It’s December 6th, and I’m beginning to think that I will have to go bootless this winter.

You see, my feet are kind of weird. They’re slightly wide and have been since I was a baby, which presents its own set of issues, but they’re also…tall. I have what I’ve seen termed as “high-volume arches,” which means that my arches are so high that they make my foot thicker, top to bottom, than average. In most shoes, this isn’t that big of a deal – most styles don’t have non-adjustable straps or other types of coverage over that part of my foot, so it’s not something I think about very much. Until boot season, that is, and this season in particular, when my one and only wish was to comfortably don a pair of black Frye Veronica Slouch Boots. I saw them, I loved them, and things went downhill quickly from there.

After doing some research on how these boots fit, I settled on an 8.5. That’s my regular size for non-designer shoes, and since most of this design’s reviews indicated that it was generously proportioned for wear with winter socks, I felt totally confident that the results would be fabulous once my boots arrived. And then…not so much. My foot got into the boot just fine, but after a few minutes, the pressure from the top of the boot on the top of my foot was nothing less than painful.

I had always heard that Frye boot stretch a bit, so instead of sending that pair back, I just ordered a nine and decided that I’d try them on one after the other and get a good comparison of which size I needed to break in. When those came in the mail, my results were similarly dismal. Not only did the tops of my feet hurt under the boot’s pressure, but the larger size also cut into the backs of my ankles in a way that surely would have left excruciating raw spots if I had chosen to wear them to, say, go grocery shopping. The shoe was too big front to back, too small top to bottom, and I had mounds of Frye packaging and $700 worth of boots covering my bedroom floor.

Both pairs went right back to where they came from because trying to break them in would have rendered them non-refundable, and the last thing I wanted was a pair of boots that just made me angry every time I looked at them. And so here I am: bootless, with cold ankles and incomplete winter outfits. Woe is me. But if you have somewhat more agreeable feet than I do, try a pair of these boots on for size so that I may live vicariously. The leather is beautiful, I promise. Buy through ShopBop for $328.