Strong plastic smell, out of the box. Made my heart race, but not in a good way. Might have kept them anyway, but the "vegan leather" was very stiff; not so good for dancing. In addition, they didn't have half sizes, so I took a gamble and ordered down, hoping they might run big. They did not. The boots seem to have extra room along the sides of the heel, but be too tight in the toes. I would suggest to those with narrow feet, wondering if they should order a half size down, that they should order a half size up instead, and get inserts, which - bonus - would help with the hard soles.