Customer Reviews SOREL Joan Of Arctic™ II

I love how cute these boots are but my feet are ice blocks in them. I tried wool socks, making sure my feet were warm before slipping them on. My feet were so cold. I really wanted them to work for me. I have been looking at buying them for five years. I live in Arizona and thought that it would be ridiculous to spend such a large chunk on boots that I would wear one or two months a year. This year has been so cold that I decided to bite the bullet. My Uggs are so much warmer. I have sent these back and ordered another pair of snugly Uggs.

I really wanted to love these boots. The soles feel weird/thin when walking and like other reviewers, they are stiff and I felt like I was walking in ski-boots. Also, if your calf is anything other than very thin, they make your calf look like a tree trunk. But, if you have got great legs, put in an insole and they look great!

These boots are huge and I only wear a size 7! They are very stiff and very heavy. I tried them on for a few minutes and had a sore spot on my foot. My husband had to pull them off of me they're really hard to get on and off. Back they go.

First of all I would like to say how cute these boots are! I am a true size 9. I read the reviews and decided a 9 would be the right size for me. Let me tell you I tried them on twice and both times I struggled to get my foot flush into the the base of the boot. They were still a little big in the foot area but I thought they would be okay with thicker socks for winter. The real problem was getting them off. I felt like my foot was in a vise grip! I actually was afraid I might pop my hamstring in the struggle to get these things off! I wrestled for probably a half a minute just trying to clear the ankle part on each boot. I felt like I was fighting the damn thing. I had also ordered the Kamik Citadel in green at the same time. They are also a little large in the foot but they were easier to get on and off so I'm keeping that pair.

I have small-average calves, but slightly wider than average feet. Finding a boot with an average width calf but wide enough toe-box is near impossible. I was impressed that these boots fit my legs and my feet. They also seemed like they could be warm. Walking around my house, I noticed there didn't feel like the footbed was very supportive. I also couldn't stand the way the material around the low calf to ankle area buckled and rubbed against the back of my legs. Hooray for Zappos speedy delivery and free returns!

I usually wear a size 9 and the 9 was too short in the toe. Exchanged for the 9.5 and my toes are still touching the ends. I have on pretty standard (not extra thick) wool socks. I'm debating whether to get the 10 or throw in the towel! They're so cute and feel very warm!

This is a beautiful boot. I ordered the Shale (gray) color - it's lovely. Everything about the styling was nice and they were also very well-made. Unfortunately, I had to return because they were so heavy and cumbersome I could not walk in them. I am an older woman (56) but am athletic - 5'7" and about 125 lbs. I would have liked to have worn these with leggings and athletic clothing while out running errands but there's no way that was going to happen. In all fairness, it is a snow boot...

These were all the rage, sold out everywhere. I hunted them down and they are a nightmare! Every step rubbed my heel raw. I have to wear heavy duty socks and Band-Aids to be slightly comfortable. They also hurt front of my ankle when I walked. They just annoying.

I bought these to get me through my first Michigan winter last year. Having come from a warm climate, I knew nothing about what to look for in winter boots but had heard good things about Sorels. This particular style seemed to run a little large and wide (and my feet are on the wider side). The soles are not very flexible which, I felt limited my mobility. Additionally, they rubbed blisters into my heels no matter how many times I wore them or how many pairs of socks I layered under them. If I could have returned them, I would have but they felt fine when I wore them around the house and I did not become aware of these issues until I had walked a decent distance in them outdoors. On the plus side, they kept my feet nice and toasty.

A little disappointed that the back logo has torn off one boot after only 2 years. Now that foot gets cold and wet. What a great boot up to this point!

Ladies with wide calves! This boot is not for you. It ends at the widest part of the calf and the faux fur accentuates the width. This gorgeous boot is wonderful, but it will make your calves look enormous. The search continues.

I usually wear a 7 or 7 1/2 M. I ordered these boots in a 7 1/2 , but my heel moves up and down in them. More problematic is that they are huge, clunky, and difficult to walk in. They are going back. At the same time, I ordered the 7 1/2 in the Sorel Tofino Cate. It is so much smaller in both style and in the actual fit, that I think that I am keeping them. I waited too late last year to order snow boots, and we were slammed with snow storm after snow storm, which is uncharacteristic for St. Louis. Uggs didn't keep my feet dry, but I have become addicted to the ease and comfort of Uggs. The Sorels are so much warmer and more weather proof, and the Tofino is much more stylish than the huge Joan of Arctic. I LOVE Zappos and the fact that they have made it possible to try different boots in the comfort of my own home. It would have been a nightmare trying to find a pair in a store. Thank you, Zappos! I can't recommend you highly enough!

Wanted to fully love this boot, BUT decided there just is not any arch support. Would not be comfortable for walks of much length. Sorel, please put in a good arch support. There also is very little sole material on bottom of boot. Felt like had only a thin amount of material. Want to keep boots of this cost for a long time. Needs more of a base with more tread. Has a much wider footprint than the Tofino, so that is a plus.

I purchased this and the Sorel Torino and was amazed at the differences! I ordered a 9 in the Joan of Arctic and an 8.5 in Torino. The size 9 felt smaller than the 8.5, but the size of the shoe was both taller and wider than the 8.5. The Torino was much more comfortable than the Joan of Arctic in just about every way.

I LOVE the look and the functionality of these boots. This is my 3rd year with them and they still look great...EXCEPT, they have started to slouch with age. Looks fine, but because of the uber durable material of the boot shaft, the slouching is causing chafing and major pain:( Just rubbed my skin right off in a half hour. I need a boot I can be very active in with 2 young girls we play hard, but also am running them around to school and activities with a lot of walking. Other tid bit, with their weight, stiff heavy duty material, they are hard to drive while wearing them. You don't have much movement/flexibility for pedal use. Hope this helps with your shopping decisions. :)

I wear a size 6 shoe/boot and I have skinny feet, so got the 5.5. However, that was too big. I exchanged it for the 5. Although these are super cute and look mighty warm from the pictures, my feet are just too narrow for these wide boots. They make my feet look gigantic and I feel like I am walking in moon boots. These are just not the right boot width for my feet. So for those who have skinny toes, these will be very roomy in the toe box area. Go down a complete size if you want since these boots appear to run 1 size larger compared to the Tivoli and Tofino. I actually wore these in Smart Wool Expedition socks so that should tell you how roomy these boots were even. WARNING: They will be hard to put on and take off, but I can understand the rating and how warm these will be.

I wear these boots when my mountaineering boots and muck boots aren't appropriate and a cute pair of Patagonia boots aren't warm enough. They are perfect for standing outside in the cold (e.g. winter events in town) or for walking to work on snowy days. I would not wear them for snowshoeing or any recreational activity as others have suggested. There are other boots that are far more comfortable and more functional. The upper leather is not fully waterproof, and absorbs water. The tongue could be 1/2 an inch or so longer, but that is a minor complaint. Overall, I like them and they are cute, but they have a very specific purpose.

Love the look and warmth of this boot. For me how it fit was bizarre - super hard for me to get my foot into (narrow at the heel I believe) then once my foot was in it was sloppy wide around my arch area. I usually wear a 8.5-9, and I ordered a 8 because they said it ran big, the 8 was great for length. Overall cute boot, but just too sloppy and bulky of a boot for me.

These really look/feel/wear like true snow boots. They have a warm, thick lining, huge chunky rubber lower/sole, rugged leather upper. When I put them on though, I felt like I was putting another foot over my foot. They are so wide it is almost comical. And the leather upper is also so super thick, I felt like I had to walk like a duck to keep my legs from hitting one another. Not the greatest of experiences. Also, the lining does technically come out, but if you have plans of wearing the boots without the lining, be forewarned, they take what feels like an entire shoe size off the boot. I sent them back, personally. They are not worth the hype.

This boot is difficult to get on - or off - if you have a high arch like mine. Plus the back of the boot rubs the back of my leg, about halfway up the shaft. I'd never be able to walk in them for any length of time. Very disappointed, because they're super cute but useless for me. Thank goodness for Zappos return policy!

Absolutely adorable and it pained me to put them back in the box to send back to Zappos. I'm not sure how more people didn't write how big these run. I ordered a 9 (my usual size) and my foot was flopping around in these. I wanted to love them, but they came in a shipment that also included a pair of Keen's that fit like a glove and would get me home on a cold, wet Northeastern evening. Support seemed to pail in comparison to the Keen boot as well. Perhaps if I had ordered a size down, I'd feel differently, but I'm back to Keen for the next couple of years.

I just got these last night and was very happy with them at first--very sturdy boots that look like they will be around for a long time. However, I was walking around in them in black sweatpants and when I took them off (having decided to keep them), the fur on the top had shed a bit and was visible on my pants. I tried brushing them off to see if maybe there as just some loose fur on top, but a little bit seemed to come off each time. I'll probably end up keeping them because of the quality, but this was disappointing. To anyone who's had the boots for a while--does this stop happening?

These boots were really stiff and hard to get on. Once I had wiggled, pushed and jammed my foot in, the size was fine, but who wants to do karate just to get on a shoe!? Besides the ankle opening being too narrow for my foot, the liners were hard to get in and out of it. I was so disappointed because they are seriously cute!

After reading everyone's reviews, I thought this boot would be perfect for me. My foot is a little wide, I have a high instep, and my calves are also a little wide (so muscular.. just kidding but maybe not so much). Everyone said they were comfortable even for someone with a little wider foot some even said it was too wide and they just wore bigger socks. Maybe I got a small pair? I had a hard time getting my foot into the boot. When I laced it up, my calf was too big so the fur was just shy of encircling my calf- not a cute look. I'm returning them. I'm definitely disappointed. This boot is not for a person with a high instep and wide calf (maybe perfect for super skinny people who just think their calf is wide).