The leather on these shoes is so beautiful. Very comfortable with good arch support. They should breathe well because I wore them all day with a pair of elegant wool socks and my feet and shoes were completely dry when I took them off after 8 hours. They're a bit big; I wear a US size 9 in men's shoes and a size 8-8.5 fits perfectly with socks but barefoot still dangles a bit. Order one size smaller.