These boots are pretty good. I was trying to find something in the style of Blundstones or Redbacks, but cheaper, and these boots basically fit that bill. There are a couple of things that I'm not uber-happy about, though: 1) the way the elastic is set up makes it so that your heel comes up a bit as you walk, and so after wearing them a full day, the back of my heel is raw... 2) I don't know why they stitched those strips of leather over the elastic gore. They look cheesy there. Just let the elastic show! 3) I prefer to have a sole of a different color than the upper (like Dr Martens). The sole of these boots matches the uppers perfectly, so there is no contrast. I just sort of think that makes them not as cool looking as I want them to be...

None of these are absolute deal breakers, though, so I'd say these aren't too bad of a buy...

EDIT (02/08/2013). I've been wearing these boots all winter (South Bend, Indiana), and I have a few additional comments. 1) they hold up to the weather great. I haven't waterproofed them, but they are pretty water repellent on their own. That's a major plus. 2) About the fit. I've discovered that the fit is greatly improved by wearing thicker-than-normal socks. I bought a few pairs of "boot socks". This prevents the "rubbing" at the back of the heel. 3) These boots look GREAT with dark, boot-cut jeans. The styling has grown on me for this context. They look pretty good with straight-legged dark khakis/chinos (grey, green, brown, black etc.). The key is the boot-cut/straight-leg and the dark color. If you try to wear them with light colored pants and/or with a tapered/relaxed leg, they just look kind of goofy. The cuff of the pant catches on the pull and it looks like you don't know how to put on your pants. The all-black color of the boots really looks bad with light colors (tan khaki's, or light blue jeans). In the right context, however, I now think these boots can look really good, and I'm more happy with my purchase now than I was at first. I've upgraded my revieww from three to four stars!

EDIT (06/09/2014). Another year gone, another winter past, and this time, several Arctic Vortexes to boot! These boots held up through all of that. I moved to Pittsburgh, PA, and wore these boots every day this winter. PGH is a great city, but man, do they not take care of their roads and sidewalks! Potholes, loose gravel, ice, salt, ankle-deep puddles! These boots took them all in stride, and kept my feet warm and dry without making me look like a dork or a mountaineering guide. I'm packing up my apartment now, getting ready for a move back down to sunny Phoenix Arizona where I started out two years ago. I picked up these boots, and thought "should I pack these away really deep with all my other winter gear?". Nope. I love these boots so much that I think I'll even wear them in the Arizona "winter"! Even if I have to sweat a little doing it! I'm upgrading my review to four stars!