Harriet E.
Yelp
I texted my brother when I was in Italy at the holidays and asked him if he wanted an Italian belt for Xmas, which he enthusiastically responded to. The only thing was... when he responded, it was hours later and I was no longer in an easy place to find a men's belt. I figured I'd pick one up later on the trip, but I completed forgot until I got back to Santa Barbara and started packing gifts I had bought on the trip to send to family and friends.
I was horrified which I realized I forgot to get a belt for my brother, but remembered the belt maker at the Sunday craft show at the beach. He makes gorgeous belts that are easily of Italian quality, so I went there, but he wasn't there and one of his artist neighbors said he was on leave until the spring.
I spent the next month of weekends trying to find a nice Italian belt in a local shop. One weekend, it was the leather shop in Solvang and Jedlicka's. They had nice belts, but they were all stamped Made in USA and most were Western style, so that would never fly.
I hit up Coast Village Road... Whiskey & Leather, Civilanaire, K. Frank... and only saw one great Italian belt at Civilanaire, but it was 1 size too small and had been tried on for years. There wasn't even a price on it, it was so old and worn. I went downtown to State St. and found nothing. My last effort before I was going to have to head south towards LA was to hit up MC Swan and Upstairs at Pierre Lafond in the Village. MC Swan had 3-4 Italian belts, but they were too big or too small and also too traditional. I was looking for something more artisan/casual looking for my retired brother who lives in jeans.
Last stop before giving up on finding it in SB was Pierre Lafond. Hadn't been there in years, but it is as filled with gorgeous, unique, expensive items as it ever was. It was super hard to find the belts. The cashier told us where they were, instead of showing us, and we looked all over the area and couldn't find them. So, we figured they didn't have any and by then, I was distracted by the awesome collection of reading glasses they sell. I got caught up trying on glasses and at some point, the cashier came over and showed us where the belts were. Totally unintuitive spot behind a wall!!! They did have a small collection of 3-4 unique, casual, super soft Italian belts, and none of which would fit my size 36 brother. However, I did identify that the brand name of my favorite Italian belt they carried was Orciani and I made a mental note of it.
The whole trip wasn't a bust though. I managed to drop a bundle on some beautiful, unique note cards and my new go-to readers by Izipizi and Eyebobs.
I also want to add that when got back to the car, I pulled up ebay and quickly found a new Orciani belt, similar in design, in my brother's size and ordered it before we left the parking lot. It arrived in no time and my brother said it is the best-looking belt he has ever owned. I owe that to Pierre Lafond, for introducing me to Orciani belts.
How can I not come back? This place is the mecca of unique, high-quality gifts.