Can anyone out there tell me how these two brands differ in terms of quality and comfort? Such a drastic price difference for almost identical shoes has me questioning whether or not the Kate Spade's would be worth the splurge.

Nine West Ambitious

Kate Spade Karolina

Help a girl out?

Biggest difference is that Nine West has a man-made sole (and made in China), while the KS is leather all-around (and made in Italy). That accounts for the majority of the price difference.

FYI, I believe piperlime typically has the KS karolinas on sale at about $200.

I don't have any pairs of Kate Spade or Nine West shoes, but my mom use to love Nine West until the quality went down and now finds them extremely uncomfortable.

I checked out the links to see what the shoes were made out of.

The Kate Spade pair is described as:
Satin, suede, patent, or printed leather upper.
Leather lining.
Leather insole.
Leather sole.

And the Nine West pair is described as:
Leather, patent or fabric upper.
Man-made lining
Lightly cushioned man-made footbed
Man-made sole

Both pairs are described as having a "patent" upper and I don't know if that means vinyl or real leather, but I doubt the Nine West pair is. But otherwise, in terms of materials, I think the Kate Spade pair will probably be better in terms of quality and comfort because I find that leather will mold to my feet and is more breathable than a man made material. But for $298, I would find out first if the upper is leather.

I e-mailed them to find out whether they are genuine patent leather. Thanks for the help ladies!