn't
actually share which version it is for this one, which
kind of surprised me, but I can say it's very soft, it's
waterproof, put it under the sink and it just peels
right off. P: I haven't tried any waterproofing tests with this
one but it was probably out of all the shoes we were sent,
the one that I was, I had the most sort of
curious reaction to right out of the box because as you alluded to earlier,
it's very soft. It's got a very kind of flexible construction, there's no
reinforcement to the heel here, which I frankly was not accustomed to.
Ultimately, it seems to me like this is really more of a,
it's almost like a slipper with a hard sole.
So in terms of fit for each of these, I thought
out of the two of them, the single monk fit better.
It was not a perfect fit there was some, I wouldn't go so far as to say,
pinching, but there was some tightness in a few areas around the shoe.
That may just be that my feet are not really accustomed to wearing monk straps
so I might have to play with using the little sizing buckle
here if I need to, just to figure out what the ideal fit is.
R: I mean, they also have slightly different last so that can be
the difference too, right? P: With these loafers, it may have
something to do with the fact that the the heel here is so flexible but out of
all the models we tried, these were the loosest out of the bunch for me.
R: What size did you have? P: For both of these, I had a 41 and a half
European sizing so it's interesting that these fit me
better. Again, you know that's because
they're a higher style so they cover more of your foot but with these,
as I say, these were definitely the loosest out of any model we tried.
I might almost want to size down to a 41 or maybe even a 40 and a half,
that's how loose they were. My heels almost pop right out of these
if I try to walk in them. R: So what size did you have in this Carroso?
P: In those, I had a 41. So maybe sizing down to a 41
in these as well would be beneficial, I think, again,
I just followed the instructions or the sizing guide
on their website to determine what I needed but you know
when you're new to a brand, it's probably going to be at least for your first pair
a little bit of trial and error if you're not sure exactly
how the last is going to correspond to your foot. R: And that's how I think we can
help you understanding what's the right
size for you based on other shoes you've already had
in the past. The shoes are comfortable because the upper is very soft,
the soles need a little bit of break-in but nothing
major really, it's still overall a comfortable shoe.
Just like I said it's too roomy which is fine for comfort.
but it's just gonna crease more. P: Right.Yeah I would definitely echo those
sentiments, the single monk sole will need
some break in but i didn't even you know flexing as much as i could
while stepping didn't see a lot of creasing in the
leather that may increase a little bit as the sole breaks in, but who knows,
I thought good first impressions there and again with these,
they're certainly comfortable enough but they're just so big on you. R: Just too big
sizing thing. I mean, overall, you know we have a
leather heel right built up, there's not too much like, edge dressing
or detail work I think like that the Meermin had
more in that regard to offer but this is also with under $200
shoe, so overall I think it's a good value shoe. Alright yeah,
I mean Loake is more English than Italian. I'd say, Scarosso
is the softest and then maybe though is because the soles a little stiffer and
then maybe Ace Marks the other Italian, maybe even a little stiffer overall
they're all relatively soft compared to English shoes
but I would rank them like that. Yeah, size 44 I'd give it a 4 out of 5
because it's 195 you know it's a very traditional style you can wear them a
lot all of their shoes are like that. They're
evergreen shoes so when you're starting out and you don't want to spend much
money and you want a conservative style,
I think they're good. If you want a little more Italian styling, maybe that the
Scarosso is better. P: yeah I would say the same. In my case,
I gave these single monks here a 3 and a
half just for some of those fit concerns, really more
than anything, yeah if I were to dial that fit in more these would probably go
up to a four, maybe even higher and these loafers
here, again, I was just so taken by how
flexible this heel was, yeah and the fact that fit was so
lacking, I went down as low as a three out of
five with these, could maybe go lower, but then again if they fit better, could
maybe go higher, too. So I settled on a three, ultimately.
R: I should have probably just sent them back and got a different size.
P: Probably.