****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
One thing I really like about Dunham shoes is that I can trust they'll fit my feet. I have fairly large, very wide feet (14 EEEE) and most shoe manufacturers either only make a medium width, or their "wide" isn't wide enough. I wore New Balance for years, then discovered the Dunham brand.I own several pairs of Dunham shoes now and they're all comfortable enough to wear all the time. One remark about arch support. I have fairly high arches and while the Dunham has a decent amount of arch support for most feet, they fall slightly short of the mark for me. I don't consider that to be Dunham's fault, they're serving those with more normal feet.I've had so much good luck with Dunham and New Balance shoes that I took these on a business trip without breaking them in first and wore them almost daily during a six day conference where I was on my feet and walking around the expo hall at least four hours a day.I did have to work to get the boat shoe's laces tight enough. Since they're made of leather, I didn't want to break one, especially since I first wore them when I was away from home and had no way of getting a replacement easily. Since my return, I pulled them tighter and didn't have any issues with the laces breaking.I like the look of these shoes, and they are (mostly) holding up so far (more on that later). I walk all day with them and the comfort is fine (though the arch support could be better). My biggest gripe about these shoes is that as boat shoes, the shoelace is integrated into the exterior of the shoe. This was expected, but the problem is that the shoelace is also sewed in once it turns into the inner compartment of the shoe, and the shoe's inner lining covers this attachment. For one, this means that although the shoelace goes around the outside of the shoe, it cannot be pulled taught to tighten up the shoe, letting the back slip off the heel a tiny bit. This is annoying but still not that big of a problem. It also indicates, however, that the shoelace cannot easily be replaced like in a normal shoe.A week ago, I was walking and my left shoelace snapped in half. I wasn't doing anything more than walking slowly (though I do walk a lot in a day, I expected it to last at least a few months). I removed the shoelace and tried pulling out the pieces around the edge of the shoe so I could replace it. Lo and behold, this wasn't possible. I wound up having to cut the shoelace at one of the entrances into the shoe and just have the two different portions of shoelace in one shoe. This is quite an ugly fix to such a simple problem.Shoelaces snap when they're made of leather. It happens. Though it shouldn't happen OFTEN or EASILY, this occurrence should not make the shoe lose its entire appeal. It'd be so much better if the shoelace was just replaceable.Edited on April 24, 2015:Update on this same purchase. So the shoelace on the left shoe snapped on April 3, 2015 around 6PM coming home from work. This morning, April 24, 2015, the shoelace on the right shoe snapped, heading INTO work as I came up a flight of stairs. Luckily I was going to be in the office all day but yeah, these laces suck. For reference, I started using these on March 6, 2015. I avoided any sort of wet weather and on rainy or snowy days I wore my boots instead.I've cut the old laces out as much as possible (there's still some left that's glued on either sides of the arches and at the heel) and just strung in brown cloth shoelaces into the main eyelets. Aside from their shoddy shoelaces, the shoe leather and sole are great. (Shoe insert had to be replaced, but I'm a tall, heavy dude so that's normal wear and tear for me, not their fault.)I liked: It fits to my wide feetI wish: Stronger sewing at arch areaThese are the best boat shoes I have ever had. They are extremely comfortable and provide great support. They are sized larger than most shoes. I generally wear 12 extra wide.(3x) and I gad to send those back and get 11.5 2X but the inconvenience was worth the extra trouble. I will not search for any more boat shoes. I would highly recommend these.Like the look and fit but the lining is awful and prevents them from wearing them as much as I would like to. Would be great with a smooth lining.This shoe is perfect, at least so long as it's not used in winter conditions. It is so good, and looks so good when new, I use it as a formal shoe to go to weddings, etc. (I simply buy another pair to use for the occasion, and then use it as my regular shoe after that). I get about 400-500 miles of use out it before the sole starts wearing too thin. It's pretty good when walking though shallow puddles, which makes sense since it is a "boat" shoe.Be sure to order a 1/2 size down . I am an 11 and got 10.5 and they still have a little extra room to wiggle my big toe which I like. They feel very very good.Runs large; I ended up exchanging for the next size down, but that next one fit perfectly so all's good. Very nice, basic boat shoe. Looks good, feels good, very easy to slip on and off. Leather is pretty good quality. Prices vary wildly between the absurd list price of $130 and the rock-bottom but only sporadic sale price in the low $50's; be sure to get the latter (as I did on Amazon) and you'll have gotten a shoe that punches over its weight class cost-wise.With little foot measurements to go by on the Amazon or Dunham site, I ordered size US9.5 which is what I usually use for my Nike and ACIS trainers. The pair arrived unfortunately far too large. If I had to make a guess, i am a Dunham 8.5 with 262mm feet / Brannok measurment at US9. In retrospect, i should have taken cue from the Dunham site that matches size US9.5 with Eur 43. 43, is generally not a size I wear for non-sneakers. These comparisons are always a bit tough. The Birchbury shoe size chart I just used (another shoe I just purchased) match US10 with Eur 42!What makes the fit more difficult is that the laces of the Boat shoe design are further away from the ankle, thus making the loose feeling worse.The shoe itself was splendid, the quick walk around the house showed it to be a well padded, (for a boat shoe) shoe that had nice leather. it was a pity to see it go, but I hope to try again soon after my return is processed. Might even be inclined to try the Rockport Perth version that has a more traditional look to it. As opposed to the Dunham which seems to be a merge of boat shoe x walking shoe.I hope this helps you source for your best fitting shoes!I hope Amazon can lean on suppliers to state shoe sizes in relation to mondopoint size. (Ie: actual foot length) that would in part be helpful in exploring new unfamiliar brands.great product. We bought too big. It was our fault. They returned money no problem. But they didn't have the size we needed or we would have got more. The shoe was very good quality!!! Worth the money.Good
