To quote The Manolo “Ayyyyy!”
Astute internet friend Winnie has pointed out that the ridiculously hot “Reeves” Naturalizer pump I had pointed to in a previous blog hold a shocking resemblance to the Carlos Santana “Rascal” pump.
You can see the logo on the sole. Now look at the sole of the black pair from Naturalizers. It is the same sole except that the Carlos Santana logo is photoshopped or scraped off the naturalizer photo.
Plumcake had to see for herself, and it is true! The photoshop smudging is as obvious as my forged 6th grade report card! On the left we have the bottom of the Santana shoe, and on the right, the bottom of the Naturalizer.
Plumcake suspects that the Brown Shoe Company which owns both the Naturalizer and Carlos Santana brands are indulging in a little double dipping.
You’ll pay $79.00 for the Naturalizer version, while the Santana edition will set you back $92.50. Let’s hope that $13.50 goes to the guitar player’s Milagros Foundation, which is partially supported by the sales of Carlos’ shoes.
You can save a further $12 and buy the shoe (on sale, reduced from $89) for $66.99 at the Brown Shoe empire’s Carlos Santana site (sizes go only up to 10 but there’s a wider variety of colors, including silver and gold). Here’s the URL:
http://www.shoes.com/stores/carlos/product.asp?p=5043270%7ECarlos%7CWomens&sc=CARLOS%5FRESULTS%5FVIEWALL&variant_id=EC1048232
What this suggests to me is that Carlos doesn’t do a lot of his own designing, but people are willing to pay a premium anyway for the Santana name.
Comment by The Charlotte Allen — August 6, 2007 @ 10:29 am
but which one is more comfortable? Santana shoes have always struck me as similar to Madden shoes: pretty but unkind to the feets.
Comment by ginag — August 6, 2007 @ 12:13 pm
They do the same thing with Naturalizer and the brand Me Too.
The Naturalizer Nela shoe:
http://www.naturalizer.com/shop_online/item_detl.asp?CID=casual&PID=nela&variant_id=806P56&Size=%25%25%25%2D%25
The Me Too Neda shoe:
http://www.metooshoes.com/productdetail.asp?pagetype=products&style=TME10127
(In these examples, one is in suede and the other in regular leather, but both shoes came in both materials when they first came out last spring.)
I own one of each and can tell you they’re absolutely identical, down to the quirky pattern on the soles. The Me Too versions are usually about $15 more than the Naturalizer versions.
Comment by spartacus — August 6, 2007 @ 2:08 pm
Hi, to answer your question about comfort, I find the shoe has good arch support and fits me well. However, I have thin feet. I have to admit that I’m actually a thin girl but i love reading this blog because of the cute choices in clothes you guys make.
I would not recommend these shoes for wider feet in the patent leather. However, the normal leather probably has more stretch to it. I was actually surprised that it would be marketed under naturalizer because it did take a bit to break in and they started out a smidge tight.
Comment by Winnie — August 20, 2007 @ 9:08 pm