Purchased these boots as a present for my mother and she loves them.  She normally wears 8.5 or 9 and I purchased the 9.  They fit well, she has worn them in snow, and they are very comfortable.  The boots look nice and are easy to clean.  I normally wear a 9 and tried them on as well, and they would have plenty of room for socks.  Maybe order a size up if you want to wear 2 pairs of socks or extremely thick socks, but they seemed pretty true to size for both of us.  Hope this helps!