When they arrived, i immediately opened them and tried them on, weary regarding whether or not they'd be too small. To my surprise, these things are ROOMY. I have wide feet, so they actually fit great having just ordered my US sneaker size. I love the color, texture, finish, stitch density, flexibility(a little rough break in) and its apparent these are crafted with a much higher level of integrity than most. One thing I am particularly impressed with is the quality of the insole. Its curvature actually feels like gentle upward arch support when walking, almost like it's actively moving with the motion of my step, and it does not seem like it's going to fall, collapse, or break down any time soon.
Two things I will say;
One: the binding bites. HARD.
I found that the tongue binding chewed hard into my ankle bones, and down by my toes where the the vamp basically curves up into the tongue underneath where the uppers are sewn together, causing blisters after wearing. I think the tongue can be either unbound, or maybe only stitch binding on that panel at the top of the tongue where it's visible. Alternatively, perhaps the panel's binding can be hammered slightly flat prior to stitching. This is what I ended up doing to remedy the issue. Hammering lightly the areas that were sort of bulging into my foot while on a last/tree as to flatten those areas a bit and flattening the tongue binding some fixed it straight away! Much more comfortable after this, and was able to break them in, effortlessly.
Two: maybe it was just the hide cuts, but the right shoe seems a tad more wrinkled and loose fitting around the rear outer quarter. Almost like it wasn't pulled super tight, or it didn't rebound from stretching/lasting like the left shoe did. When filly laced, the right shoe is much more closed up than the left, and have about 2 more inches of lace on the right as opposed to the left. Not sure what happened there, and it's strange because my right foot has a slightly higher instep, which typically leads to my right shoes being tighter. Silver lining is, I can appreciate the little extra room in the right shoe due to my instep, but it's far from notable from QC standpoint.
A month later, now fully broken in, I can say the left shoe has stretched out a little, and the asymmetrical fit has gotten better (still there) and wearing them feels pretty normal, (I don't feel the bindings anymore) and I anticipate them only getting more comfortable and better looking from here. The asymmetry is more visual than anything now because they certainly have molded to the shape of my feet. That said, i can clearly see that one shoe is still more closed up than the other, with more lace "slack"(for lack of better words). However, i only really see it when I think about it, and the lace issue doesn't stop me from tying them, and they feel normal, so none of it bothers me at this point. Plus, I can't imagine somebody walking up to me and looking at my feet and questioning my shoe fitment.
I will say, I have had other shoes with these issues, but having spent the better part of $400, it was slightly jarring at first. At the end of the day, they happened to work out for me, and I truly love them. But again, these qualities I observed I feel are certainly worth noting.
Thank you Goral!! Keep making excellent footwear, and more "will it shoe?" 🤣
PS: The soles wear incredibly quickly.
