We love these, but the leather doesn't smell like you'd expect. Its not pungent, but not a nice leather smell. Its soft though, but they also seem to run pretty big. I had my daughter fitted for a 3 in the fall so I figured I'd want a 4 the following summer (now). We kept them because she could walk okay, but shes been wearing them daily for about 6-7 weeks and the strap is so long that the Velcro doesn't make good contact. She can get them off really easily.  These would probably be ideal for chubbier feet, but she's a little thing.