FINALLY, I found knee high boots that I actually like! yes, I tend to be very picky, but it has been a long hard journey to finding the perfect (or, almost perfect) riding boots. I bought the brown colored boots which are actually lighter in person, having a slight reddish brown tinge so it looks like a darker cognac color, which I love. Also, some boots I'd tried on before tended to taper towards the ankle when seen from the front, but these don't, which is something I prefer. I don't have the skinniest thighs and wearing boots that taper at the ankle and flare out towards the knee just exaggerated my thighs. But these have a straighter silhouette when I wear them. Now, the only issues I have are that the calves are a bit large and they kinda curve out more in the back than other boots i've seen, so there's some space between my calves and the curving part of the boot shaft, but it doesn't look bad at all. And yes, many people are saying that the opening circumference is quite big, and it is. but I have a 13-14 in calf circumference, and the boots don't gape that much; at least, not enough to look ugly. The gap is maybe half an inch to a third inch at most. Also, my feet are on the wide side...probably being a partial barefoot runner contributes to that, and I'm a size 6.5 when it comes to foot length, but I often size up to a 7 because a 6.5 can be tight on the sides. These boots are not so great for people with wide feet. I bought a size 7 and a 6.5 and found that both are a bit snug on the sides of the feet. However, the 7 was too long in the foot and way too big in the shaft, so I kept the 6.5 because they fit much better overall. I'm hoping they will stretch out.