I spent a lot of time searching for a comfortable, everyday, brown, winter-in-New-England, high and waterproof boot -- that was attractive. All in all, I pretty much found it in these. I need to walk up a big hill and then 22 stairs to get in my house -- while carrying a baby. I think these will be great go-to shoes for that. They're cute and clearly well made. They have excellent ankle support and a decent grip. They're very comfortable; I walked a couple of miles in them (hills and all) after owning then only a couple of days, with no blistered. I would have preferred a more hard-core sole for icy days, and they would look cooler if they were higher. But on my short (5'2") frame, they look OK. I don't think they would be so attractive if I were tall; they might land too close to mid-calf on a tall woman. I'd say these are 90% of what I was looking for, and I'm happy with them.