Are these boots legit?!

September 11, 2011 6:02 PM

Ralph Lauren Sahara burnished calf boot - $150 at DSW. Any info?

Saw these shoes at DSW earlier today, wanted to research online before purchasing them. However, can't find a lot of info - only a similarly named item that has a higher retail price that appears to be a pull-on version.

For e.g., this pair looks similar on the bottom, but is a pull-on. The ones I saw today were just below knee length and zipped up (retail price ~$229). Does anyone have any info about this boot/its quality? I've had a lot of troubling finding boots that a) have a low heel and b) fit my calves, so was really excited about seeing these. But I don't want to spend $150 if there are some strange substandard boot that is nowhere to be found online....

posted by leedly to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (5 answers total)

If you're questioning their quality/authenticity, I've never heard of or seen DSW selling second-quality or fake goods. I have purchased other Ralph Lauren boots there, actually, and they've held up just as well as any other high-quality leather boot.

If they fit well and the price is right, go for it.
posted by rachaelfaith at 6:32 PM on September 11, 2011

DSW doesn't sell fake goods. Not sure if that's the intent of what you're asking here, but, no.
posted by dfriedman at 7:05 PM on September 11, 2011

Response by poster: To clarify, I was confused and a little wary there seemed to be no record of this exact kind of boot on the Internet, as far as I could find. I know DSW doesn't sells fake goods. I was just surprised that I couldn't find a specific listing for this shoe by such a popular brand - like, was it discontinued for some reason?
posted by leedly at 7:29 PM on September 11, 2011

DSW has agreements with merchants for styles exclusive to their stores, this might be one of them. (used to work for DSW)
posted by HopperFan at 8:19 PM on September 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Like HopperFan says, big designers will rename their for DSW because if a person buys the Peasant Princess boots at Nordstrom for $450 and then sees them at DSW for $150, they're not going to shop at Nordstrom's anymore. But RL and other designers need that Nordstrom connection.

So Ralph Lauren (and other designers) take the same boot and rename the Peasant Princess to Mohican Queen, and sometimes they make a slight modification to the design (or use lesser-quality material). Those are the shoes they sell at DSW.
posted by kinetic at 3:50 AM on September 12, 2011