Justin Boots Women's Stampede Western Boot - Cowgirl Boots for Country Dancing, Rodeo & Everyday Wear - Comfortable Leather Riding Boots for Women

(Note: I bought the BLACK DEERCOW color. =)To start: I have no complaints about the quality of this boot, and it is EXTREMELY comfortable -- if I had a pair that actually fit me (so I wasn't sliding around in clown shoes), I could easily walk around all day in these. Generous toe box, cushy insole. For boots, they're very, very comfortable. And the embroidery on the shaft looks just as cool IRL as it does in the images.And now the sad part, because I'm returning these since they have too many deal-breakers for me:First, this boot is ENORMOUS. I don't know if mine was factory-mislabeled or something, but these things fit me like a pair of clown shoes. My foot is sliding all over, with medium-thickness socks on! I'm wearing this boot in size 10.5 B. Usually, I need an 11 B in boots, and it's a snug and comfortable fit. I got these in 10.5 because I read Justin runs large -- wow, apparently that's no joke, because 10.5 in these fits me like a 11.5 or 12. I mean it's just *huge*. I've never had a pair of boots under size 11 actually be too *big* for me, and these are too big by a huge margin. I wish I had gotten a 10, or maybe even 9.5! (I am *not* exaggerating here.)Next, the shaft is kind of... "bloated". I tried these boots on while wearing jeans that are meant to slip *outside* boots, a pair of jeans that usually cannot physically fit the cuff inside Western boots because there's not enough room and it scrunches up. These jeans slid straight into these Justin boots without hesitation. The shaft looks huge and loose around skinny jeans / tights.There's a line of very bright white detailing all around the rim of the shaft opening. This looks cool in pictures, but in an actual outfit, it's *really* white, and screams "LOOK I HAVE WHITE ON MY BOOTS". This is really a personal style preference, but I found it to be visually-cluttering coming from a boot that otherwise lends itself to providing a dark tone to your outfit.It's not so easy to see from pictures, but the toe box on these -- while very roomy -- is also very wide, broad, and flat. It looks like someone took the normal point-toe of Western boots, and smashed the tip repeatedly with a sledgehammer. Something about the angle of the pictures makes it look a lot less pronounced, so I didn't worry about it when ordering. But in-person, it has a serious "work boot" look. To me, it doesn't feel very feminine or "fashiony". It was a really huge turn-off.Overall, the lines of the boot just feel big and clunky instead of sleek and sexy. It's kind of like a Western boot and a Combat boot had a baby.So, there you go. Most of my complaints are a personal style issue. The actual quality of the boots is quite fine imo, and they're extremely comfortable -- one of the comfiest pair of boots I've ever put on. They also are perfectly attractive for what they are; they're clunky and odd, but not ugly. So I'm NOT saying "Don't order". But if you do order, SIZE DOWN and be ready for the style you're getting.I bought my first pair of Justin boots ( style# L2559) back in 2013. For about a year I cleaned and treated them with a leather protectant as I wanted to keep them nice. Shortly thereafter, I started working in an auto shop and these became my work boots. 8 years later, I still wear them Every. Single. Day. They've been soaked in every type of vehicular fluid you can imagine. The toes are curled up like little elf shoes and the heel is worn down and splitting but these refuse to leak. I can walk through 6 inches of water and stay perfectly dry. They are also the most comfortable pair of shoes I've ever had.For the past few years, I've been wanting another pair so that I can have a nicer pair for going out. I thought they'd been discontinued as I could not find them anywhere. I even bought a couple other pairs from different brands but nothing seemed to hold a candle to my old ones. I was finally able to find a seller on Amazon that had some in a boot shop in Florida. Purchased them immediately and I can't be any more excited.I still plan on keeping and continuing to use my old pair, just hopefully not as much.I have just 2 complaints about these boots. One is that the color of the "Chocolate" ones is actually much darker than the picture makes them look. The foot part of the boot in the picture is close to the actual color, but I feel that the shaft of the boot was lightened using photo editing so that the stitching looks more obvious. Don't get me wrong, they are still gorgeous boots, just be prepared for them to be DARK!Second issue is they seem to have just a few minor sewing defects that causes the seams of the ankles to bend inward, but not all the seams do it. This is pretty easy to fix if you use some leather conditioner or mink oil to soften up the leather and then use a broom handle to put some pressure on those seams from inside the boot to bend and stretch the seams to straighten out. But be prepared for your boots to get even darker if you use any of these products on them. But that happens with all leather when you waterproof or condition it.Also, just a general note, the leather of these boots felt much stiffer than other justin boots I've tried in the past, which was a bit of a surprise, but that is easy to remedy with conditioning and breaking in, plus they are still amazing and beautiful, which is why I only deducted one star.I read all of the reviews for these boots and most of them said that they run big so order a 1/2 size smaller. I wear a size 10, and sometimes a 10-Wide depending on the shoe. I ordered a 9.5. When they arrived, they were too small…not just in width but in length. Thank goodness for Amazon Prime and 1-day shipping because with 2 days before the event that I needed the boots for, I was able to order a size 10-reg and a 10-wide. (I wanted to order a 9.5 wide, but they were not Prime eligible) They arrived and I tried them both on. The only difference other than the B and the C on the size tag was the color. One pair was a little darker than the other, but they felt identical in regards to size. I ended up keeping the pair in the color I liked better.I haven't worn western boots for years….I am a flip flop and slip on shoe kind of girl, so I thought I would have problems breaking them in and that my feet would hurt for days following the event. Since I received them the day before the event there was no time to break them in. I wore them all night, and even danced in them, and they felt great.The only reason I can come up with as to why my feet didn't follow the 'order a 1/2 size smaller' rule is maybe the width. They are great boots. They look great, they feel great. I wish I had more excuses to wear them.