[rowing_freak]

Hola everyone,
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It has been a while since I wrote about getting some flamenco shoes. I am now a happy owner of several pairs of new flamenco shoes. I thought I would share about my experience of ordering from various vendors and about the fit of the shoes.
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The brands of the three pairs of shoes I purchased recently include:
(1)*Flamencista
[Ultimate Collection [Model#386M, Leather Deep Red, 5-cm Standard heel, wider width]

(2) Zapatillas Coral
[Elite Collection [Mercedes Model, Leather Navy, 5-cm Carrete heel, wider width]

(3)*Gallardo
[Profession Collection [Mercedes Model, Leather Marfil, 5-cm Garrucha heel, normal width]

Btw, you can find them on Facebook too!
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(1) Flamencista

Flamenco Shoes | Ultimate Manuela Carrasco Collection | Flamencista
Flamenco Shop | Flamencista | We have unbeatable prices

I have been dancing flamenco for about four years. Over the years I have heard of brands such as Menkes, and Gallardo. When I came across the website of "Flamencista" in my shoe search, I was skeptical of the brand since I have not heard of it. I asked my dancing friends from North America and overseas, and none of them have heard of them too.

As I scroll through their website, I was intrigued by the reviews of their high standard of customer services, and their claim of high quality shoes at competitive prices (esp. relative to Menkes and Gallardo). Flamencista even wrote an article (which I have posted earlier here) their "Ultimate" collection which is more elite than those by Menkes and Gallardo.

This "Ultimate" collection is endorsed by Manuela Carrasco. She plays a major role in designing and testing this collection, and she also wears them to perform. When I searched on youTube for her, I recognized Manuela wearing the pair of fuchsia suede shoes with elastic across the front [Model #340M].*
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With some considerations, I figure I am interested in trying a pair. So I started corresponding with customer service. After about a week of emailing back and forth with my customer representative (Agis), I was very impressed by how thorough and patient Agis was in responding to ALL my questions. I asked about everything: the differences between the Elite vs Ultimate collections (since the descriptions were very similar), heels (different combinations of height/style), colors (request of certain colors not on the palette), model style, etc. etc. etc. I was very satisfied with the answers. Then it was another few days of measuring my feet, emailing the drawing of my feet, and corresponding with Agis, where he made sure he is clear with my size before placing my order. Then I waited for 6 weeks to the arrival of my shoes.

After my order was processed, Agis ensured me that it would be the best pair of shoes I own. To my pleasant surprise, he is totally right. Now that I have been dancing with my Flamencista shoes for a few months, they are one of my favourite pairs in comfortable and sound. They are very durable and light! I never had to "break in" to these shoes. I love the fit of the style and the deep red color which I have received numerous compliments. I have referred my fellow dancers to try them out and I believe some have definitely ordered a pair.

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(2) Zapatillas Coral
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I have not personally ordered these shoes myself, so I can only share about the fit. I order them through a teacher but I love this brand too! The leather quality is very firm and I love the comfort of wider width and double-sole of the shoes. My teacher used to order all her shoes from Gallardo. She noticed the leather quality has changed due to a change of the leather supplier. While staying with Gallardo with her suede shoe orders, she is now ordering her student leather shoes from Zapatillas Coral instead.

Here is the link. I think they have pretty good style and color choices!
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http://www.flamenco-shoeshop.com/zap...nco-elite.htm*
Flamenco Shoes

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(3) Gallardo

https://www.flamenco-world.com/tiend...-gallardo/132/

Gallardo was actually the first pair of new flamenco shoes I bought. In my case, I bought the Gallardo shoes through flamenco-world.com, when they offered free shipping around the world. What I did not know at the time of ordering was that the shoes available from the website were only professional model (vs the elite model). So the leather quality and shoes support were not as firm. The instructions for measuring feet size were also not as clear and detailed. Perhaps if one already knows his/her shoes size, then the fit of the shoes would be fine. For me, I over measured the length my feet by 0.25 inch and that made all the difference in the fit. (I found there is a margin of mistake when measuring my feet on its own or against the wall which I learned after ordering my shoes from Flamencista.) The last thing about ordering from flamenco-world.com is that FedEx is their only international shipping option. This means the delivery would be quick but subject to duty and tax automatically. So the cost of my shoes was $85USD more (not including the regular shipping cost which was free), it became the most expensive pair of shoes and the lowest quality among the three pairs.

I believe Gallardo shoes are of good quality with a good variety of models from their website directly. I especially love the Garrucha heel style which is the only shoe vendor I have seen so far offering the wider, elegant, and stable heel (next to the cuban heel). However if one has not ordered from flamenco-world.com before, these are the things one should be aware of, so that he/she is not surprised by the discount which turns out not to be there.

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I hope the information above helps those who have not ordered shoes from these vendors before. Among the brands of flamenco shoes I have worn and am wearing (including Menkes, Gallardo (suede and leather), Zapatillas Coral, and Flamencista), I have to say for the similar quality, comfort, durability, I was pleasantly surprised by how great Flamencista shoes turn out to be. I enjoyed my ordering experience and the price I paid was less than the amount I paid for the other brands. I am sure there are other brands out there that are of good quality, but having such great customer services, I highly recommend everyone to try a pair of Flamencista shoes.

Gracias!
Thanks for reading this post!

[ihath]

thank you rowing_freak for this comprehensive information

[rowing_freak]

You are welcome and glad I can help! Flamenco shoes are $-investment. I do not want others to waste money on shoes that they are not happy with just because they are "inexperience" in ordering them!

[juliep]

Fantastic review rowing_freak. Very comprehensive. I agree with you Flamencista offers amazing value for money. They are too my favourite shoes. Take care!

Julie