I will be in Florence in March, my first trip overseas, and many Fodorites are mentioning that they are buying leather jackets in Florence. I need to have all my trip $$ accumulated before I go, so if I were to go shopping for a leather jacket, how much should I expect one to cost? What do leather gloves cost? Any store better than another? Anything I should beware of?

It is a little like asking the length of a piece of string. What sort of Jacket are you searching for and what are you prepared to pay. I find some of the leather shops in main squares in Florence to be quite intimidating - show interest and you get the hardest of hard sells.

The San Lorenzo market is as bad , but My wife bought a stunning jacket there some 8 years ago (one button needed replacing) which she still wears frequently, and still looks good.

In March I bought her a thigh length burgandy jacket for around €120 in San Gimignano. She really likes it, her friends want to steal it, and I think she looks stunning in it. I am no judge of high fashion to would be unable to tell you what it is worth in terms of cut etc

Hi A,

>...how much should I expect one to cost?<

Anywhere from about 100E to 3000E.

You should educate yourself as to quality and cost of jackets here and then shop very carefully there.

There's a lot of stuff not made in Italy for sale in Florence markets.

With the poor exchange rate lather goods in Italy are not the bargains they once were. However, you can find very nice quality and different, perhaps better styles than in many places in the US.

You need to comparison shop here at home to see what prices are - esp on sale - to see if you're getting a fair price or a bargain.

(I bought a leather jacket here in NYC last winter [$750 on sale for $499] and found that this spring similar quality jackets in Florence were somewhere between the sale and full retail price - depending on style/store.)

My wife and I were just there, and she was shopping for a suede jacket. The prices ran from about 150-400 euros, depending on the style and the store. The best area for leather was Borgo dei Greci, heading towards Piazza Croce. It was literally lined with leather stores, and they weren't the high pressure places found near San Lorenzo.

I will say that I found styles and colors of leather jackets in Florence that I don't see here in the US. They might not be a great value, but probably no one at home will have one like it.

I like the Madova gloves.
www.madova.com

I don't like the Lorenzo Market area for leather jackets, they are too slick and pushy (the salespeople, not the jackets!).

It also depends on how much barganing the seller is willing to do. Some are stead fast in their price, others will come way down. I believe we paid 165e for a full length black coat for my son. I thought it was a fair price and the quality was excellent, of course the original price was well above 300e on the tag.

My daughter and I and my son in law, all bought leather jackets in the San Lorenzo Market area two years ago. I don't remember what we paid, but it a great afternoon of fun. Was the salesgirl pushy? You bet, but lots of fun and we were a tough sell. They gave us wine and crackers and we had a great time. I wore that jacket yesterday and today and got lots of compiments on it as it is different from what you see in stores here. It may not be the best quality, but at the time, it was comparable in price to what I could buy here, and as Master Charge says, the experience was priceless.

Before you leave for Florence, I'd advise you to do a bit of leather shopping at home - go to a lower end leather goods store and look at the quality and prices, then go to a high end store and look at the quality and prices. Then you will be a more savvy shopper and know if what you are getting in Florence is really fine leather, or just a fun coat.

Its all relative. Here in So Cal in SF Valley there is a Wilson's House of Suede Leather outlet where you can buy jackets that are really the same as in the stores for 10.00$.

While studying in Florence last semester, my daughter wanted to purchase a nice leather blazer. Her host family recommended to her a little store on Via del Corso 69/r, called Leonardo da Vinci. A very nice woman runs it, and my daughter thought her prices were the best for quality pieces. She bought a pretty caramel-colored single-breasted blazer, but I don't know how much she paid. Probably less than $200.
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Thank you all very much. I now have a price range and know I need to comparison shop before I go to Italy. And I know what (kinda) to expect from the shops. This is great. Thanks, everybody.

SeaUrchin - those gloves are HOT! May have to get me a pair or 2... Reasonable $s, also. Thanks.

Be careful with some of the dealers in the San Lorenzo market-a lot those leather products are not made in Italy but rather China or Korea-so just keep a sharp eye. But you can still find some really great items.

I got two leather jackets (a week ago today, in fact!) at one of the shops at Santa Croce. It was a store called Poker and the jackets were both originally about 500E. I got the guy talked down to 350E for a fitted ladies jacket (for me) and a casual men's jacket for my husband.

Yes, SeaUrchin, thanks for the info on Madova. I'm going to try to get there when I'm in Fireze next week - great styles and prices look good.

There is a great glove shop called Roberta of Firenze with several locations around town. They have an amazing selection of suede gloves in every color of the rainbow, at very reasonable prices, last fall 19Eu per pair. I wasn't be able to afford a suede jacket, but I sure could have some great gloves! They have a website www.robertafirenze.com. I just found the card yesterday when rearranging a closet. Can't wait for the weather to get cold so I can wear my pumpkin colored gloves.

bkm