I bought these as a Christmas gift for my 13 yo daughter, and we both fell in love with them. When she saw how much I liked them, she offered to let me borrow them on her gym days until I bought a pair of my own. (I know joint custody of a Christmas present sounds horrible, but she shrewdly guessed that I was planning on getting a different style, so she'd be able to double her boot selection if she shared for a few weeks.) They ran true-to-size-- we're both a size 10--and looked just like the picture. She loved the ability to zip them on without ever messing with the laces, and I loved the ability to cinch them tighter at the top with the belts. The heel height was perfect for a 13 yo who's not comfortable with heels yet, and they were still comfortable after a full day's work; neither of us had sore toes or blisters the way you sometimes get when breaking in boots....

So why did I mark it one star instead of my original 5? We've only had them for *three weeks*--I had personally only worn them 3 times--and when I leaned down to unzip one, the sole fell off in my hand. They're only glued on around the edges, not sealed to the bottom of the boot.

My daughter took the death of her first pair of "combat" boots in stride, though: "It's a good thing you were wearing them and not me, because otherwise you'd just yell, and now we both get pairs of Docs." Sigh. Stupid, guilt-generating boots. I'm going to be so broke....