I was (and am still) searching for the perfect pair of vintage penny loafers. You know, the kind you could put the penny into back in the day. These don't let you do that. The band across the vamp has the cutout like a vintage penny loafer, but no pocket to hold the penny--it's more like a strap across the top of the shoe for looks only. The style is nice; the leather, while good quality, doesn't really look expensive. It looks a bit more cheap, and sort of pleathery. Could just be that I ordered the black and that's how they look. Comfortable and utilitarian? Yes. I also ordered the 9.5 wide, knowing it's hard to fit dancer's bunions into a loafer...but they fit for the most part, except for some slippage in the heel. I'm sure an insert would fix that, but these are going back.