Example variant

Brown Adelaide half-brogue Oxfords with a thin sole

In my view, this is a pair of quintessential Santoni shoes: they have a sleek, elegant shape, and thanks to the thin outsole, they’re actually particularly comfortable to wear – made possible by the so-called Blake construction. This thin outsole also makes them an excellent choice of evening footwear for events that aren’t quite so formal.

I’m very pleased with the upper leather. It’s vegetable-tanned leather in a lovely dark brown shade – a colour that’s also excellent for mixing and matching.

Sizes at Santoni

Santoni sizes may be half a size or a full size smaller than those of other shoemakers. For the shoes from above I myself have stuck to my standard size, UK 9.5, because otherwise such slim-fitting shoes might fit improperly at the front of my toes. With Santoni shoes that are less pointed at the front, I’d probably be better off with UK 9 or perhaps even UK 8.5.

Fatte a mano and the craftsmanship

This production line is one I value most highly at Santoni: ‘Fatte a mano’ – which stands for handmade shoes. I’ve only ever owned one pair of Santoni shoes made this way, and I can only say that they’re very comfortable to walk in. The shoes are made using the 180° Blake construction – as you can see from the sole and the Blake seam inside the shoe. This Blake seam is concealed within a visible tunnel on the outer side of the sole, which, in my view, is better than cutting the sole open from the side to hide the Blake seam there.

So, in my view, these aren’t particularly elaborately crafted shoes, but they serve their purpose very well as evening shoes or as comfortable, elegant casual shoes. After all, what really matters is how well the shoe supports the rolling motion of the foot whilst walking, rather than how pretty the sole looks.

Incidentally, Santoni isn’t limited to Blake or Blake-Rapid construction methods. The range of shoes is very diverse and also includes handcrafted Goodyear welted shoes, which are similarly priced at around 1,000 euros. - In my view, this is a very fair price, and I would prefer such shoes to those offered by many other suppliers who sell their machine-stitched and, in some cases, glued shoes in this price range.

Incidentally, I wouldn’t look down on the Blake construction at all. It is, admittedly, a relatively simple construction method. But how often do customers buy welted shoes from some other manufacturer, only to find that the shoes are relatively stiff? I heard this from a former colleague and I thought it was a shame that such a bad purchase had robbed him of the joy of owning welted shoes. I don’t think that would have happened to him with Santoni’s Fatte a mano range: both the Blake construction with a thin sole and the hand-crafted finish ensure a very flexible shoe. And such shoes do cost more than many welted shoes indeed, even though the construction is, strictly speaking, simpler.

Other shoes

Apart from the Fatte a mano range, I personally find Santoni shoes rather unimpressive in appearance. I can’t speak from personal experience, however, as I don’t own any such shoes. The prices don’t seem right to me when I compare them with the photos of the shoes. In terms of choice, though, there’s plenty to buy at Santoni, including boots and trainers. They also stock leather bags, though that would take us beyond the realm of leather shoes.

Advantage: International reach

A major advantage of Santoni is its international reach. There are even Santoni shops in Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan where you can try on Santoni shoes. This is a huge advantage over buying shoes online. There are a particularly large number of shops in Western countries and, of course, especially in Italy, Santoni’s country of origin.

By the way, you can find all the stores, shoes and more on the Santoni website; I can highly recommend this brand overall.

Shape

Santoni offers shoes in various shapes. I think what suits Santoni best is a sleek, modern shape like the ones in the pictures above. The toe in particular reflects this, whilst the corners are very much characteristic of a modern style.

Shoes with a rounded toe are also available, and these are more conservative – the style that dominates classic men’s fashion in the UK. In this respect, Santoni is forging its own path – or one that is, on the whole, more typical of Italy. I think the pair of dark brown shoes pictured above go very well with a casual suit in a modern, Italian cut. In that sense, Santoni shoes are also typically Italian. That doesn’t mean, however, that you wouldn’t be able to find a suitable pair of shoes from Santoni to go with English suits.