ARIATWomen's Heritage R Toe Western Boot

This was my first purchase of Ariat boots, so I did a lot of research concerning fit before purchasing. To give a bit of background, I have wide feet and a high arch with my shoe size being a 9w. In cheaper boots I typically buy a 9.5w or even a double wide if I can get them because my feet swell often and I like to wear thick socks with my boots. My research concerned reading and watching videos on how a western boot should fit as well as visiting ariat.com to print out their printable size chart. - To locate the foot sizing chart, go to any boot page at the Ariat website; click on "size chart" that gives you all the sizes; then, scroll down to the bottom and click on "Click Here for Printable Size Chart". This chart will give a foot shape with guidelines on foot size and width. My longer length left foot measured on the lines between an 8.5 and a 9 and my right foot measured just under an 8.5. Both feet fell into the wide width area. All-in-All, this was exactly what I knew my size to be. So, I ordered a 9C - keeping in mind that the round toe shape can irritate wide feet because of the narrowing of the toe.Upon receiving the boots, I put them on wearing a medium weight cotton sock. The instep was tight, which seemed more than the "firm" that is recommended by all of my research, but not terribly painful. The ball of my foot fell exactly where it was supposed to be. Immediately, I knew the length was just fine and I did not experience any pain from squished toes so I wore them for an hour. Yes, my heel slipped a little as it is supposed to do. I gave my feet a rest for the remainder of the afternoon and tried them on again in the evening. I noticed the instep had already loosened so I knew I had a keeper! The next day, I applied leather conditioner and let them dry for 24 hours. The leather conditioner soaked right into the boot leather confirming what I had read about brand-new boots needing to be conditioned. After conditioning and wearing them daily, the leather has conformed to my feet. The leather has also loosened more so I can now wear thicker socks. When my feet swell, I can just wear thinner socks so I am very happy with the fit! - As for the calf width, my leg measures 15" around the widest part of the calf. The top of the boot shaft reaches just below that widest part so I do have enough room to slip my hand inside the boot and touch my ankle. For me, this is perfect so I can wear leggings or skinny jeans inside the boot if I want but not so large that it is too wide for boot cut jeans to fit over the shaft of the boot.I was so impressed with the ATS technology and the overall comfort of these boots, I wanted a brown pair too. Well, Ariat does not seem to think that ladies with wide feet deserve the same color choices as those with narrower feet so I had to search hard to find a brown boot that had a wide width in a color I found pleasing. I found the Ariat Legend line of boots and the Brown Oiled Rowdy grabbed my attention. Ariat Legend Women's Size 8.5 C Wide Brown Oiled Rowdy. The reason I share this is to point out my insights on toe shape and leathers.The Ariat Legend boots are square toed boots. The reviews pretty much made it clear that one should order a 1/2 to a full size down because the toe shape has a roomier fit. So, I ordered a 1/2 size down (8.5 C). I am pleased to report that the length for me was absolutely correct. A 9 would have been too long and an 8 would have been too short. However, the boot was very tight across the instep and painful --much more so than this Heritage boot. My toes actually started feeling a bit numb. My ankles were rubbed by the seam. The leather was very stiff and seemed unforgiving. My first try-on was with my normal medium weight sock. So, I gave my feet a rest and tried on the boots later with a thin sock. The fit was better but the ankle rub was worse with such a thin sock but I wore them around the house anyway because I still did not experience true biting pain as I had with other brands of boots. Just like the Heritage, by that night I knew I had a keeper but one that would require some work to break in. My earlier research had also told me that Deertanned leather (my black Heritage boots) is a leather that is tanned to be very soft and supple and it is! It is unknown what type of process is used to tan the leather for the Legend boot but it is stiff. I also read that brown leathers are typically more stiff than black leathers but I do not know if that is a fact. Nevertheless, these Legend boots were stiff! Once again, I applied leather conditioner and once again I now have a boot that I can wear without pain. I have not yet got them to the point where I can wear thick socks so I won't be wearing them all day until I do ... it is a work in progress.In Summary....• I suggest that you go to the Ariat website and grab that size chart to measure your feet.• With an R toe, I recommend you go with the size you measure from the chart.• With a Square toe, it is recommended to go down 1/2 to a full size. Some say more if you have narrow feet.• Deertanned leather is more supple.• Brown leathers are typically stiff causing the instep to be very tight at first. - Wear your thinnest sock and try to wear the boots for an hour (just around the house so they can be returned if necessary). Then, come back to the boot later to see if the leather stretched enough to make you feel confident that a full breaking-in will give you the perfect fit.• I encourage using leather conditioner to soften the leather and ultimately protect your investment. - Note: Leather conditioners do darken the leather because the leather becomes moisturized.

ignore the ghetto pictures lol but these are SO NICE and so comfortable. i don’t even think i’ll need to break them in at all. you can definitely smell the real leather as soon as you open the box. i’m a size 8 with pretty normal to narrow feet and these fit very true to size for me. super easy to get on and off. you might not be able to see, but there were some scuffs on one boot but not on the other, however i’m really not worried about that because i figure it comes from them moving in the box during delivery, and i am planning on conditioning them up anyway which should help. (in case anyone reading this doesn’t know, that’s what you’re supposed to do with leather anyway so if you’re planning on ordering these, get the ariat boot conditioner)

Love my boots!!! I purchased the darkest color to avoid scratches. I usually wear a 9 M and I read a review that stated they run narrow so I went up a half size to a 91/2 Wide. The boots are perfectly comfy!!! Definitely would recommend!!!! I saw similar boots by the same company in a dept store and ALL the lighter colors had scratches in them. 🤗

I love these boots! I used to have the brown leather years ago, but I just bought the black deertan. Right away I noticed these are a softer leather than the brown, and they were immediately very comfortable. They have great arch support, the heel is the perfect height, and the leather is high quality.They were a bit tight when I first got them, but all I did was put on some thick socks and used a hair dryer to heat up and stretch the leather and wore them for a few hours around the house to let them mold to my feet. Just be careful not to damage the leather and to condition them well after. It worked great and now my boots fit perfectly.I'm only 5ft 1in, so sometimes boots are a little too high for me and I look like my legs are being swallowed up. But these are only 11in tall, so they only go up about halfway on my calves, which is perfect! The embroidery on the side is beautiful and adds the perfect amount of elegance to these reliable boots. They're not too heavy so they're comfortable to wear all day and everyday. I'm sure once these wear out like my old ones I will definitely buy another pair! These are the best boots I've ever owned!