These are our first pair of tap shoes so I don't have anything to compare them to however they seem great and my 3 yo loves them! They run very narrow! I ordered the 9.5 m first and couldn't get her foot in. I sent them back and got the 9.5 w and they fit perfect with a tiny bit of room to grow. Her teacher said everyone always buys them too big to have rooms to grow and that its really bad for them so I went with a proper size. Shes 3 years and 3 months, wears a size 9 in most shoes with a bit of room to grow so thats why I went 9.5. For comparison her are pictures next to a size 8 in converse (which run large) size 9 in Toms (which also run big and she has plenty of room to grow in) and a size 9 in sketchers which fit her perfect and just a tad to spare right now.