Though styled much like the "travel Time" mule, and with a closed back, it was just what I was looking for since the "tie" model was discontinued some time ago; this shoe is tight in the bunion area with all the stitching and reinforcement of style detail over the bunion.  Many shoe makers are doing this making buying shoes difficult, especially on-line where most returns are expensive.  I bought my usual size in the Travel time style for this shoe and it did not work for me.