At first these hurt the top of my big toe on the toenail.  The leather was stiff. I loved everything else about them, so I took them to the shoemaker. He was very complimentary about the quality of the leather and the construction of the shoe. He did a 2 minute procedure that he called "lifting the toe" on them, did not charge me, and they felt perfect from that time forward. That made them completely comfortable for me, and after a week of normal wear, the stiffness of the leather went away, and did so without the creasing that sometimes happens with stiff leather. The leather inside the shoe is very soft from day 1, so I got zero blisters from these shoes in this initial period. I actually wear a narrow, and these are a tiny bit wide in the B width, but stay put on my feet well.  The sole of the shoe is divine feeling on the ball of the foot and heel.