I had such high hopes for these boots. They look great in photos but in reality, they fall short. I ordered a size 9 for my size 8.5 foot - the bottoms are comfortable but very loose around the ankles. The ties imply that you can adjust the boots but they do not work due to the stiffness of and stitched design on the leather. This would be great for someone whose calves are not muscular (i.e. less than 15" circumference) then you can tuck in your pants and adjust the ties. These are going back but I am keeping the Firenzy short boot which fits much better.