I can skate either. I wear an 8.5 in blazers and chucks, 9 in vans, 8.5 in Tiagos, 8.5 in Adidas superstar/pro model, but once I did try on 8.5's and 9's of vans pro halfcabs, and they both felt good and it confused me. I wouldn't be able to fit an 8.5 vans slip-on at all. I have wide feet too, and a lil bit of space between my toes and the end of the shoe.
The 8.5 last resorts are shorter than 8.5 blazers. I compared the footbeds. They fit me like a sock, and were kinda tight at first but nothing bad at all, kind of like how blazers are a little tight at first on me, but the blazers were only tight in the width. The 8.5 LRAB's were tight all around. The sz. 9 last resorts fit me too, but I could throw another footbed in on top of the stock/glued in one and they still fit.
I think if you go with the slightly bigger size, know that you can throw another footbed in there to take up space, and then you have some extra cushion, as the stock situation doesn't have much as far as impact protection. Tons of board feel though.