I'm a big fan of Cole Haan boots and these boots did not disappoint as I found them to be very comfortable and well made. I ordered my usual size 10. Before ordering, I read a number of reviews about them (not all on this website) and I noticed numerous complaints about the boot being overly narrow in the toes and uncomfortable which concerned me. People mentioned how unusual this was since, like me, they were Cole Haan fans. The only thing I can think of regarding the comfort at the top of the boot that I noticed when I first put them on, after removing the cardboard and tissue inserts, is that they did feel a little snug in the toe area. I walked a bit and they felt good, but when I pushed the top of my foot up, it hurt quite a bit. I then got out a stretcher to put into one of the boots to see if that might help. As I was pulling the stretcher out after 15 minutes, I noticed that there was a very thin, rigid, securely attached plastic insert at the top of the boot that was there to maintain the form of the boot. I don't recall anything like this in any boot/shoe I've bought before, and because it was so thin, and almost suctioned to the top of the boot, I hadn't realized it was there. I guess my point is, after all this boring explanation, that I most likely I would not have noticed this plastic insert had I not taken the time to insert the stretcher. So, I'm guessing it's possible that others who sent the boot back never took this piece out and found the boot uncomfortable at the top of the toes.
