Well these are the shoes I wore in 1980 when I was a preppy girl in college. Fast forward a few decades, 5 kids later and large bunions and these are still comfortable. I wear an 8.5 but bought a 8 in these. The 8.5 was too long. I have the leather version of these but they took forever to break in that included a bloody heel. These were comfortable right out of the box. Am currently wearing them in Costa Rica. Better cushion in the footbed than I remember. Love them