This is a beautiful boot, however I'm not convinced that it is worth the retail price. For starters the actual skin is not consistent with the photographs online; they are predominantly large armor plating and not smaller as indicated by the picture. The gator skin in certain lighting appears "fake". I tend to think that when I slipped the boot on that a leather lining would have been more comfortable. Possibly, I'm just not the right customer for this boot. I'm thinking that I should have purchased a different pair of boots, preferably by El Dorado; they've never disappointed me. I own a pair of their caiman boots and it's difficult to beat that level of quality without spending much more money.