We're going to Rome soon, and Italy is said to have great leather goods. Anything I get for gifts and myself will necessarily be small. Any places with good quality at reasonable prices? Will I have to detect "Made in China" or other scam goods? Famous labels not required.

Thanks,

AJ

I have always found the quality to be excellent and lots of styles you can;t get in the US - but although prices used to be good they are now sky high versus what you would pay in the US. (Worth it if you want exceptional quality in a great design but not for the budget minded.)

I remember when I used to get my mom really beautifully designed and accented butter soft leather gloves for only about $20 a pair. Can't even imagine what they cost now.

Considering what buttersoft leather goes for here, it may still be a bargain. Now, where to buy?

Yes, you can find gorgeous gloves in Rome. Sermoneta and DiCori are two reputable sources with stores in Piazza di Spagna, but of course there are many other stores in the city with beautiful wares.

But unfortunately, you will probably have to pay a minimum of 50 euro for lined women's gloves, and much more for a really glorious pair. Take a look at the prices on the DiCori site and you can get an idea.


http://www.dicorigloves.it/catalogo_...nna&SottoCat=2


http://www.sermonetagloves.com/


Sometimes the July sales bring discounts, but in general you may find better prices at sales in US dept stores or discounters like Century 21, Loehmann's, etc.

Thanks, Ekscrunchy. Any ideas on wallets and such?

The gloves that I bought were beautifully designed and finished - many with 2 different colors leather with stitching and buttons in the accent color and often with fold over and fancy cut cuffs - all the best leather and silk lined (not for winter weather). Based on the ones shown above the ones I'm talikng about would now be well over $100 per pair.

I recommend Furla. Last year in Rome my friend and I bought some gorgeous wallets and handbags there. We went to the one on Cola di Rienzo but there is one at Piazza di Spagna 22 and possibly other locations around Rome.
Their website www.furla.com will give you some idea of price etc.
Not super cheap but not crazy expensive like Prada etc. We spent a lot of time in the store as there were so many lovely things and the salesladies were very friendly and helpful.

One good leather store is Il Bisonte, on Via dei Coronari. Very good quality, but it will not be inexpensive.

For example, for small accessories:


http://shop.ilbisonte.com/it/accessori-pelle/


Honestly I think you might want to shift the focus from leather to something else. A nice wallet, even one not lined in leather, will cost upwards of 60/70euro, I would guess, and maybe much more than that. Take a look here, just for an example of possible pricing. I don't know the shop so cannot comment on the quality:

http://www.lasellaroma.it/wallets.htm


I used to bring leather lipstick cases home for gifts, with mirrors inside, like this:

http://www.leatherology.com/lipstick-case.aspx

But I'm not even sure those are made in Italy these days.

More ideas of the kinds of small leather goods you might consider:

http://www.lasellaroma.it/products.htm

Here are the prices for wallets at Furla, mentioned above:


http://www.furla.com/it/eshop/donna/portafogli/