****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Comfortable, but fits about 1/2 size too large. I can’t wear this socks or my foot slips outWhen our employer told us we had to wear steel or composite toe shoes and they picked this ugly pair of tennis shoes, those office staff knew something more dressy and fashionable belonged to the office staff. I chose Arita because I have always had good quality and fitting shoes from Ariat. These are comfortable as you would expect from Ariat and genuine leather shoes. I could not be more pleased!This is my second pair. You may need a shoehorn the first few times when they're new, but once they're on, they are super comfortable: all day long.Way to tight should have gotten a half size bigger. Literally had to force them on the first time. Hopefully they'll stretch out a bit as they are worn.I have had these shoes for over 3 years now. I wear them almost every day. When I first got them they were really tight. I had to use a shoehorn to get them on and they made my toes go numb. I ordered them a half size larger than I normally wear and they were still too small. I thought they would "break in" in a couple weeks but it took months. They are super comfortable now 3 years later but almost worn out. They give me excellent support and my back feels it when I wear my other steel toes. I highly recommend these shoes but buy a full size bigger.I was going to return the shoe due to the snug fit but never had time to drop off. So I decided to keep them and break them in. Though a little snug, they are still very comfortable and don’t hurt after wearing them for a few hours. It’s almost as though the shoe adjusted to my feet.I've been wearing these shoes for 4 days now at work (8-10hr days), and the break in period has been a bit rough, but I'm loving them so far. I love the clog style! I can wear dress pants or jeans and still be stylish and compliant with our company safety policy. Ariat is always a good quality shoe, and I expected nothing less in these steel toes. No lies, the toes are a bit snug - but that's to be expected. I get about a 2" lift from these bad boys too! (Always a plus for a short girl.) It's hard to find steel toed shoes that don't look big, bulky, and well, "manly", so I'm glad I found these. I'll update in a few months as to how they hold up, but I expect they'll be great.***4 week update - No more pain! The break in period was tough, especially on my pinky toe on my right foot. I didn't go at it easy either, I wore them without any breaks or going back to my old shoes. So, I'd probably recommend doing some at home, short time frames, break in wearing. Shoes still look great. I did tear a piece of the leather from one side on something - maybe a table leg (angle iron?) - but a little superglue and polish and it looks good as new. No smell. No worn seams or raised insoles. Love them! If you're on the fence, buy them! You won't regret it.I wear a size 9.5 W. Ordered size 10 in black color, but was walking out of the shoe, so returned for size 9 C/D.They are tight in pinkie toe area, just past the steel toe area. Gonna try heating with blow dryer to try and stretch it out a bit.What is weird is that my heels continually slide out as I walk. Never had this happen before. Gonna add heel insert to see if helps.I really, really like the heel height and slip on design. Over all, I am happy with the quality of the shoe! Hoping that once the leather stretches for pinkie toe, I can wear for full 12.5 hour shift. Until then, I will wear for a few hours at a time to break them in more.I have another style of Ariat steel boot in the tan color. I liked everything about them, except they are lace up. The only drawback with the tan color is how iit may show wear faster the black color. The tan color looks dressier and goes better with khaki pants. So will see which color I will order next year.
