I have had a horrible time finding good quality leather boots that both appeal to me aesthetically & fit over my 16+" thick calves. I have returned more boots listed as "wide calf" than I can count, & of course have had the annoyance of trying on boots with disappointing results in stores. But man, did I covet these boots. They sat in my cart for so long my size ran out. I researched stretching boots & thought if I was going to bother with the effort, it was only going to be for boots I loved. & when my Frye Veronica Back zips came, I was in love.

Let's talk fit. I don't care what any other reviewer says about "true to size", that's crap. I ALWAYS wear a wide 8.5 or a 9. But I had already returned&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/FRYE-Women-s-Veronica-Slouch-Boot/dp/B001A6JOAA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">FRYE Women's Veronica Slouch Boot</a>&nbsp;in size 9, not because the calf didn't fit, it did, but the actual shoe was sooo narrow & the toe box was ridiculous. I understand that many women have narrow feet, but these were touted as wide & friendly to the fat foot community. Now my feet aren't circus elephant fat, but I have a thicker ankle & instep & just a generally short, wide foot with a decent arch. Lots of lovely shoes do fit me, so I don't walk around wearing paper bags on my feet. But Frye must think wide means something else...So I learned to size up.

I ordered these in 9.5, which is unheard of for me, I've never worn anything over a 9 & even those are often too long. When they arrived, I was psyched to find that my foot went right into them! They are long, but a little extra length at the toe doesn't bother me if it keeps my toes from getting squashed. Naturally, I could only zip these beautiful boots halfway up. The strap at the top could close though, so I wore them around for a couple hours with my pants pulled over the unzipped part & they started to warm up & loosen a little. I then sprayed the inside & outside & my tights with an 60/40ish alcohol/water solution and shoved in for another couple hours until they dried. Alcohol does not damage the cognac color, this was my first try at this procedure & I was nervous about damage, but there's absolutely none. It evaporates quickly & the leather stretches beautifully. I do not own a boot stretcher, & after buying these, can't afford a cobbler (or groceries for that matter) at the moment, so the DIY approach is fine for me.

On my second day, I sprayed them all down again with the alcohol solution & strapped in. This time my husband helped yank the heavy duty zipper up (with some finagling of flesh & zipping of tights-oops) Although one boot was seriously threatening to cut circulation for a minute, they quickly eased up & with a little bending, were totally fine for the hour I left them on while drying. Once I took them off, the stretched leather was obvious to see & I was pleased to find that I could zip them right back up with no help! They must have stretched and inch or more in just that hour! Another stretching session should be just right. I hope to get them to the point where I can wear skinnies under them.

Because I had to size up, there is some room in the heel that I can tell might be irritating as the boots break in, since the tough zipper goes nearly all the way down. My plan is to put inserts in to both snug up the fit & be generally more comfortable in the foot bed. While to some, all this trouble may sound ridiculous, I feel it is worth it because these boots are truly the best I have ever seen for quality & with my crappy history in boot shopping, I'm not missing the chance to make the most of my purchase. The Veronica Slouch unlined boots aren't even in the same league as these Veronica Back Zips. I can't believe they are even in the same family. These are immediately noticeably higher quality design & style.