Frye Arkansas Saddle

I had waited two years to buy these shoes. I noticed that on the Frye website - the company no longer offers this color - burnt red, and that Zappos had few pairs left. So, I finally bit the bullet and ordered them. They felt a bit stiff when I first put them on - but I would expect that with handmade shoes constructed from excellent leather. I was worried about wearing them, based on some other reviews, but I wore them for hours the day I got them and in fact found them to be incredibly comfortable, and not stiff at all in a very very short amount of time. They are superior shoes - worth every penny - and I do not generally pay anything near this price for shoes! These are worth it. I am delighted. And in fact, I got a compliment on them the first night I wore them! As for size - I wear a 10.5 in shoes; 11 in sneakers, so I ordered the 10.5 and was nervous. They fit perfectly - generous in length, and the narrow feeling conforms to your fit very very quickly. I love them!

Great shoe. Second pair of Frye Arkansas. Break in is quick, leather of fine quality. Recommend at least a half size down, I go a full size in all my frye products. Red color is great.

These are fantastic. They not only look, but feel extremely well made. They are sturdy, well constructed, and stylish without being over-the-top about it. It's excellent to find shoes that are of such high reassuringly high quality without being frilly or purposefully eye-catching. The leather is thick, supple, and evenly burnished throughout. The suede is subtly textured and progressively (but only slightly) darkens towards the tip. The toe box is going to take a little bit to break in, and the heel is a touch wide, but these minor issues are disappearing with wear. I started with an hour in the house and my feet did hurt. This was mostly at the top of my foot as I'm slightly wider than medium. I never had the leather-digging-into-toes problem the previous reviewer describes. Two days later I did three hours in the house and I was only feeling it at the end. Today they are far more conforming and comfortable than only a little bit ago, and I have every reason to believe this trend will continue. Still, though, at this point, they leather isn't flexing a ton which makes the walk on non-carpeted surfaces louder than I'm used to. I feel sufficient arch-support to be on my feet for a lot of the day. A few minor issues: Order a half to a full size down. They do indeed run large. Also, the side view of the pictures here and elsewhere show slight separation of the wood between the welt and the vamp. This is not as egregious with my pair as it appears in the third to right picture above, but it does exist, and this is the only flaw I noticed. Be prepared to care for this shoes appropriately, as I'm confident they could last decades. Remember, the suede and leather parts need to be treated differently!