Men's Authentic Original 2-Eye Leather Boat Shoe, Smooth Brown, 9

My previous pair of "Boat Shoes" which I purchased more than 10 years ago had finally lost their battle with life. They served me well and were my favorite pair of shoes to just slip on and go. So when it came to replacing them I had many doubts. One - the brand that I had previously purchased seems to be almost impossible to find these days. Two - they don't seem to make quality shoes anymore... sad. So my search went on. I visited local shops and looked at every brand I could. None of them seemed to match what I had until I found the Sperry Top-Sider. Not only was the style almost identical, but the quality was very much present! None of my local shops had the color style I wanted, so I jumped on trusty Amazon and found the exact color and style I wanted.Usually I have to break these types of shoes in before I go barefoot... with these, I wore socks with them for one day and in a rush forgot about them being new and jumped into them barefoot on day 2. Wore them all day and did not have any problems. The leather didn't bleed at all onto my feet and the feel was perfect. I wore them all day without any issues. The next day I drove for almost 8 hours in them and they were so comfortable that I never had to adjust my feet to remain comfortable. I can't say that for many shoes and the heels seem to stick out too far and cause a weird ankle position that isn't comfortable for driving. These were just perfect.I then wore them on a week long beach vacation and found them to be the right shoe for the task. Great quality, great durability (so far) and very comfortable!

Best deck shoes I've worn over the years

Got these for my Dad to replace an older pair of the exact same style. He loves them.

Pics: 1- Shoes in natural light, you can't see the red at all. 2- Damage to my right foot from wearing the shoe for a few hours in 2023. 3- The shoes 2 years later in 2025, you can see the red in this light.Pros: Look good, comfortable enough. Can dress up or down. Very durable as I've had them two years and they are doing great (though, they also are very slow to break in....)Cons: These seem too tight near the toes - or at least on mine the right one is always pressing in against the base of my big toe. Picture 2 shows that it actually cut in to my foot to the point of blood after wearing a few hours. 2 years later it's broken in enough that it only leaves my foot a little red there after hours. The shoes fit fine and are easy to take on and off so it's not like I bought them too small. Plus my left foot is perfectly fine (I'm assuming my feet are slightly different sizes, not the shoes)Things to consider: I really liked the shoes having a slightly red color to them, unfortunately that color is almost completely missing from the actual product. You can see it in perfect lighting and that's about it. In my picture with more natural light you can't see the color at all, but the yellowish light lets you see it.Ultimately I like these shoes and would buy them again if they ever wore out... I'd just order a larger size.

Update 9/28I have been walking about a mile every day for a month on dirt trails and pebbly sand roads with daily abuse; no wear. I did apply shoe glue on the gap on around the bottom of the shoe... I am not sure if that makes a difference. I have not been kind to these shoes.Since I mostly only wear mocasins, I find these outside mocasins extremely cofortable. I like them.My guess is if the front of your shoe, that sticks out a bit, gets caught under anything; the shoe toe will fail.I have another "sale pair of Boat shoes. I have not worn them "yet" just to see if how the shoe fails.I am surpriesed that Sperry does not reply to the shoe failures seeing that they all have the same problem and most all 1/2 feedbacks have pictures.Getting a refund on these shoes would be impossible. Even from long time customers expericing these failuresFirst ReviewThe shoes are on sale and are exactly what I wear throught-out the year. However, several 2023 reviews show, with pictures, the soles coming apart within a month,I carefully inspected them. They look perfect and feel comfortable. So I will wait. I have shoe glues to fix them if they do start showing signs of falling apart. Hopefully this is an isolated problem. I will add to this review if the shoe develops problem.

Ordered the brown color shade and Sperrys shipped a different darker brown shade. Ok fine, I'll deal with it. The front part of the shoe broke apart after two weeks of normal wear. Asked for replacement of the exact same shoe and they once again shipped an entirely different color shade than I asked for and did not match the picture. These also broke apart only two weeks of normal wear. Horrible Sperry's shoes here. The older versions were better.These new Sperry's are designed very badly. If you walk in them too much, they will break apart guaranteed. I do not recommend and I will never buy Sperry's from Amazon again.

Fit like a charm.

Shoe runs a half size small. I had to send my 10 1/2 back for an 11.