Sleek, upscale and supremely comfortable
I did not know that Marc Joseph makes hands free slip ins. I own four pair of Skechers, and I thought they were the only game in town. I decided that I wanted a pair of business casual pair of wingtips. I already own two pair of Skechers Mark Nason wingtips in blue and black nubuck, so I bought a pair of their cognac colored. Perfectly fine shoes, but when they arrived, I didn't like the color, so the search was on! I found these cognac-colored Mark Joseph's and hands down, they fit the bill for what I was looking for!I actually bought two more pair of Skechers in the brown family in the same oxford, elastic lace style: One pair of another style of their Mark Nason line and one pair of their Garza line. So now I am comparing three pair of Skechers to the Marc Joseph's. Obsessive, I know :). Luckily, I have a Skechers store near me for easy returns.The look I was going for is a sleek, business casual that I could dress up or down. Three things that I love about the Marc Joseph's are the beautiful cognac finish: the white yet lower profile soles and the more formal, narrower toe style.The MJ's nailed it with the color. They have a slightly darker, more lustrous and glossier look than the others. The color alone looks classier and pairs well with black pants which I wear for work almost every day.The white soles are exactly what I was looking for. The visible rise is probably about a third of the thickness of the others and are a much more subtle, classier look. They offset the cognac color nicely but are not that in your face, sneaker looking, thick white sole.When I was comparing them to the others right out of the box, I thought they would be too narrow and tight because they looked sleeker and narrower than the others. But they fit perfectly and were very comfortable right out of the box. Upon closer inspection and comparison, I realized the narrower, sleeker look is because the eyelets for the elastic shoelaces are closer together that give the illusion that the shoe is narrower. They compensate for what might create a tighter fit across the top of your foot with two stretchy "gores" they are called on either side of the upper part. The "slits" are nicely finished, and you can't see the stretchy part and add a nice design touch to the shoe. But between them and the elastic shoelaces, they must stretch just enough to make them extremely comfortable across the top. So, if you have a high instep/arch, they should accommodate it nicely.Last but not least, they are very comfortable shoes. I wear a size 8 1/2 to 9 and my foot is slightly on the wide side. I bought the size 9's and they fit perfectly. If you are between sizes or have wider feet, you may want to size up a half size. Because the Skechers have much thicker soles, they might be slightly more cushioned, but the MJ's are cushioned more than enough for my purposes and very comfortable. Plus, they actually just feel better on my feet. I can't speak to how durable they will be as I just got them, but so far, so good.So, there you have it. I rely on other people's reviews a lot when buying online, and especially for shoes. I know it's always a crap shoot, particularly when buying shoes online, so I hope this review helps. Everybody's feet are different, but I highly recommend these.