For several years now, I've wanted a pair of Fiorentini + Baker 704 boots. Whenever I'm at a Barneys Co-Op store, I pick up the floor model, smell the leather, and caress it. I have stood idly by as the price has risen (they used to cost somewhere in the mid $400s; they're now $525). Last weekend was a double-points weekend at Barneys, and I was really tempted to buy them then, but a little voice in my head said, "Do you really need to spend $500 on a pair of boots?" Fiorentini + Baker shoes are are handcrafted in Italy by real cobblers; not only would I be supporting a dying trade, but I'm sure the boots would last me years and years. Then again, I have a five-year-old pair of Steven boots that appear to be holding up quite well, and I paid $60 for them at Loehmann's. The thing is, these boots are being knocked off left and right, at varying prices. Some of these knockoffs are better than others: Some have inner zippers (the F+B style is a pull-on), some have too many or too few straps (three is the magic number), some have buckles only on the sides. But here are the two best facsimiles I've found:
First, Faryl Robin's Lucky boots have the proper pull-on design and the height is within a half inch of the original (this is a midcalf boot, not a knee-high). At $299, they're a bit more than half the price of the original, but for the budget-conscious in these times of recession, that might still be a bit on the high side.
The true bargain, then, is the Steve Madden Buck boot, a mere $160. They're an almost perfect knockoff; the only thing that's missing is the cross-shaped buckle holes. I was so intrigued, I went down to the Steve Madden store to inspect them myself, and while the leather is not nearly as luxuriously broken-in as the F+B version, it's soft enough, and much nicer than you'd expect for the price. I think we have a winner...
