These shoes are really cool looking, but incredibly uncomfortable.  I love Gentle Souls and own several pairs in different styles, but this shoe lacks the arch support I'm used to from their brand.  The ankle strap is stiff and digs in even though I have very small ankles.  Also, their sizing is off.  I'm always an 8 in their closed toe shoes and sometimes a 7.5 in their sandals.  In this shoe, an 8 was too small.<br /><br />I loved how they look, so I debated giving an 8.5 a try.  But there is just no way these are going to work for me -- sizing up isn't going to fix the lack of arch support, and I doubt it would fix the ankle strap issue either.  Bummer!