Scarosso Shoe Review

Scarosso Shoe Review

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scarosso shoes

I’ve been on a bit of a suede shoe kick lately.  Many, if not most, of the shoes I have been looking to buy have been suede.  Some people regard suede as a fall and winter fabric, others consider it appropriate only for wear in the country.  From a traditionalist standpoint I agree with both statements, to a certain extent.  But from a style and expression standpoint I must disagree.  In my quest for suede shoes I randomly stumbled upon the blue suede tassel loafers from Suit Supply that I reviewed a few days ago.  However, burgundy is probably my favorite color for shoes but I had never been able to find burgundy suede shoes.  Enter Scarosso and the Scarosso shoe review.

Scarosso is based in Germany, however its production is centered in Italy.  What first attracted me to Scarosso was its willingness to work with various colors of suede, such as burgundy.  It is a young company and it has little to no presence in the States.  I couldn’t find anything on the brand until Gentleman’s Gazette did a review on it (and I will say, I agree with much of what is said in that review).  After reading, I deemed the shoes worthy of investment and decided I needed to review them and see for myself.  I was tempted to try out their ‘Konfigurator,’ which I have spoken about before (and cannot wait to try), but I thought it would be wise to get my sizing down before ordering a pair of custom shoes.

To order the shoes I had to contact Scarosso by email, as they did not have the option to ship to the US on their site.  The people at Scarosso were helpful and efficient, the order process went swimmingly.  As is normal for international shipping in my experience, the shoes came in 1-2 weeks and cost around $25.  The cost of the shoes was 180 euro which translates to $225.  However, given I live outside the EU the 20% VAT was dropped which ended up leaving the shoes to cost just over $200.

Upon receiving the shoes I eagerly tore open the box and tried the shoes on.  The shoes were packaged in a presentable manner, shoe bags and a shoe horn were included.  But much to my dismay, the shoes were too big (I typically wear a US 10/UK 9, we decided a euro size 43.5 would be a comparable size).  We had a pair of 43.0 shoes shipped to me, and they were again too big so we had a third pair, size 42.0, shipped.  The fit of the 42.0 was spot on.  The feel of the shoe is quite light and soft, which is nice’; especially for the summer time.  However, it does bring to mind a possible concern on the durability of the shoe.   But generally speaking the construction of the shoe seems to be pretty solid, especially for the price point.  And I would be remiss if I did not mention that the shoes are Good Year welted.  The shoes look quite nice on foot.  The rounded toe is not in the least offensive, and less bulgy than those from Allen Edmunds and Alden; more akin to an English shoe shape.  I’ve found the shoes to look particularly nice with grey trousers; some could argue for wearing them with shorts even.

Although my thoughts on the shoes are strongly positive I do have four primary points of criticism for the shoe.  All of which can be seen in the first picture in the below series.  First, I would prefer if the sole was not black, but a shade of burgundy or dark brown; the black creates too much contrast with the burgundy; it also makes them less aesthetically pleasing when worn with a blue suit.  Second, the front edge of the heel is not cut at a straight line, but at a curve toward the front of the shoe.  Third, the stitching is not even along the brogueing, mainly at points of curvature (this was also noted in the GG review).  Lastly, the black paint from the sole is carried on to the lower part of the upper.  I am not sure of the reasoning for this but I do believe that it takes a little away from the shoe and that it should not be present at all on the upper.

In conclusion, I am a fan of Scarosso and can see the brand doing very well for itself in the coming years.  The level of craftsmanship is not up to that of brands like Crockett & Jones and Alden, however, neither is the price.  And for that I cannot knock Scarosso.  The shoe looks good and feels good; which is most important.  It has also garnered compliments on the streets of New York, which is a plus.  Although it pushes the envelope a little bit, it is still conservative enough to be worn with a suit and in some business settings.  In this instance I believe the price is certainly worth the product so I shall make a recommendation for Scarosso suede shoes.

scarosso burgundy suede shoe

scarosso shoe review

scarosso suede wingtip

scarosso shoes

scarosso shoe review

Note: FYGblog received no material compensation from Scarosso or any associated entities in exchange for discussing Scarosso products.

7 COMMENTS

  1. Would you break the matching belt rule with more funky colored shoes like blue, green, red? I would have no problem pairing the shoes above with a black belt since they have black soles. Thanks for the info on this brand btw.

    • Eduardo,

      Welcome, glad you appreciate the review. I think that with ‘funkier’ colored shoes the matching belt rule is much more flexible. The rule itself is meant mostly for business dress anyway. I have worn a black belt with the burgundy shoes and it looked fine. I have also done similar with a pair of white bucks that have a tan sole; I paired them with a tan belt.

      Justin

  2. Nice shoes Justin, although I am with you on the overspray on the black sole paint on the burgundy suede. I currently have 5 suede belts – black , brown, green, blue and green, purple and tan Etro plaited . These are to match the suede shoes that I have . I feel that you should try to match the colour and if not an exact match then suede should be matched with suede. I noticed that the Scarosso site has belts to match their shoes so maybe that is the way to go. It probably is not so much of an issue in Autumn/ Winter when you can wear a sweater which will conceal the belt. Noticed that Herrings UK currently has Chukka boots in burgundy and grey.

    • Geoff,

      I actually ordered one of the Scarosso belts but returned it because it was too wide for my liking and I may or may not be in the process of getting custom belts made (ie various colors of suede) which I may or may not offer for sale in the future. I should note the Scarosso belt, other than being too wide, was quite suitable.

      Justin

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