121 Artista

TLB is second to none in terms of quality against price, nothing in the world of shows comes close to this level of craftsmanship at this price. Always a choice for me.

These shoes are so beautiful I could cry

I ordered a MTM 121 in burgundy museum calf. It was the MTM sale, so to make the it worth the extra money, I opted to use the Van Goph last instead of Picasso, and to make the toe regular burgundy calf. Pictures simply don't do it justice. They're so much more beautiful in person. The care in the construction and detail is so evident. I am not exaggerating when I say I was close to tears when I first held them. Little details like the heel, waist, how close the upper is to the edge of the sole, etc, all add up and make the shoe look so much more refined and elegant compared to my other dress shoes. They still need some break in but I they were surprisingly comfortable on the first wear. The last felt very comfortable and for two hours I actually thought there would be no break-in. Fully shining the toe has taken some time, but with each shining it gets better, just takes some patience.

A lot of shoe for the price

The artista line is great value and offers many things you won’t find on shoes at this price point, not for Europeans anyway (due to VAT). Two such things are heel stiffener in real leather and a thin waist. These are things that offer real benefits to the fit and feel. Other features, such as tapered heel stack or that the bevelled waist continues under the heel, are nice additions and add to an overall sleek look. The detail work, as in stitching, fudging, welt cutting and so on are all good. Overall very good shoes for a very good price. I like how close the welt has been cut to the upper, compared to some Italian brands that intentionally have a very wide welt. Plus: Toni is very helpful and approachable. Very reasonable price for a factory resole. Minus: small selection of leathers and no option to pay extra for special requests.