I think they are for slim narrow feet. I took the advice of one of the reviews and took out the insole and placed in my own orthotic. The choice is yours. I bought these specifically for work where I hate wearing socks and have to have closed toe shoes. The only drawback is when charging the watch you have to be sure to "seat" it properly to charge. Also wouldve preferred a stiffer heel upper so you could step right in to them like a MERRELL MOC. Theyre easy to clean; a wet paper towel does the job. At the end of the day, I never used these in the pool. The huge difference though is the size of the X that goes across your foot. These fit well, shorter tan most 8s, though still a little wider than necessary.