(Forgive the length but I want to be thorough as boots are an important purchase)I got these boots after ordering and trying on a few other pairs that I couldn’t get over my calves or instep to save my life. The Sorels I tried were so unbelievably tight that it took me 5 min of struggling to get them over my instep. I’ve had similar issue with Uggs although they were better. I have thick calves and bc of a cellulitis infection it’s caused swelling in my right ankle and instep so I didn’t have high hopes for these. Alas I was shocked and awed! They went on smoothly and with no tugging or pulling and felt relatively comfortable and i can easily wear a pair of thick socks with no problem. This has been a many years long struggle for me so to finally find some that fit AND WERE JUST $35 (um HELLO!) is amazing and I feel like I’ve hit the lotto. I ordered a size 8 as that’s what I’ve generally worn in boots although I do vacillate back and forth from a 7.5 in shoes. These fit fine as I’ve said around my instep, ankle and calf. They did have a little more length than I needed so I could have sizes down to a 7.5 and probably been fine but these will work well with socks.With regards to the overall feeling in the boot it had that soft (synthetic) furry feeling which is nice. My only issue is one boot seems to have some oddness with how the fur was presumably glued in. It feels almost like they ran out of “fur” and cut a piece to size it and glued it in—it just sticks out a bit and adds a little layer of weirdness and pokes me ever so slightly. With thick socks I don’t think it will be much of an issue. The back of the boot is a little tough on the heel due to the waterproof rubber being not very flexible but I think that’s par for the course for these type of boots and not out of the norm. I may add in a little heel guard or something.As far as the calf fit they slide on so easily when the laces are loosened and they tie up within seconds (!) I worried about the ease of tying these boots up as I normally like boots that slide on but it is so simple that I have no problem. I have about a 18-19 inch calf on a bad day (ugh) so the tongue is stretched at the top of the boot and there’s a slight area of just lacing at the very top where my calves are thickest but it’s not terribly noticeable and the boots are generally very pleasant looking. The tongue of the boots is sealed across up until the very top 2-2 1/2 inches or so. I would have made it to up the whole way to keep from the “just laces” look but it is not a deal breaker whatsoever. I also would’ve made the laces slightly thicker para chord type of material. The boots have these tiny little finger straps on the top of the boots presumably for pulling them up(?) but they’re so incredibly small that it’s not easy to get your single finger in them to pull. Unless the little straps are for the laces to be pulled through to tie in the back - if that’s the case the laces will need to be replaced with longer ones.So those are my caveats-more nit picky type of things than anything else. I don’t have any info on how well they hold up in slushy or high snow but worked well on 2 inches and felt comfortable and didn’t slide around on ice. They look amazing (I got the grey quilted ones with bluish-teal laces and they have gotten plenty of comments already. I will adjust the rating and review if they don’t hold up well in the depth of Wisconsin weather-but so far they’re warm, fit well and do the job. I would certainly buy again at this point.UPDATE: I upped my review to a five star review after using them for daily use for the last month+ and just getting in from shoveling snow for an hour. I put these on barefoot bc they’re fuzzy inside kinda like uggs and I thought I was going to just clean my car off. Wrong! I ended up shoveling a foot of snow barefoot for an hour in Wisconsin and they kept my feet super warm. It was the only part of me that stayed warm. Couldn’t be happier!