Customer Reviews Dr. Martens 8053 Series - Flex Link

Break-in required - First of all, the staff at Zappos is great. Local shoes stores could take customer service lessons from them. The shoes arrived a day before promised! These shoes look great, but require some painful break-in time. It was very difficult to walk at the end of a 12 hour day on concrete retail floors. The second day with band aids on my heels was better, but not by much. I'm hoping that a week will change this.

Great shoe, but really squeaky... Zappos customer service is awesome! I got the shoe in less than 2 business days. I have not experienced any discomfort during the break-in period, but my left shoe does squeak a lot while walking... Hopefully the squeak with go away with time because I love the way this shoe looks and feels... The squeak is caused by the back of my heal rubbing the leather as I walk. I am thinking of perhaps putting a small piece of paper towel or napkin in the spot to lessen the squeaking...

Dr. Martens 8053 Series- Love these shoes!! They are the "coolest" looking pair I own! After a couple of days of breaking in, they feel great. Flex-link soles a real plus. These shoes are great with a pair of jeans or khakis. One can dress-up or dress-down with these Dr. Martens. Well made... highly recommended. Zappos service... the greatest!!

Width smaller than expected - I really like the looks of these shoes. But what good does that do you if it is really painful to wear all day. These shoes are narrower than expected. Put them on in the morning and you are fine. But as the day wears on, and the feet swell, it becomes unbearable to wear these shoes. I have worn the shoes three times and I am certain I have to give them away or toss them.

Mine squeak in the heel part really loud, and they always have. I've had them for 5 months. I think zappos is great!!!

Holy break-in batman - If I were to do it again, I would not pick this shoe. It is well built and all, but uncomfortable. The leather is tough across top of foot and squeezes the top of my foot. I have worn them for about 2 weeks now and they are getting better. Hopefully another 2 weeks and they will be comfortable. Zappos rocks! Delivered quickly, and responded to my requests. They really are interested in taking care of their customers.

Heel is being destroyed - I haven't worn these shoes for more than 1 day. The stitch and heel of the shoe is scrapping my heel. It's very uncomfortable but I wore them hoping to 'break them in' until I realized my heel was bleeding. That's my review, I haven't worn them a 2nd time. I wanted my heel to heal.

I ordered my usual size but the shoe fits much more tightly than I thought and pinches the back of my foot. Unfortunately I discovered this after wearing it for a full day so a return was not possible. It’s ironic because the last pair of Doc Martens I had were the most comfortable shoes I ever owned.

Long time fan-changing shoes - I have been wearing this model (8053) Dr. Martens for 10+ years. At any given time I have had 3 pairs around the house: oldest, older and ones I wear to work. I went and bought a new pair recently, brought them home and tried them on (why try it on at the store, I've bought a lot of them!). That is when I found the leather is thinner, the insert looks cheap and does not seem to fit inside the shoe, the leather was cut differently on the toe, and when the shoelaces were tightened the sides met in the middle (if they stretched at all they would be to big.). Maybe for new Dr. Marten fans these will be fine, for long time Dr. Marten fans this is a serious drag. Needless to say I took them back to the store. Not sure what I am going to do...maybe Fluevogs or Havana Joes.... Bob

Unwearable. This is the 2nd pair of Dr. Martens I'm returning this year. Like the last pair (Dr. Martens Alby 3 Eye Shoe), DM seems to have shaved off every possible bit of material, and as a result, the shoe does not accommodate a normal size foot. The width and height near the ball of the foot are inadequate w/o any insert, and once I installed my orthopedic inserts, I could barely get my foot in. I usually wear size US 11.5, and I found this UK 11 (US 12) to be about the length of a typical US 11.5. I’m guessing I’d have to go up to a US 14(!) to have any hope of adequate space near the ball of the foot, but shoes this size would certainly be far too long. However, the worst feature is independent of size: the padding around the back of the shoe is much less substantial than on previous pairs of DM's I've owned, and the stiff material of the inside of the shoe actually protrudes beyond this padding and rests directly on my Achilles tendon, where I could feel it rubbing with every step. I've worn DMs for years, but recently they seem to be making strangely-proportioned shoes that are so uncomfortable as to be unwearable. While they look every bit as nice the DMs of the past, the fact that I couldn't keep them on my feet for more than 15 minutes earned them a 1-star overall rating.

Comfort Issues - Good Looking shoe. I was assured by my co-workers that these are the most comfortable shoes. I must have purchased the wrong model. After one day I was limping. Just recently I started wearing them thinking that they will break in. I have been wearing them straight for two months. My legs hurt. My back hurts. And these shoes do not breathe. Therefore my feet feel like they are inside a furnace. And to top it off they are not the lightest shoes out there. Very disappointed. I purchased them on this site along with a pair of Rockport’s. Those shoes lasted me three years and are still comfortable. I did not care for them as I should have and the leather started to look horrible. So I no longer wear them. I stand for about 5 hours a day so these shoes are going in the garbage.

I had 3 versions of this model b4 and they were great, now they changed the leather to shinny style (almost patent) and they skimped on the production. This shoe does not fit true, it's tight as all get out. Not to mention it's squeeky as heck.