Barney's Seasonal Sales - John Lobb's Phillip II in Tobacco Suede

Shoe fanatics have been making a bee-line for Barney's lately, as they've been having 40% off on selected Gaziano & Girling and John Lobb shoes. At the moment, the G&Gs are going for somewhere between $600-700, which is a decent price. There are also rumblings that Barney's may be severing its relationship with G&G, which would be a shame as its always good to have a selection of retailers available in NYC. Stores like Leffot and Leather Soul get a lot of ink, but you rarely see those shops offering almost their entire inventory for one brand at a significant discount.

We'll have to wait and see, but hopefully the rumors are just that. After all, back in December, Barney's was offering select G&G models for as low as $459. Those kinds of reminiscent of the fire sale Bloomingdale's had when it unloaded its Edward Green models for less than $400 per pair a few years ago.

All of this reminded me of what I thought was still the best deal Barney's has offered to date on John Lobb Phillip IIs in tobacco suede.

If I recall correctly, I first heard about the deal through Derek Guy via his posts at either Put This On or Die Workwear. I happened to be walking by Barney's Flagship on Madison Avenue, so I dropped in to the shoe department to see what models might be available. I was looking to replace my Crockett & Jones suede Connaughts, also purchased via Barneys, and the suede Phillip IIs fit the bill perfectly.

Even better, these Prestige-model shoes were on sale for $589, with Lobb shoe trees included.

As the feeding frenzy was already under way, the display models were the only pair remaining in my size. The sales associate therefore offered to take an additional 10% off, dropping the total down to under $550.

Of course, this is open to debate, but I thought it was an even better deal than the Gaziano & Girling's at $459 (of course, it helps that I'm not in love with G&G's inverted captoe). Lobb's prestige edition shoes - featuring the 7000 last with details such as bevelled waists, channeled soled, and typically outstanding John Lobb finishing - retail for roughly $1600 at Barney's.