I have never bought chucks from on Amazon before and it's difficult to find an 8.5 in them anywhere as it is. So I was thrilled to find these. However, THESE ARE NOT AN 8.5. They are most definitely a 9. And honestly, I don't even believe they are truly Converse. I believe they are KNOCKOFFS. I have had TONS of pairs of Converse. They all have tags sewn onto the inside of the tongue of each shoe and they are fabric tags. The tags on these are some sort of rubber. Never ever had rubber tags before, and I've been buying Converse since high school and I'm now 34. I would have just bought a size 8. Now I have to return them and play the waiting game all over again. What a shame.