How is your Chelsea boot sized?

So I purchased a pair of Men’s Legend Chelsea boots in the RT3 last from their seconds site and it was extremely tight. Pain as soon as I put them on, as it was small in both length and width. I thought I got a pair of women’s boots and asked my girlfriend to try them on and it fit her perfectly. I’m a men’s size 8 and she’s a women’s size 8 so I emailed Thursday support and they let me exchange it. 2 exchanges later, and I’m still stuck with an extremely tight boot. I’m a US brannock size 8EE so the sizing tool on the website recommended me to go true to size and get the 8. But with these pairs, I’d have to size up at least a full size and a half if these are actually the men’s Legends and not the women’s.

Are your Chelsea boots similar to your captains (or other Thursday boots) in size, or did you have to size up like I’d have to?

I’ve confirmed with support before the exchanges happened that I would indeed get a men’s.