I’m looking for a nice pair of boots that would be for showing only. I’ve been doing okay with my one pair of Ariats that i use for schooling/showing/barn duties but due to the mud lately they are falling apart and the zipper is breaking. I think it is time to retire them to schooling only and get a pair for showing only.
My current pair of Ariats are the Kinsleys but I dont’t think I would purchase another pair of Ariats based on the way they held up(purchased in january and are falling apart now)
Height: Tall
Calf: xs
US 10womens
The brands I was looking at:
Fabbri
Tucci
Parlanti(although I have heard bad things about the quality)
Does anyone have experience with these brands?
Love the Tucci, personally. I had the most customer success when I sold boots (and I carried all three you mentioned). They are also the most flattering, IMO. However, the other two brands are also nice and have a many fans.
Another you might look into is Ego7. For the price, they are hard to beat. While they don’t hold up as well as some of the others, they were the choice for a lot of young pros I worked with.
I have a pair of Ego7s that I use at home and would totally show in them. I got them from Fundis so a bit cheaper than stateside. The panel on the inside of the calf is plastic which is a bit slippery at first.
Realize that this brand wasn’t on your list, but since the above poster mentioned it…
l actually was thinking about ego7s, but I found that when I had them previously, I thought that they dropped too much, but has that changed?
I have both Ego7s and Tuccis. I’ve found that my Ego7s have barely dropped (and I needed them to!) My Tuccis dropped quite a bit, but nowhere near as much as my Parlantis.
The Tuccis are my favorite boots I’ve ever owned. Ego7s look and fit me great, but I was disappointed with the quality. I’ve had 4 major issues with them in 6 months.
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I don’t feel like mine have dropped much. There was a choice between the size I bought and the next-taller version but they were for home and comfort > fashion when you reach a certain age.
I’ve had mine a year and the only thing that’s broken is the laces. I ride five times a week; usually one horse, but sometimes two. My barnmate who got hers shortly before I got mine has replaced a zipper and the stitching bw the plastic and leather is worn through on one boot. She rides more horses per werk than I do.
Fabbri all the way. Amazing quality. I had my last pair for 6 years and used them DAILY for everything from scrubbing buckets to riding horses. The zippers ended up breaking and I could’ve had them fixed, but I had lost a lot of weight and the boots were too big to make it worth the price.
I bought a pair of Parlantis last summer just for showing (pretty much giving up on La Mundial which has remade the boots I ordered over 5 times and still keeps introducing a new issue with each attempt). I ride in Ariat Volants as my everyday boot. What I love about the Parlantis is that there is zero break in time – truly comfortable out of the box. What I don’t love is the matte finish which makes it hard to get them super shiny. I also find is hard for my spur to stay in one place – something about the placement of the spur rest and my really narrow heels isn’t compatible. Sigh.
I ride in Ego7s for schooling and Parlantis for showing. My Parlantis are going on 6 years now with no real signs of wear. They’ve dropped a smidge more than I’d prefer, but they are lovely boots. So soft, no break in time, and I didn’t have a problem getting them shiny.
The Ego7s are good for the price (if you get them overseas or on sale). The leather is thicker than the Parlantis or other brands. That means the feel isn’t as close, but they are pretty durable. My first pair lasted 3 years with riding multiple horses a day. The laces broke on each (I ordered the dress boot pair as their replacement so I wouldn’t have to worry about that again), and the zipper broke on one boot. But otherwise they held up better than many of the other brands I tried for schooling.
Third for parlantis! No problem getting them shiny (I use a buffing brush), and if you check out the online outlet you might be able to get a display pair at a discount.
Quick question on the Parlantis! My daughter has a pair that are going on 10 years (she did take a several year break) and while they’ve held up great, she’ll probably need a new pair for showing. Did you purchase the less expensive version ($650) or the more expensive ($1000) and what are the differences?
Thank you!
I got the Miami field boot (more expensive one) but from the outlet so they were $375 (someone had tried on and returned them with a scuff). I believe the differences are that the calf is lined in canvas, not leather, and is single stitched – but I haven’t tried them on, so not sure how they’d compare!
A friend of mine has the essential field boots from Parlanti. They indeed have the canvas lining and at least on her specific pair, the zippers regularly fall down.
I had a pair of the higher end Parlanti boots and that’s what I would buy if shopping in that price range. However, for durability’s sake, I’d go with another brand that hold up a bitter to long term use (not such soft leather).
My current boots are the Ego7 Aries dress boots and Deniro Tricolore boots. I like both for different reasons, but between the two I would go with the Ego7. The Deniros are more forgiving and deal with calf swelling in hot weather better. Since they’re the textured leather, they’re harder to polish and make look nice.
I think this is really a matter of personal preference, but here are my two cents with the brands I have had:
Parlanti essential boots (cheaper ones) are not good: do not recommend at all. You are much better off in Ariats or similar.
Fabbri boots are very flattering and look really sharp. The shape is simply gorgeous. They make my short little leggies look longer and elegant. They hurt a lot, in my view, to break in. Blisters, can’t feel my legs, etc. went on for quite some time. I did break have a zipper split (3 years in), but I’d still buy a new pair.
Parlantis are most forgiving in terms of break-in (basically none) and seem to fit a range of leg shapes.
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I bought the $1000+ pair. No laces. They have this extra zipper snap at the top which prevents the zipper from falling down. That said, I once heard that the reason zippers fall down is because riders walk around in the boots with the zippers half-way down – the way to prevent this is to always have them zipped to the top. All I can say is I always have mine zipped to the top and I’ve never had a problem with the the zippers falling (on any boot, not just Parlantis).
One other thing about the Parlantis – the leather is soft and stretches. I ended up feeling that the foot bed was too roomy and started wearing little ankle socks over my tall boot socks which solved the problem.
