to loathe those weird shoes with the rocking bit on the sole?

[OTheHugeManatee]

You know, the Skechers/MBT/whatever ones that claim to firm up your bottom by making you wobble around on the soles of your shoes. I am seeing more and more of them these days.

They are the Toyota Prius of the shoe world: barbarous to look at and of spurious actual benefit. AIBU to loathe them?

YANBU - they make the wearers look like tossers for wearing something so absurd on their feet.

They are also pretty gullible too if they buy into the faux ethnic pseudo-science that make absurd claims about the non existent benefits of wearing those shoes.

fit flops?

I have a problem here. I have seen some I like and they look comfy and there aren't that many shoes around that I like.
However they have fitflop on them and I don't want a label on my shoes saying "I think I have a big arse and that makes me sad" as although my arse is not the slender rear of my teens I am not slightly bothered by it.

WWYD?

They are rather fugly aren't they.

There's a mum at school that wears the shoe ones with her smart office trouser suit. It just doesn't look right. Its not helped by the fact that she is tiny and slim and the shoes are huge and clompy!

I think its more the MBT ones that we're talking about (at least I am).

Fitflops are inoffensive by comparison.

Hmm going to have to google

my fitflop trainers are the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned and I think they look like normal trainers really. I am not under any illusion that they tone me up though.

Mind you, I also absolutely love my Prius too - its cheap to run and a really nice drive (and I dont normally care about cars at all), so perhaps its just me.

Norbert - I know someone who wears a gigantic pair of those MBT ones with skinny jeans. The effect is alarming

Sardine - yes, you have it in a nutshell there. Wearing those shoes declares to all and sundry 'I have body image problems as well as appalling taste '.

Don't wear them then. Simples.

Mbts have had a miraculous effect on my bad back. Refused to buy them for ages on grounds of aesthetics and arse contentment.

I was wrong, they rock:)

I have a pair, they are awesomely comfortable and helped with some pretty aggravating foot pain.

Oh I saw a woman have a very nasty fall whilst wearing MBTs. It was in M&S and she rocked too far forward and fell on her face, blood everywhere. They scare me now.

Have recently started to suffer from plantar fasciitis along with knee joint problems and am looking at those shoes with interest! My GP broke his heels skiing and swears by MBTs

Manatee -I would imagine they resemble a golf club

Sardine: Have a look on Ebay for the Avon fitflops. Personally prefer the black ones, they are extremely comfortable and not expensive either. I tried the new brown ones they have out, but didn't find them so comfortable, BUT if you buy them from Avon and you don't like them you can return them even if they have been worn so there's no risk.

Norbert - I was struggling to think of a better image than a pair of sledgehammers but you have it right there

delilah How very dare you turn my fitflop hate thread into a fitflop love thread?

When I was working in London the best entertainment on a long hot commute was watching women struggle to stand up on the tube wearing them. Oh what fun. The only person I ever knew who wore them was rather over weight and seemed to be getting bigger and bigger rather than smaller as a result. No-one else in our office bothered once we saw that.

I love my fit flops though and deliberately went for sparkly ones without fitflop written on them.

I think I might take the plunge delilah!!!

MBTs may not tone my bum up (never expected them to) but they have done wonders for my back. They're actually classed as a medical product and you can get them VAT free if you have back problems, there is a lot of research backing them up.

And I'm sorry if I offend you all by looking like a tosser wearing them. I'm aware they're fugly, but seeing as it means I can actually go to work and do my job after breaking my back I'll carry on wearing them if that's OK.

I have a pair and they are really comfortable in fact the most comfortable trainers I've had.

I have the black fitflop trainers and they are the most comfortable trainers. I have ehlers-danlos syndrome, hypermobile knees and flat feet. I can do 12 hour shifts in a busy hospital ward without a twinge.That is with a great thick orthotic insole too. I don't care how ugly you think they look. No illusions that they are actually toning me up either.

Fitflops are so comfortable !
they don't make you fit but they aren't ugly!!

I have plantar fasciitis (90% in remission but am being cautious) and fitflops have saved my life - they are sooo comfortable, but most of all they are cushioned and have allowed my heel to mend.

A friend of mine wears MBTs for back problems and they have given her back her quality of life.

I think if you're gullible enough to think this kind of shoe will make you thin then you deserve the pain in the wallet, but for those of us with medical problems they are a godsend. And many fitflops are not ugly (though the ankle boots kind of are even on my tall frame, but boy did they keep my feet toasty warm when the snow lay thick on the ground )

I have the sparkly black fit flops because they are sparkly and black. I am under no illusion of their healing properties but they are very comfy. I can walk miles in them with the kids and not look totally scruffy by wearing my walking trainers.