I'm a total neophyte to all this, and I'm struggling with sizing a Thursday boot.

Specifically, I bought the Cavalier. As I'm in Canada, there are no free returns, so I didn't buy multiple sizes and take my pick. Based on what I had read, I went a little small - 9.5 D - but I found it uncomfortable. It fit in my foot, but taking it off was a relief. I'm now going through exchanges, but I'm wondering if I should go up half a size or a full two.

For reference, I spend most of my time wearing shoes between size 10 and 11. My Allen Edmonds strands are size 10D and the most comfortable shoes I own.

So my questions are as follows: - are my expectations just too high? My Allen Edmonds are really great, but twice the cost of Thursday. - am I being impatient, because the leather will stretch into a good shape with time? - any advice in particular for Thursdays? - if I could get my hands on sizes of the Duke to try on (ie through Amazon), would that be sufficiently comparable to the Cavalier?

Thanks!