These shoes are awesome, my husband is a wedding videographer and he needs to be dressed in black while still looking sharp. These shoes check all those boxes. He said they were comfortable to wear for an 8 hour day and hardly needed to be broken in. The do not scuff easily and easily spruce up any outfit. He normally wears a 10.5 but says the 10's fit perfectly. So you may need to size 1/2 a size down. The laces are a leathery feeling, not rope and the heel is just high enough to give support while looking masculine. Highly recommend