I received these shoes for Christmas 2008, and have worn them almost every day to work since then (about 7 months now). I am not on my feet a lot, but do occasionally walk several city blocks in them (to lunch when the weather is nice, etc.). Here are some thoughts and rationale for my rating, which I hope is helpful.

I tend to beat up the exterior of my shoes around the toes because I sit in a desk and am always kicking the back. This makes polished shoes lose their polish around the toes. With the Nubuck material, the material does not show this kind of wear at all.

The shoes did seem a little undersized (they were a little smaller than some other new size 9s that I have ordered), but with a week's worth of wear the shoes stretched a little to fit my feet well. The initial comfort of this shoe was fantastic without any inserts, which I do not usually wear. However, buyers should note that this is a soft sole shoe -- my shoes became very "bendy" after a couple months of wear. To me this is a plus, because I like to wear shoes that are comfortable to walk in. But for those who need more support, or are looking for a stiffer or more firm sole, look elsewhere.

The style of the shoes is classic -- the picture is accurate, and as many reviewers point out, the shoes go with many styles of pants and jeans.

Admittedly, I am a little rough on shoe laces. I tend to pull them tight, and I typically need to replace shoe laces after a year of wear. The shoe laces on this shoe came unravelled after only four months. There are no reinforcments in the laceholes, which may be part of the reason for the quick shoelace wear. And, the bottom of the soles have worn quicker than I expected -- they are already almost completely smooth with little to no tread. I have owned Sketchers that took 2 years to wear a similar amount. Due to these relatively small quality issues, I am going to give 4 stars instead of 5. But rest assured these are good shoes for the money.