Going Barefoot

[River]

Coming from the yoga studio owner: I see these ALL the time.  They are quite popular.  We practice yoga barefoot, but some people have issues that require some sort of footwear so they use these.  Even people without issues wear them because it helps spread your toes out which provides better balance.

I might actually get a pair myself.   

They're not THAT creepy...

[justin]

Well since those are my feet in that original picture I figured I'd log in and opine ...

The "five fingers" moniker is from Vibram, an Italian company.  They thought it was clever b/c the italian word for fingers is the same as the word for toes.  I'm guessing it's something like phalanges but I have no idea.

I call them my "birthday shoes" -- and created a fan site for them: http://birthdayshoes.com

Basically, you can do just about anything in them that you'd normally do wearing sneakers or more traditional footwear. 

People run marathons:

http://birthdayshoes.com/index.php/birthday-shoes-interview-with-matthew-fleming

Hang glide:

http://birthdayshoes.com/index.php/hang-gliding-barefoot-interview-with-davis-straub

Kettlebells (or weight lifting generally):

http://birthdayshoes.com/index.php/sandy-sommer-talks-kettlebells-and-five-fingers

And on and on.  If wearing a very thin sock makes your feet sweat, then these would do about the same.  Amazingly, they individual toes thing is less annoying than the thong part of a flip flop -- I actually find it a lot more uncomfortable to wear my flip flops these days. 

Why would you wear these ugly things on your feet?  Basically b/c it makes biomechanical sense.  Our feet were molded by countless generations to deal with traversing the earth without a clunky foamed "foot mit" strapped onto them.  And just like you'd expect if you wore a cast on an arm for a few months, you'd expect your arm muscles to atrophy -- well the same happens with your feet (which is why if you start going barefoot or effectively barefoot you'll be sore for awhile as your feet get rehabilitated).

Anyway, for a bit of humor and *really* creepy "shoes that look like feet," check out JJ Casuals:

http://birthdayshoes.com/index.php/j-j-casuals-shoes-that-look-like-feet

Let me know if you guys have any questions about them -- BTW, I don't own a Ducati Monster but if my wife ever let me get a motorcycle, it would be a Monster.  Gotta love the bare-ness of it - a powerful combination of function and form!

[GAAN]

Hi Justin

[redxblack]

Is this the first step to a nudist clothing line?

[Popeye the Sailor]

I refer my feet atrophied and under a set of steel toes, thankyouverymuch.


I don't see the point of 'em , either. If you want to go barefoot, go barefoot. Same difference, less money.


Either way, I'm going to call you a dirty hippie.

[CairnsDuc]

that and i want to know who the jackhole is that always comes in and sits in the stall RIGHT NEXT TO ME when there are 4 other open stalls.

It's your Gay stalker 



Not, that's there's anything wrong with that, Well, all except the Stalking part

[somegirl]

Some people seem to do ok with just plain bare feet.

[ROBsS4R]

I totally see the point of them.

You have more of a natural foot movement with some abrasion protection on the bottom of the foot.

Its funny how there are thousands of styles of closed foot shoes and these seem to creep everyone out 

Yeah they look ridiculous but I can see them being totally functional. 

[GAAN]

I totally see the point of them.

You have more of a natural foot movement with some abrasion protection on the bottom of the foot.

Its funny how there are thousands of styles of closed foot shoes and these seem to creep everyone out 

Yeah they look ridiculous but I can see them being totally functional. 

and yet

mittens instead of gloves seem equally silly

[Popeye the Sailor]

I totally see the point of them.

You have more of a natural foot movement with some abrasion protection on the bottom of the foot.

Its funny how there are thousands of styles of closed foot shoes and these seem to creep everyone out 

Yeah they look ridiculous but I can see them being totally functional. 

Man up and get calluses.


People invented shoes for a dang reason-it's to protect the delicate foot. Next time you drop something, have someone step on a foot, or discover something sharp on the ground, you'll be throwing those things away.

[TiNi]

and yet

mittens instead of gloves seem equally silly

i happen to LoVe mittens 

[NAKID]

While yes, they look REALLY creepy, I can see the functionality of them. I like going barefoot, but these would offer some protection from stepping on things that might hurt...

[ROBsS4R]

Man up and get calluses.


People invented shoes for a dang reason-it's to protect the delicate foot. Next time you drop something, have someone step on a foot, or discover something sharp on the ground, you'll be throwing those things away.

Well I don't totally agree with that. I mean every show has a purpose. They all have various levels of protection. I mean you don't go running in your motorcycle boots do you?

Your less likely to drop something heavy while running or doing yoga in those shoes.

[ROBsS4R]

and yet

mittens instead of gloves seem equally silly

Didn't even think of that. That's a good example of a double standard. Of course you have more mobility, feeling, articulation with gloves than mittens. Why wouldn't that be the same for these new style of shoes 

[justin]

Man up and get calluses.


People invented shoes for a dang reason-it's to protect the delicate foot. Next time you drop something, have someone step on a foot, or discover something sharp on the ground, you'll be throwing those things away.

The "delicate foot"?  So human beings existed for countless millennia without Nikes and yet our bare feet are delicate?

I think the problem is more that we've developed cultural expectations that feet should have something attached to them, and that attachment increases in proportion to the formality of whatever event you're attending.

In the end, the more connected your feet are to the ground (or to whatever surface they are touching), the more agile/powerful/mobile you will feel.  Barefooted is not only natural in a fundamentally human way, it also makes functional sense -- not unlike the exposed nature of the Monster, no?

And as has been said, the purpose of them is to provide *some* protection while allowing feet to do what they were designed to do - root our legs to the earth, feel out the ground, power through a stride, climb a wall, whatever.

No doubt you could get callouses, but that's a fairly unreasonable demand in our concrete jungle where you'd be kicked out of your job if you were barefoot all the time (which you'd have to be to "man up" to get functional callouses).  These "shoes" help instantly provide us a substitute for these callouses.  Why is that a bad thing?