This is my fourth pair of Naots. They are very comfortable of course because the
Naot footbed which I pay these exorbitant prices to have takes all the pressure of my (half-fused) spine. The very soft leather feels a bit like wearing
socks with soles. The first time I wore them outside it was a total accident. I forgot I had them on! Cons might be that two pair came with flaws. Rather than send back the second pair, my husband got out the sticky whatever it was on the suede with a suede cleaner. I did notice through getting two pair that there are two different ways they handle the back above the shoe portion before the long boot - a flap that is loosely glued and comes up, or a sewn flap - both are semi circles. I recommend if you get the glued flap you return then for the sewn flap. I did, and feel more confident my $250
boots will stay together longer. Also, the ankle support isn't the best, so if that's an issue, these may not be the
boots for you. As always with
Naot, order one size down for a perfect fit - for example I wear 7.5 normally, but in
Naot size 38 - a size 7. On thing that annoys me about Zappos and
Naot is that even though they sell the replacement footbeds, I always have to do research to find out which footbed is the correct replacement foot bed for each pair of shoes. For this Otaki boot, get Koru, or FB19 footbed replacements when they wear out. I usually wear my Naots six months of heavy use before replacing the footbed for optimal support of my back. I'm giving all five stars, because they are compared to all other shoes. Compared to my other Naots, they are probably a 4.5 because of the ankle issue - they just offer less support despite the ability to take all the pressure off my weak back. I would buy again and/or recommend to a friend!
