Una - I tried these on last week because I too had been drooling over them. I can say that they are even more beautiful IRL - but, the leather was really, really stiff and so kind of hard to bend my foot at the ankle and walk - so I didn't get them - thinking that I didn't want to pay full price for them since they were stiff! However, I have them in my shopping bag and am planning to get them either when/if they go on sale - or, when I figure out how many Nordstroms notes that I have and can apply to the purchase!
So - in answer to your question - NO - not too much hardware. Seriously gorgeous boots.
