Set your toes free! Your feet will love these!
I am THRILLED that I bought these shoes and have already bought some for my husband. My functional medicine doctor recommends these to all her patients because our feet were NOT meant to be cooped up in shoes that cramp our toes, prevent our muscles from moving, and have so much padding that we can't feel the ground. After wearing these for over a month (and telling everyone who asks me about them how much I LOVE wearing them), I realized that I never wrote a review.If you have never worn "minimalist shoes"/"barefoot shoes" and if you don't walk around barefoot in your home, you will probably need to wear these for 15-30 minutes on the first day and build up to wearing them all day (multiple YouTube videos on "adjusting to barefoot shoes" cover this topic). We have 29 muscles in each foot, and if you have been wearing typical, padded shoes during your waking hours, your foot and ankle muscles have likely atrophied over the years. (I didn't need a break-in period because my entire life I have preferred to walk barefoot in my home.)I was not expecting to absolutely LOVE wearing these shoes, and to prefer to wear them everywhere. Yes, they look unusual, but I don't wear them for fashion--I wear them for healthy feet! The first time I wore them to the gym, I couldn't believe how much easier it was to do balance exercises when all five of my toes could feel the floor! Exercises with a split stance (like lunges) feel more solid when your toes can feel the surface of the floor. Exercises using weight machines and free weights are all easier with these shoes. I have worn them around town doing errands, walking trails, to a contra dance class, and doing yard work. They are well-suited to all of those activities.I bought 5-toe socks when I purchased these, but after trying to wear them with socks, I prefer to wear these Vibrams without socks. If they begin to get a little "whiffy" from summer sweat, I just pop them into the washing machine in a lingerie bag on a gentle cycle and they come out clean and odor-free. I have also learned how much I enjoy walking on different surfaces in these shoes--grass, pebbles, large stones, flat rocks, sand, pavers--I can feel the textures but without the sharp pokes I would get if I were completely barefoot.I usually wear a 7 or 7.5, and I ordered two pair of these to try on. The 7.5-8 felt like a better fit so I returned the 7-7.5. The laces are adjustable so you can choose to have them tight or loose. The first couple of times I wore them, my "pinky toes" didn't want to go into the toe box all the way, but about the 3rd day, my pinky toes separated enough from my 4th toes to be comfy in their individual toe box. I suggest watching a video on how to put these shoes on.They are incredibly lightweight. I live in a hot and humid climate so I don't need warmth from shoes, but if you live in a cold climate, your feet might get cold in these. They are also not waterproof, so if they get wet from yard work/rain/etc. I just stuff them with a dry piece of fabric overnight and they are dry the next day.After wearing these daily for a month, I don't see any wear at all. Thus far, they seem a great value for the money because my feet are delighted with them. Now that I know how happy my toes are when they are free to move, splay, bend, etc., I have also bought a pair of Peluva 5-toe shoes which should arrive tomorrow.