I bought these lace up black leather Born oxfords in excellent used condition and only wore them once. Laces are velvet. Please note that I glued (with shoe glue) heel protector plates to the bottoms (seen in photos). I do this to all my shoes before I wear them to prevent the heels from wearing down. I replace them periodically as they wear down. You can leave the protectors on or pull them off with pliers. These are a women’s U.S. size 9.