First of all, these shoes are absolutely stunning - just as gorgeous in person as in the picture, if not moreso! The material is soft and the shoes are well made. I've read the other reviews about the heel height and it's honestly not that bad if you are accustomed to wearing shoes with a heel above 3". I wear heels, but after reading some of the reviews, I was concerned that these might be crazy uncomfortable or difficult to stand/walk in. They are not - well, no moreso than other heels with a comparable height. They're actually surprisingly comfortable for a heel of this height and don't feel too "constricting" in the front/toe area as I sometimes feel that high heels can (I'm sure the peep-toe helps, but I've worn even open-toed shoes that made my toes uncomfortable and feel as if they were crammed together, despite being the right size shoe). As far as size goes, I read reviews stating to buy a half size up from your normal size and I read others that said to ignore those reviews. Normally I wear a 6.5 or 7 depending on the shoe/brand. Unfortunately Amazon didn't have a size 7, which I figured was the safe bet, only a 6.5 or 7.5. I was nervous to go with the 6.5 (plus there was a price difference of about $90?!, the 6.5 being more expensive - and I really hated to spend so much on shoes that may not fit at all), but I was pretty set on buying these shoes - I mean, I really wanted them (they're going to be my wedding shoes!)! So, since I've never before owned a pair of Sam Edelman shoes, I went to a local department store to try on a (different) pair of Sam Edelman heels. The 6.5 was definitely too small, but the 7.5 seemed to fit pretty well. Thrilled, I immediately came back to Amazon and purchased these in a 7.5 and eagerly awaited their arrival. When they came yesterday, I was pumped (no pun intended!). Good news - they fit! I'm not sure how a 7 would have fit, but these fit fairly well. They slip a tiny bit in the back, but I'm not sure if this is a size issue or just because the heel is heavy...or a combination of both. Based on my experience, I'd advise to go a half size up or, if you sometimes wear one size, sometimes another, go with the larger of the sizes.