I recently bought my first pair of "Vibrams" or "FiveFingers" as I've learned to call them via my running cohorts. I bought the Vibram KomodoSport shoes at Synergy in Orlando, FL. Originally I had seen only one style of shoe which is now known as the "classic." The shoes are to promote natural movement, meaning the tendons, ligaments, and bone structure are all in-play as naturally intended. Think of these shoes as moving with barefeet yet with protection from rocks. We are a shoe dependent society (and I don't mean Carrie Bradshaw dependency on sexy heels). We depend on shoes for cushioning, protection, and support all day everyday which makes total sense considering the man-made structures we transverse daily. You couldn't pay be enough to run a 5k barefoot on blacktop in July! http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/about_vibram_fivefingers/A person's foot has had to conformed to all types of shoes over the years. People understand when I say, "I have dancer feet" that my feet have been mangled into ballet pointe shoes and tap shoes throughout my childhood and young adulthood. My feet had to conform to the shoes instead of having a shoe conform to my foot's unique shape. I have wide feet with extremely high arches so imagine how fun it is when I find a shoe I like and that looks good!
I'm not saying my new Vibrams look 'good' like my Manolos or Jimmy Choos look good. But I am please to have a shoes that lets my feet be natural and I feel great wearing them. (Even if their design freaks out most people). Not many people think of toes as the nimble fingers of feet. That is, unless they have taken Spanish and learned that "dedos de los pies" means "toes" or literally "fingers of the feet." Even then are you really inclined to find shoes like this and step outside the norm?! Probably not.
Nowadays, there are many different styles of Vibrams FiveFingers depending on how you'd like to use them...running, triathlons, hiking, yoga, etc. I chose mine based on my different activities and the fit. I liked the TrekSport design which is also inclined toward climbing with extra toe grip like an ape's feet. However I liked the adjustability of the KomodoSport better with its velcro over the foot AND behind the heel.
These shoes are extremely comfortable! Granted I have an advantage at adjusting to these shoes. With years of dance, yoga, and riding horses my feet have been exposed to tons of shoe styles. I've also been wearing yoga sandals since '05 (http://yogasandals.com/). I love my yoga sandals because they let my feet work on supporting me instead of working to keep the flipflops on! Having already had spaces between my toes from the yoga sandals I easily adjusted to the FiveFingers. My toes have been trained now to not be as smooshed as they were in 10 years of ballet. (They still look pretty rough but could be waaaay worse!). I first wore the Vibrams for an entire day at EPCOT (an extreme no-no to go to a theme park with new shoes --not to mention the warning of wearing the Vibrams for 30min sessions until your feet adjust). Well the warning probably needed to be heeded by most people, but I know my feet weren't going to have much adjustment considering my yoga sandals were the shoe of choice to walking all over Universal a couple days prior. NO PROBLEM. In fact, my feet felt waaaay better in these weird-looking shoes after walking all day than they did in my more expensive Nimbus 12s running the night before.
I'd recommend trying these shoes...but do take baby steps to adjust your muscles and your mind :)
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