I'm a huge fan of Birkenstock shoes and currently own about 6 pairs. Aside from athletic shoes and the occcassional formal shoe, Birkenstocks are nearly all I wear. When these came out I was anxious to give them a try and ordered my typical size...these were HUGE in comparison. I looked like a clown and they literally wouldn't stay on my feet.

So, thanks to Amazon's terrific return policy, I sent the first pair back and ordered a 2nd pair in a smaller size and went with the narrow (the width of the first pair was far to large). The second time around the width was fine and I still had extra space at the end of my big toes BUT, like many people, my longest toe is actually the 2nd one in line...and that toe was squashed due to the pronounced curvature at the top of the shoe. Unlike a nice slope, this seems to fall rapidly so despite having extra space at the big toe, the 2nd (longer) toe is cramped badly.

I found these impossible to fit properly - if you are like my spouse and your big toe is also the longest toe, these would probably work fine for you. If not, reconsider as the slope is not gradual enough.

As a side note, the leather is also very tough and will need to be broken in...those prone to blisters will find these much less forgiving than most Birkenstock shoes.