I did a lot of research on these boots, but never saw any pics of anyone actually wearing them.  To me, they looked tough and edgy (especially in the black that I ordered) so it was a surprise to open the box and find how sleek and short they were.  Once I snapped out of the awesome leather-smell-induced delirium and tried them on, I thought they were a good-looking boot, but not exactly the rugged look I was going for.  At 5'8", they came to just below my calf muscle.  My legs are on the thin side, so if I kept the boots I would have created more holes in the straps as others have mentioned, and I agree that the buckle holes that are already there are a little challenging. One other thing about the straps, it looked to me from the pics that this might be one continuous strap that could be adjusted from both the bottom and the top, but not the case- two different straps.  Size-wise, I'm a true 8, so ordered that.  With some other Madden styles, like the Fairport and the Foreway, I've noticed I could wear medium-to-thick weight socks in an 8, but that is not the case with these.  Thin dress socks were comfortable and I think tights would have been fine, too.  From a quality standpoint, I didn't notice any flaws other than the buckle holes.  5 stars to Amazon for shipping them so quickly and processing my refund equally fast when I returned them.