Viberg Side Zip

In Italian, “Fango” means “Mud”. Which is entirely fitting, because as I took these boots with me to my ancestral home and high-school digs in Italy, they picked up fango, and other varieties of dirt and scuffs, and brought them back to the US where they now happily enrich the nubuck they live on like fresco does on a dome. Pun intended – I snickered like a teenage girl when sneaking these into the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence for a dome-themed action shot. “Ma quella e’ una scarpa?” asked some surprised schoolkid. While one might fret about zippers breaking, surprisingly it was the footbed that needed replacement, and the zipper seems as good as on day one. The folks over at Viberg shipped over some replacements for a few bucks and onwards they kept going! My favorite thing about the textures and darkening that occurred on the Vitello Fango is along the outside of the right boot in the toe area – this is where they would rub on the pedals as I commuted to work every day. While less prevalent in my other dome entries, I like to think of this as my signature. I am overjoyed with having been able to get my hands on these through a fellow Stitchdown member, and they are thrilled to see how much wear I was able to put in them. I plan on wearing the Dainite out completely, and perhaps upon their first resole I will give them a heel lift for a more western-type look.