I'll fess up and say I was attracted to this shoe because it is almost exactly like a pair the Duchess of Cambridge, aka Kate Middleton, wore on her North American tour.  The shoe she wore is sold out, so I went in search of a black, closed-toe, slingback espadrille and they are not an easy thing to find.  I was stunned to find such a close match here at Amazon.  While $165 is pricey for an espadrille, this is a very well made shoe and so far seems comfortable.  My only complaint is that they had a horrible smell like adhesive or chemicals when I opened them.  I am hoping leaving them out to air helps with that as the smell seemed to linger in the box and not on the shoe.  The smells is why I gave them 4 stars instead of 5.