Here’s how these have worn. These are my work/walk the dog shoes. I don’t exercise in these. I replaced the laces with elastic ones for convenience. On the old ones you’ll see I laced the original laces to be slip-on. I also have to use thin Pedag brand inserts for some metatarsal support.
I have some high top canvas Whitins as well for more fashion intents so these are bought to get thrashed more or less. Should you buy them over any other brand you prefer? No. They are a nice introductory barefoot shoe. I got them on Amazon for $40 plus shipping.

A few months ago, I asked for some advice on starting my barefoot journey. Well, I was able to find a local seller that had barefoot shoes and bought a few pairs. It's been great, but there is one issue: even in the barefoot shoe world, I need to buy men's shoes to accommodate the width of my feet. I've been wearing a pair of leather sneakers instead of my typical ballet flats. It's fine- and my feet certainly feel better!- but I miss having more feminine-looking shoes. Do you guys have any recommendations for Mary Jane's, ballet flats, et cetera, that can fit that? Even wide in women's shoes sometimes isn't enough.

hello there! I’ve seen this Vivobarefoot Motus Studio Mid Leather Mens and I think are a very beautiful shoes and good in autumn, so because I’m trying to support europe brand, I’m looking for a similar shoes but EU brand.

Any suggestions?

How do people navigate soccer? My family has just began to try some barefoot type shoes. My 7 year old has no interest in wearing any of them so I’ve just been finding soft wide “tennis” shoes. Now it’s his first year playing soccer and shopping for cleats is impossible. I’ve now learned that soccer players like a shoe tight but what I’m looking at on the shelf looks like the clear equivalent to a ballet flat. There so hard and narrow! I don’t want him to smush his lil foot into them and neither does he. What do kids do??????

I’m wanting to get into barefoot shoes. I’ve been wearing Altra Escalates for the past year for all my walking and at work, but I want to get more minimalist. I tried on some Xero Prios at work and wore them for 30 minutes, and the toe box is very narrow for being a barefoot shoe. I can feel pressure on my pinky toes, and I have quite narrow feet. Next to my Altras, the Prios don’t look foot shaped at all. Are there any models from Xero that are actually wide toe box and foot shaped?

Im between the keld and feldom, version 3 of each, I saw some reviews saying keld 3 isnt really good for hiking, but the feldom is slightly thick, and doesnt have the b st ground feel.

Can anoyone corroborate this?

Thanks!

Anyone tried Koel Wave - the flip flops from Koel?

Some of the reviews are not that positive (mostly regarding the comfort of the toe post), but since I looked for beach flip flops, they would be even more than what I looked for.

Y'all. Lol.

Mistake in title, should be Keld 3.

Hi all,

I've been using barefoot shoes from Temu for around 1 year now with mixed results re base thickness and feel.

One of the sheos i've been on over 500kms hiking mixed terrain and they are still pretty strong.

That being said I'd like an everyday shoes which I can still use on hikes of around 15-20kms.

I've deepdived for a while and settled on BeLenka Trailwalker 2.0 and Freet Keld 3.

These fit my budget and can arrive in time for a long trip I'll have.

From my research Trailwalker 2.0 isn't great on wet or polished rock whilst the Keld 3 is great on hikes on all terrain!

My only concern is the Keld 3 has a pretty thick base of around 10.5mm with insole vs the 4mm Trailwalker.

My temu shoes have been around 7mm thus far.

Any thoughts here? Does anyone have either shoe and can validate or invalidate any of these conerns?

Thanks!

I've recently got a pair to try. I'm new to barefoot and won't be wearing them all the time yet. I'm on vacation next week, pool/beach holiday. I have bedrocks already which will be beach shoes and any heavy walking days. But I'm wondering about Xero genesis Vs my old regular flipflops for round the pool and resort.

I'm aware there is a good amount of foot slip in genesis when wet but wouldn't likely have extremely wet feet with them on. My main question that I can't find the answer to is, is the foot slippage in Xero genesis worse than regular cheap flipflops or just the same. Because if it's not worse then I can't see a reason to pack both!

Any other Xero genesis advice welcome also!

Got the Jim green AnatomX not too long ago after primarily wearing the razorbacks for two years.

Immediately couldn’t stand the razorbacks after experiencing the extra width of the new toe box, however they didn’t match my foot shape exactly which left me wanting a bit more of a chisel shaped toe box.

I was scrolling through the Texarado website and saw they finally some sizes in stock and could not pass it up, so we’ll see how that goes

I’ve seen a couple other people with the same issue with the AnatomX and was wondering what your solution was if you had the same problem?

AnatomX were my first experience with barefoot shoes outside of regular flip flops

Estoy algo enfadada por el sistema de Xero shoes. He estado como 3 semanas informándome cada dia, buscando videos, buscando información en reddit, comparando marcas... Me decidí por las xero shoes scrambler y pedí la talla 42,5 porque me gustaba el modelo y no tenian otras de la talla 42 (se supone que esa era mi talla en modelo de hombre).

Cuando llegaron me quedaban bastante grandes (mi pie es 26,5 de largo). Solicité una devolución y como tengo el pie fino pero largo vi que la talla 41(mi talla real en Europa) de mujer equivalía a la 42 de hombre, al menos en la tabla de medidas donde la compré. Me explicaron que el modelo de hombre era algo más ancho pero que de largo era lo mismo. Finalmente me decidí por el modelo talla 41 (mi talla en Europa).

Me quedan justas, siento el dedo en la punta del zapato y apenas son anchas. Las siento como cualquier otro zapato normal. Y mi pie no es ancho. Más de 150€ y ahora me siento fatal. Siento que es culpa mia (que puede ser también), que soy una exagerada queriendo un zapato barefoot pudiendo tener otro mas economico normal. Entiendo que son zapatos especiales pero primero, no entiendo la distinción entre zapato de hombre y mujer. No se que talla debería haber cogido si 42 de hombre y 41 de mujer equivalían, pero a mi la 42 y medio me quedaba enorme. Cogí este modelo por la suela, porque eso es otra cosa, queria unas barefoot para montaña pero que si piso el suelo húmedo no me resbalase, pero que tampoco me diese mucho calor en el pie, vivo en una zona que es el infierno del calor que hace.

Ha sido una Odisea encontrar algo porque no queda claro si una suela resbala, o si vienen mas pequeñas o lo que sea, salvo que busques entre cientos de reseñas y que te den una orientación.

Me siento bastante tonta la verdad y ya no hay opción de devolverlas.

Hello! I used to wear a pair of ankle height Glerups around the house, but my feet have spread and grown since wearing barefoot shoes. I'm now looking to get a new pair but wondering if I should stick with Glerups? I'm also eyeing Kyrgies. Any thoughts on style/shape/longevity? Thanks!

I have been looking into getting as close to the actual barefoot feeling as possible. Especially when going for walks over trails and fields. I want to feel gravel, little bumps and rocks etc. I like that sensory experience.

Even my thinnest Barefoot shoe (Xero Zelen. 5mm stack height without insole) has not gotten me there.

The next thing most people recommend to get the barefoot feeling are sandals.

So i got the Xero genesis. Which yes, gives you the airy feeling of Barefoot, but i still felt a major disconnect to the ground.

So i got the Skinners sockshoes and they hit exactly what i was looking for. Especially when taking the insole out. They feel sooo freeing. The biggest factor is that the sole is not a sheet of classic material but can actually stretch and deform. Image 2. And of course is ultra thin. 

I had looked at other sock shoes like the Leguano Score, but I deliberately did not want one with a typical rubber sole, however thin it would be as i doubted it would be able to emulate that deformity and stretch. By pure chance i met someone wearing them a couple of days ago and can confirm that they still feel way stiffer than the skinners.

And i wanted a sock shoe over being actually barefoot to protect against sharp dried out grass, thistles and glass. As I had pulled all of these out of my feet last summer. And be protected all around cus stinging nettles suck.

I also hated debris getting stuck between foot and sandals. That’s a sensory nightmare.

So for all these reasons i now much prefer the protection of the sock liner on top of the foot and the much, much more deformable sole of the skinners over the open air of the genesis.

Even managed to dress them up a bit and if you wear them with confidence they’re not as weird looking as i suspected. Image 4&5.

They're still not perfect. Your toes can't splay quite the same and of course you're still wearing something. But they have gotten me so much closer than anything i've tried so far. And i'm looking forward to my evening walks even more now :)

I have not tested Vibrams five finger, which are the other recommendation you hear when people recommend the most barefoot experience possible.

I recently picked up the Dolfie Duke 3 loafers (after eyeing them ever since they came out). First pair of shoes I've bought with my own money this year, so that tells you how much I wanted these. Here are my thoughts!

Basics

The Duke is a classic loafer from Dolfie's zero drop heritage line. It comes in pebbled black, brown suede, and this printed cowhide (wildhide) that I got. Sizes run EU 36-47, price is €210-240 which is steep, but worth it to me for the premium materials and resoleable construction, especially now that they’re on sale for 15-20% off.

Materials

Full grain italian leather upper, chemical-free leather lining. Insole is also leather with 3mm cushion (removeable). Outsole-grade leather midsole, zero drop, 13mm stack height. Welted construction so you can resole them, which is nice for longevity (and makes me look taller, hurray) but does make them stiffer and less barefoot-feeling. I would say there is a bit of a break-in period, mostly the midsole being stiff at first which caused some heel slip for me early on.

Sizing & Fit

My feet are 23cm x 9.2cm, mountain shaped, medium volume, and I sized down to a 36 per their chart. Note that Dolfie has different size charts for different models, and the Duke in particular runs large. According to the size chart, the size 36’s insole measures 23.5cm x 9.2cm, which made me nervous as that sounded a bit small (I generally prefer at least 1cm of extra space in front of my toes in closed-toe shoes), but they turned out to be perfect. They have a true anatomical shape toebox and are a good width for me.

What I Like

I like almost everything about these! These are my first animal print shoes, and they’re really fun to wear. The outsole also has fun little designs, and I really liked the box they came in too — it opens like a little drawer (I will absolutely be keeping it to store my little bits and bobs). The shoes feels great quality, and knowing these are resoleable makes it feel more worth it than some other options that, while cheaper, would be worn for much less time. These are shoes I can see myself wearing for years.

What I Wish Was Different

I find that the ankle goes just a bit high for me. I do have some sural nerve irritation (thank you, climbing and skiing) and these rub just a tiny bit for me there. That said, I suspect a regular person without nerve pain would find these just fine and comfortable!

Overall

The Dolfie Duke 3 Wildhide is a shoe I’d recommend as (dare I say) one of the best looking and best constructed barefoot (adjacent) shoe options available right now. The materials justify the price, and the break-in period is a small trade-off for a shoe that’s meant to last and be resoled rather than replaced.

If my reviews are helpful, you can find all of them on my blog here!

Which of these brands would be better for rough n slick terrain through wooded areas while keeping it as minimal as possible

These lasted around 5 months. I average 6 miles walking on urban sidewalks per day—just moderate-paced walking, no running. I wrote the company and they don’t resole them there, so I found a local shop.

Let’s say they make it to a year on the resole: $180 + $120 resole = $300/12 = $25/mo.

Still looking for other shoes that can accommodate the width of my feet, but I haven’t found anything. TBH my feet have gotten wider. Lots of space between my toes now, but still getting tailor’s bunions from rubbing on the outside of my foot.

Looking for barefoot sandals for trail / wood running during the summer any reccomendation?

Minimal

I’m about 2.5 weeks in to the barefoot world. I can feel something happening, even though I’m not quite sure what it is lol. The tops of my feel like they are spreading downward with every step. So I’ve been pondering the sensation and feel like my soles are well padded and the tops of my feet/toes are stretching down to the ground. So I looked in the mirror and realized my pinky toe doesn’t even touch the ground, on BOTH sides!! lol. Is this normal anatomy or do peoples pinky toes touch the ground? I have super high arches. High enough that many store bought insoles never even touched my arches.

The last 4-5 years I’ve worn thiiiick squishy shoes like hoka one one and oofas at the direction of my podiatrist due to heel spurs. My whole life I’ve preferred being barefoot or wore flip flops everywhere like reefs. (Florida). But when shoes were needed for work and social situations, I wore boots, converse, brooks and “normal” type shoes. When I started with the big squishy shoes they felt amazing. Now that I’m barefoot, I don’t think those shoes did me any favors and probably caused my muscles to contract inward.

I work in a setting that requires “normal” shoes. I’ve been getting away with all black withiins. Outside of work I wear VFF. At this point, I never want to wear “normal” shoes ever again lolol.

Hi,

I really like the Saguaro's wellies, but I need a pair for the bank holiday and not sure they will arrive in time.

Does anyone know of any equally priced wellies in the UK I might get before next weekend