the shoes are adorable, sturdy yet girly, comfortable yet can be either dressy or worn with jeans and the perfect flat for a 9 year old but they are huge! we ordered a 5.5 and the shoe says 5.5 but it fits me, a size 8 adult, perfectly. so consider the 5.5 and 8 and size down unless this was some kind of defective issue with these particular shoes. i'll have to exchange.