bacci111

any reasonable leather shops in florence?

l_jackson95814

It depends on what you are looking for, but I bought a great coat at Uffizi Leather. They custom made a coat for me for 250euro. That may not be the best price in town, but I am very happy with my purchase.

David

Last time I was in Florence (three years ago), I was suffering from extreme jet lag and couldn't sleep. Rather than awaken my wife, I decided to take a walk around town. As I did so (between 300 a.m. and 500 a.m.), I noticed truck after truck unloading boxes in front of numerous leather goods stores (offering coats, purses, pants, etc.) Interestingly, all the boxes being unloaded from each truck I saw during that walk indicated their contents were made in the People's Republic of China. Lesson here (at least from my perspective) is to beware of leather goods throughout Italy, unless, of course, you are willing to pay premium prices for the real deal.

isabel

It doesn't surprise me that a lot of the leather sold in Florence would be made in China - some of the prices are remarkably low. I did find quite a number of items (pocketbooks mostly, but other items as well - belts, books, etc) that are stamped "made in Florence" (in Italian of course) so unless they are doing that in China, at least some of the stuff is local. There is a leather "school" in back of Santa Croce church with a large shop and you can see them making the items so you know where they come from.

There are soooooo many leather stores (not to mention the San Lorenzo market, Mercanto Nuovo, etc with stalls selling leather) that I'm sure you could find virtually anything in the way of leather, at every imaginable price. If you happen to have a fondness for leather pocketbooks as I do, then Florence is pocketbook shopping heaven.

miguelgcuadra

I have decided over the years that am better off waiting for sales in the USA than risking myself to buy who knows what....
Last time was looking for leather jacket in Argentina, prices for what I liked were not that good and ones I was able to afford were not convincing at all.
Got me a designer leather jacket at Saks for $250. dollars, and I know that i got the real thing.

Underhill

You can find leather goods at reasonable prices--depending on your ability to bargain--at the large street market.

l_jackson95814

I thought my coat was a deal because I would have had to find an alterations place in the US that would work with leather (I have short arms). Also, if you go to a store, do not go to the ones next to the Ponte Vecchio, they had higher prices.

Ramblero

Go directly, do not stop, to the Leather School, in the back and part of the Santa Croce church. It's been there for 800 ? years; orginally started to provide bindings for illuminated texts. Deb says it's some of the best leatherwork in the world. (And she would know.)

ThinGorjus

You get what you pay for.

If you can't tell real leather from fake, sweetie, maybe you should go back to the third grade. It ain't that hard.

ninasdream

Walk away from the main squares. Many of the shops off the squares have good prices and lovely items-- but since they don't cater specifically to tourists, many of these shops are closed for siesta.