Carmina, Yanko, Skolyx, and other options

[phsiao08]

Hello all -

Looking outside of Jack Erwin/AE/Paul Evans to European brands. Looking mostly for captoes to round out my collection (brown, burgundy etc...)

I'm taken with Carmina - the lasts and colors are amazing but seem a bit pricey when compared to other brands like Yanko and Skolyx.

Plus the Euro is cheaper against hte dollar.
Does anyone have experience with these brands? [MENTION=15053]oxfo[/MENTION]rdandties

[JBarwick]

I have experience with Carmina. Their Rain last is solid and easy to fit if you know your comparable size in AE-65 last. While they are roughly $450, they usually come with shoes trees to balance out their once $350 cost. It happened when Carmina leveled pricing due to the strengthening dollar last year.

I personally love my 3 pairs and will order more in the future unless I find another brand that I want to try out. You can find cheaper Carmina's from https://www.quality-shop.com/world/brands/carmina as they have a 30% off sale going on if you are any of the sizes they have in stock.

Cobbler Union may be worth checking out as they are US based (Atlanta) but offer shoes made in Spain. Free shipping and returns if I recall.

[Scofield]

if you look hard enough, you can find carmina on sale. I just lurk the thread on styleforums for steals. gentlemen's footwear has decent sales on them sometimes. 2/3 of my carminas i got for 300ish and the third pair ended up going on sale for 300ish a month after i bought it.

[devastitis]

If you're a US 11.5, 12, or 13, these black captoes are on sale.

https://en.michaeljondral.com/collec...ord-80201-rain

[phsiao08]

Nice! How do they hold up vs AE?

I have experience with Carmina. Their Rain last is solid and easy to fit if you know your comparable size in AE-65 last. While they are roughly $450, they usually come with shoes trees to balance out their once $350 cost. It happened when Carmina leveled pricing due to the strengthening dollar last year.

I personally love my 3 pairs and will order more in the future unless I find another brand that I want to try out. You can find cheaper Carmina's from https://www.quality-shop.com/world/brands/carmina as they have a 30% off sale going on if you are any of the sizes they have in stock.

Cobbler Union may be worth checking out as they are US based (Atlanta) but offer shoes made in Spain. Free shipping and returns if I recall.

[JBarwick]

Nice! How do they hold up vs AE?

I have both suede and calf leather shoes and both have held up well. The calf shoes have had about 1.5yrs worth of wear and still look great. The suede hardly looks worn after 6 months of wear. My AEs look similar in terms of both the uppers and soles.

You can't go wrong with either brand, it just depends on the style you are looking for.

[phsiao08]

Nice! I love Allen Edmonds but wanted some sleeker captoes for more formal events. Appreciate the feedback. Any cordovan experience with either?