Ariat Impresses with WIDE sizes! Yay!
Confession: this is my own first pair of cowboy boots... and I think I'm in love! I put them on to let the dog out. I put them on to run to the store. I put them on at home... "because my feet are cold!". I've wanted a sort of all-purpose cowboy boot for ages, but I have wide feet! Not only are "C" width shoes rare, but many of cowboy boots have toe boxes which are purposefully pointy. Even if they were wide cut they would likely still painfully pinch my toes. When I saw this boot with it's cute, snubby little rounded-square (squoval?) toe box and then saw it came in a wide width I pitched it right in my shopping cart! Fit: Width: Depending on the cut I wear a "C" width shoe most of the time, though I can sometimes get away with a wide cut "B". These boots fit great in the toe box. I am so pleased! There is enough wiggle room that I can wear thick socks, too! :-) Support: I have wide feet-- and high arches! It's kind of unfair. Anyway, these boots have a decent arch support in the shoe bed. You can reach in the boot and feel the arch support bump with your finger. Also, the boot is slightly snug at the instep. This provides additional support. Depending on where your feet are wide this might be uncomfortable for you, but keep in mind that this is leather and will stretch with time and wear. Heel: My heels are not wide. This boot slips at the heel for me. Though I have read that this is normal in a cowboy boot, it feels like I wish I could get JUST the heel in a smaller size, since the toe-box and instep fit perfectly, but the heel feels big. I may get an insert for this. But as it stands this is fine with socks, as the construction of the heel on this boot is engineered to be a smooth bump inward that doesn't rub. I've worn the boots with shorty athletic socks and thick boot socks - though there is a bit of slip to the heel when walking, there is no painful rubbing for me whatsoever! Boot Shaft: I've worn a friend's Fat Baby's out to help feed the horses before. They had a wider and shorter shaft than these Pro Baby boots do. That said, I have thin ankles and medium thick calves. These boots look better on my legs when I wear them with some boot socks. This also prevents the shaft from rubbing at the curve at the bottom of my calves when wearing them out for long periods. Personal reference for fit: As a person with a normally 7.5 wide foot with high arches, thin ankles and medium-ish calves - I am quite comfortable in the 7.5 C boot. Though I would consider trying 1/2 size smaller if I could have tried this on in the store, the tiny bit of extra room lets me wear a thick pair of socks which is a good thing for boots! Quality: -The boots are well packaged- carefully filled with paper and a boot shaft form. They are carefully wrapped in a pretty tissue-like paper, too. (This means nothing without a good product, but it is a nice appointment which I could appreciate.) -The leather is quite nice. It has a slightly oiled finish to it. Others mentioned that "Driftwood Brown" was distressed leather, but I see no distressing marks on my boots save where they now have walking-stretching marks from normal use. So far, the leather seems of good quality. With care (I am a regular saddle-soaper kind of girl!) they should really last. -All of the stitching, from the piecing, to the shoe bed, to the decorative, down to what I can see inside the boot screams quality. This boot was well put together. -The interior footbed liner and the sole seem thoughtfully engineered for comfort - both touches nodding towards form and function are present here. -The styling is cute and thoughtful (stars - adorable stars! - and pretty lavender lining on a smooth brown boot), but functional (with wearable heel, sole and comfortable toe-box!). Bottom line: I am really impressed with Ariat! I am grateful to them for making not only a quality shoe, but for offering wide sizes. If you have wide feet you know how rare this is with many shoe companies. If Ariat continues providing quality wide boots like these I will buy again in a heartbeat! :-) Side Note: I added some pictures of my boots (taken after a couple wearings) for your reference as to how they look on a person! You may notice my cat decided to check them out and say "Hi!", too. She is such a ham! :-) Read more
