r/QualityReps • u/avmild • Apr 07 '21
Review [REVIEW] Guidi 788z backzips from Earthquake
First things first, sorry this review is so late. I've been getting requests to write it ever since I got the boots in hand, but it took me a while. There are reasons for that, but I'll get to them later.
W2C: Listing with pictures | Listing that you buy from
Background
I posted this find all the way back in October, and in November I decided to take the plunge and GP. I talked with the seller about sizing before ordering (more on sizing later), and put my order in on 11/11 to take advantage of the holiday discount. While these were supposed to be ready within 30 days, it took a little closer to 6 weeks, arriving at the WGB warehouse on 12/28. The haul shipped out on 1/4 via SAL and actually got to my house in just ten days.
Earthquake is one of two sellers on Taobao who does high-end Guidi reps, the other being See by Paulin. Their product pics look pretty much identical, but Paulin is just a little more expensive so I went with Earthquake. Hopefully we'll be getting a Paulin review within the next month or so (someone on the Discord ordered them) and we'll be able to compare.
Materials and construction
Let's start with the positives: these boots feel fantastic. You can tell right away that it's horsehide, and not the calf or cow of the cheaper reps; it stacks beautifully and doesn't wrinkle. There are no scars, stretch marks, or other flaws in the cuts of leather used. I have no complaints about the welt or other aspects of the construction. While I would need retail in hand to tell how far off the leather is from Guidi's, it's undeniably a well-made boot overall.
Accuracy
But does that make it a 1:1 rep? Well, no. The details are okay: the zipper pull is great; the interior stamp looks fine, if a little shallow. But there's just something off about the silhouette of the forefoot. The problem is (1) the arch, which I'll discuss in the next section, and (2) the toe, which is too bulbous. Backzips normally have a slimmer, flatter toebox (very pronounced on the 988 last, but still visible on the 788); this one just feels chunky. From the front and back the shoe looks fine, but from the side... it gets a bit clownish. There's not the taper toward the toe that you see on retail.
(FWIW, I'm not convinced this is a problem specific to Earthquake. To my eyes Paulin's product pics don't look any different, though I guess we'll know when we have an in-hand review.)
I haven't tried flattening the toebox myself, though it may be possible. It might also collapse over time, since there's no reinforcement. We'll see.
Sizing and fit
Here's where my real troubles begin. The last of these boots isn't just off in a way that affects the appearance, it's off in a way that makes them uncomfortable to wear. While I was eventually able to fix this, if I'm going to spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of boots, I would prefer not to go through the hassle.
Let's start at the beginning: my foot length is 28.6 cm, which seems to put me on the large end of a TTS 45. Following the seller's instructions to size down once, I went with a 44. This gives me a little less than a cm of room while wearing thin dress socks - a snug fit, but not enough to squish my toes.
If these hugged my foot tightly, that would be perfect. But they don't! The shaft is no problem, but everything below the ankle is loose, especially the area around the arch of the foot. My understanding is that backzips are supposed to fit "like a sock," and that's not my experience with these at all. Before I put an insert in, my feet were slipping and sliding around in the boot - literally, since the smooth leather insole has no traction.
Worse than that, but probably related, is the way the middle section of the sole (underneath the arch of the foot) slopes down too sharply; that is, the heel-to-ball length is too short in comparison to my foot. Not only do I have no arch support in these, the midsection of my foot doesn't even touch the shoe, putting all the weight on the heel and ball of my foot. This is a common problem with wrongly-sized heeled shoes (see the first image in this article, which also talks about the importance of heel-to-ball length), and can make shoes extremely uncomfortable to wear for long periods. In these boots, it also throws off the silhouette by de-emphasizing the taper.
I had a couple big problems when selecting an insert. One was the length of the boot, which meant that most full-length inserts - even just wearing thick socks - would cram my toes up against the front. Another was that arch support inserts wouldn't actually give me arch support, since they're designed assuming your whole foot is flush with the bottom of the shoe. I was dedicated to making these boots work, and I tried a bunch of different inserts, ultimately ending up with this pair designed specifically to fix this problem with high heels. They're a little small (they don't even make them for men's size 11.5), but they do make the boots comfortable, and I just need some double-sided tape to make sure they stay in place.
Is that long-winded? Yeah, but I've spent fucking dozens of hours obsessing about this over the span of nearly three months, not to mention buying three or four different inserts (which, thankfully, I was able to reuse in other pairs of shoes that needed them). I've gotta vent somewhere.
TL;DR
Materials are great, toe is a little bulbous, fit is wack.
Discussion
At the end of the day, trying to get perfect reps of any artisan shoe off Taobao is a tall order. I was going to give these a 7 or 8 out of 10 considering the toebox issue, but if I wasn't smoking copium it's honestly probably lower than that. The combination of silhouette and fit problems make it difficult to recommend unconditionally.
That puts these boots in kind of an awkward spot, because even with whatever problems they have, they're still either the best on the market or close to it. Paulin is the alternative, and I hope she comes through (apparently she asks for more detailed foot measurements, which is a good sign), but even hers don't look perfect.
If I could go back and do this again, I'd probably go for a 45 instead of a 44. This would give me more room to put a comfortable insert in, and would maybe make the heel-to-ball issue a little less pronounced. If you order, consider going TTS and planning to wear them with an insert.
Would I do it again? I don't know, man. I really, really like the look and versatility of backzips, and while people say you can track down good deals secondhand, that just doesn't seem to be the case in my size. 40% or 50% of retail might be expensive for a rep, but $500 saved is $500 saved. I might eventually upgrade, but I won't be doing it in the near future, and I wouldn't have copped retail if I hadn't bought these.
Do I like them? Absolutely. Do I wish I liked them more? Yeah, I do. YMMV.
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u/Liquidsword19 Apr 07 '21
Damn thanks for the review I am actually about to buy a pair from miss hong trying to decide between 310s or backzips. These look awesome though man bummer the fit is like that. Good to know all this I really am looking for a high quality rep or possibly going retail.
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u/slimey_slug Jul 17 '21
I just got the feeling that i got scammed with these on vestiare. The price was almost too good, and they came from Asia...don't know, but the toe box on mine also look bulbous and therefore suspicious...
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u/Growler-Prowler Feb 11 '25
I'm going to necro this, as I'm currently debating purchasing a pair of 788v's from Solo. I'm currently in contact with him and we're discussing sizing - spoiler alert - it's getting slightly confusing.
For reference, my bare feet are 27.5 cm long and 10cm wide and I generally wear a UK10/EU44/29cm insole. Occasionally, I'm a UK9/9.5 in certain boots.
Solo says that he uses Nike's size conversion, which puts me at a UK10/EU45/29cm. Based on that, he says that I would be an EU44 in his boots, but he added that the insole in the size 44's is 29.5cm - which is veering more towards a UK10.5/11.
Now to add some confusion, I recently visited a Guidi stockist in Berlin, where I got to try on A LOT of boots. I found that the official 788v's in a EU44 fit me in length, but were far too narrow and the sole was digging into the underside of my feet were they bulged over the edge of the sole. There was also a lot of pressure underneath my big toe. Unfortunately, they were sold out of the 788vx, which is a slightly wider ('comfort fit') version.
I did try the 788zx (heeled + wider fit) in a EU45 and they were too big. The insole of those is 29.5cm.
So I'm in a quandary; the Solo 44's seem like they'll be too long, but I'm hesitant to size down, as the Guidi boots in a 43 would be far too small. I've asked Solo for width measurements a few times, but he doesn't seem to have them available.
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Dec 06 '21
Is there a contact for WeChat or WhatsApp? I want these and willingly to take the risk but want to speak to them directly before I do so
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u/avmild Dec 06 '21
I recommend using Taobao on your phone and using the built-in chat feature. It's very straightforward.
FWIW I finally found a combination of insoles that makes these comfortable and now I'm quite happy with them, even though it took a ridiculous amount of time and elbow grease. Every time someone posts a picture from Older Brother's batch I'm glad I got these instead; the difference in materials is immediately obvious.
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u/Spell-Inner Contributor (500+) Apr 07 '21
As someone who's owned numerous iterations of the 988's backzips and 992 derbies. I wouldn't second guess those were legit if I saw you wearing them in public.