KEEN Women's Rose Casual Closed Toe Sandals - Comfortable Walking Shoes for Outdoor Adventures, Beach & Travel

This is my first pair of Keens ever, even though it feels like I must have had some before--but it wasn't me, it was my children! I'm almost 40 (not in my mind), a mother of 2 young boys who does a lot of outdoor stuff with them, I have a casual dressing taste, and I have sturdy, kind of boxy peasant feet with a decent arch, on the wider side of normal (in a birkenstock store, the salesperson told me I have "birkenstock shaped feet, if that gives you a picture! Think hobbitty). I ordered an 8.5 in Purple and it fits perfectly. I tried on this model in a store to check the fit before ordering, and I also tried the Newport H2, which I thought would suit my foot shape better and actually found it less comfortable than the Rose model, not to mention less attractive. The Rose has no adjustment features for the foot fit, aside from the ankle strap, which is different from the Newport and other models, and for some that may be an issue. The ankle strap seems less adjustable than the Newport's, because under the velcro strap is a fixed strip of the neoprene liner (probably for comfort and rub protection), but really unless your ankles are extremely thick it shouldn't be a problem since it's very soft and flexible and should stretch to accommodate ankle/foot size without getting stretched to the max in the majority of people. The foot part, with the cute strappy sunburst pattern, is narrower than the Newport H2, and it may be to hold it on better since there's no adjustable fasteners in that area. It's made of a soft, water-safe leather which will stretch to accommodate. My toe slides right under the toe-guard comfortably (which is cushioned by neoprene) and doesn't bug me. I put these on right when they arrived at my house and haven't wanted to take them off at all. Not a single place where they rubbed, pinched or bothered my feet even fresh out of the box, and my feet even tend to swell up a bit in warm weather (which it is here) and I felt no issue with that. The Rose may not be as hardy as the Newport, nor as much made specifically for a life in the water, but for my purposes--which consist of playgrounds, river wading, light trail walking, camping, and generally lots of time on my feet chasing small boys--they seem perfect. So perfect in fact I'm considering ordering another pair immediately in case they change the model or make less appealing colors.