I am a retired dance instructor, with rock hard, super toned...but sadly...17" calves. I read the review on Zappos about a girl with 17" calves delighting in the fit of these, and they are indeed made wide. However, they do NOT fit my 17" calves unless I want to slouch them. They are pull-on style, so no amount of pulling made these work. A zipper might have. To make matters worse, as much as I love the style and the quality, I can't say anything good about the fit you normally expect from Fryes. The ankles were huge. My 9.5" ankles were swimming. On top of that, I am a size 9.5-10, leaning towards 9.5 if they are wide. I ordered a 9.5 in these boots, and yet again, I was disappointed. They were about 1.5" too long, and looked like clown shoes. If you have smaller than 17" calves, thicker than 9.5" ankles, and order a half size to a size down - you may love these boots like no other. Mine are going back.