I chose this product thinking it would be nice to have the slim fit of the laced boots around the ankles while still being able to slip in my foot due to the expandable rubber at the back. When the boots arrived, f irst I thought I made a mistake because allow my foot to be slipped in but had to loosen the lace to be able to do that. After about a few weeks the leather seemed to have broken in a bit and I started to be able to slip into this, but still a bit hard. I guess I'll have to see for some more weeks whether the leather softens up to allow for easier taking on and off of this boots. The product looks fine and is of good quality, just have to see if it will work as intended after a few more weeks.