I have owned Birkenstock and Betula sandals before, so this is my first pair of "Birki's" and my first pair with the soft footbed. I used to wear the narrow style of Birkenstocks, but chose this time to go with the medium width and find that I like it better. Yes, it looks a little wide on bare feet, but it's not clumsy or clunky, and I know when I wear the sandal with socks in the winter, there will be just enough extra room to make that comfortable. The strap placement on these sandals is perfect so that it will really hold onto your feet without forcing your toes to curl to hold onto the shoe (a problem I found with my old pair of Granada Birkenstocks). The soft footbed has a low profile toe-bar, too. With some slip-on sandals, I've found the wide strap below the buckle rubs my toes, but not with this Tahiti sandal. The base on which the buckle is fastened is just about as narrow as the rest of the strap so no uncomfortable rubbing. I can't recommend them enough.