The majority of the reviews on this shoe is positive, but there's been a ton of conflicting information regarding fit and sizing. Being the analytic person that I am (some say ANAL-ytic), I thought I'd share my findings to help save others some headaches.

First, the shoe is, without a doubt, made for a slightly wider forefoot, as is obvious by the shape of the footbed, or more techncially the LAST of the sole. It is not quite as wide as a shoe designated as a "wide"-sized shoe, but it is definitely wider than the standard shoe. The toebox is roomier, which is what sets this shoe up to have a hit-or-miss fit, if you're not well-informed, as is evident by the conflicting reviews in this regard.

My forefoot is a bit wide, which makes finding shoes a bit of a challenge. But, a "wide" sized shoe is always too wide for me. Using a standard shoe sizer, the likes of which you find in any shoe store, the length of my foot spills slightly over the size 10 mark. But, according to the side measurement, where the slide arrow adjuster helps determine size by shape of foot and arch position, I should wear a 10.5. As such, while the length of some 10s work, most 10s feel a bit small, so I normally buy 10.5 even though they are typically a tiny bit long.

To double-check what size would be best for me in the Riva, I went to the Teva site and looked at their chart. I measured my foot exactly as described, and sure enough, the chart directed me to a 10.5, with room to spare length-wise, as usual.

Upon arrival of the 10s I found that despite the comfort of the wider toebox design, I believe Teva made a slight mistake in thinking that since the toebox is wider, they could shorten up the length a bit. While the rubber up front protects the toe of the shoe, since it's molded rubber, it prevents that part of the shoe from "relaxing" and stretching out at the toes. I guess my big toes are thick, because they touch the top of the shoe, and because the rubber toe protector wraps over onto the topside of the shoe, I could feel edge of the rubber overlay on the top of the shoe. Relative to the length of the shoe, my toes sat exactly where they should for a confortable fit. Unfortunately, with any little shift of my foot in the shoe I could feel what FELT like the front of the shoe, but it was actually the pressure of the molded rubber protector on the top side of the toebox. I wore the shoes for 4 days indoors, but could not shake the feeling that they would FEEL ever-so-slightly short once out in the real world for an entire day, even if that wasn't the case. In fact, I think that if my toes were not as thick height-wise, and didn't touch the top side of the shoe, the shoes wouldn't have FELT a bit short, because they weren't short. Hope that makes sense. I was afraid that the shoe would be uncomfortable during extended wear. But, if there was no rubber protector, I'd likely have been fine. Everywhere else, the shoe fit like a glove.

After a period of internal discussion with myself, I decided to return the 10.5s and get the 11s intead, all the while suspecting that because the 10.5s were JUST short (because the wrapping style of the rubber toe protector), the 11s would be JUST too big. Well, the arrival of the 11s confirmed my suspcions. While the length of the 11s is better, the toebox is SLIGHTLY more roomy than I would prefer. Not that the 11s are obviously too big. In other words, instead of feeling the entire construction of the shoe supports my entire foot, such as the tongue, the sides at the midsole, etc., it almost feels as if the ankle part of the shoe is the snuggest, and is what keeps my foot in the proper position inside the shoe. That said, the leather itself is also VERY soft and supple, and I seem to not have any wiggle room side-to-side, and from the outside the sides wrap my foot nicely, so the soft leather contributes to the shoe FEELING loose. If it was any other shoe, I would've returned it because it would be obviously too big and flop around loosely; instead the fit is more like I am wearing a Teva sandal that completely covers and protects my foot. In fact, it was the comfortable "sandal" feeling of the larger size that prompted me to keep the 11s instead of returning them and giving up on the Riva altogether.

So, my long-winded opinion is that this shoe does NOT run small; the construction of the shoe makes it FEEL small, by about a 1/4 size if your toes touch the top where the molded rubber toe protector wraps over the top. If you have thinner toes that don't contact the topside of the shoe, you won't feel the rubber protector and likely be fine with your regular size. Hope this helps.