Barefoot shoes for work

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I’ve got my son in vivobarefoots and they are fab. I had my shoes off today in the lovely spring weather and decided I want to treat myself to some. I’ve got wide feet, the start of a hammer toe and need to reawaken my glutes!

A few questions: Can anyone recommend a brand other than vivos for more choice? After a work/everyday shoe ideally.

Are the vivo primus lites smart enough to wear with cropped chinos?

Can I interchange between barefoot shoes and normal shoes as I really can’t afford more than one pair!

How has anyone found transitioning to barefoot just for everyday wear? I’m on my feet a lot for work but won’t be running in them.

Thanks!

I've only ever tried Vivos but there are a lot of different ones on this blog: baresteps.co.uk - I often look here for reviews. Unfortunately a lot of 'barefoot' shoes seem to be overseas so ordering/returns is not easy. But there are some great looking brands!

I've had some Softstar which are good but expensive to import and even more so if you have to return them (although they will send the replacement marked as a return so you don't pay the import taxes again).

I've also had some Xero trainers which I don't love the feel of but they look ok.

I've had two attempts to get Drifter shoes to fit and no joy. I thought the first was my mistake but the second pair was smaller than the template I'd sent them. The company were actually quite helpful and I tried to return them but let's just say the Greek postal service is a bit hit and miss... I was really disappointed because I liked their styles the best. The woman in the link above seemed to get them to work for her.

If you want brogues, Carets do some which look (and feel) great but are VERY expensive.

I'm a year or so in now and I think I've stopped caring so much what people think!

I'd really recommend the Katy Bowman book on foot pain and some CorrectToes toe spacers if you want to realign things. The makers of CorrectToes also have some videos of exercises on their website.

I transitioned for everyday wear before I started running again. I found the pain I started with (pre-barefoot shoe) went away and other aches and pains appeared as I used my muscles differently, but I could get rid of them with stretches and self massage with a ball or knobbly massage thing. No pain at all now and my toes are very slowly starting to spread a bit more. The way I look at it, it took almost 40 years to get to where they were, so its bound to take while for them to change.

Ironically I find that the less padding the better, as it stops me thumping down on my feet and makes me use my glutes. I've since read others saying the same.

What I like best is my Skinners barefoot socks - I've been known to wear then in central London, e.g. to walk to work, and surprisingly few people notice!

Can you interchange between barefoot and non-barefoot? Yes, but you'll reduce the benefit accordingly.

If you've got wide feet then try the men's vivios too. My feet aren't that wide but I had to ditch my vivos as soon as my feet started to change shape (with the CorrectToes)as they were too narrow on my toes.

Oh, and not for the office, but after the socks the most comfortable thing is the Vibram FiveFingers. Weird looking but great.

Happy Little Soles now do adult shoes as well and are probably a good place to keep an eye on for a range of barefoot shoes.

Ooh I’ve found my people! I’m a huge fan of barefoot shoes. I haven’t found any smart ones yet and am thinking of ordering my first pair of Vivos.

I have the couple of pairs from the drifter leather and they are fab. They do custom sizes as well.

Also, you can interchange between barefoot and non barefoot, but you may find you really don’t want to as time goes on! Aside from a couple of ‘barefoot friendly’ pairs (saltwater sandals and tretorn wellies) I no longer own anything else.

The more you wear minimal shoes, the more your feet will return to their natural shape. I can’t imagine stuffing mine back into standard shoes now!

So many lovely replies! Thank you all, this is really helpful. I’m off to research some of the other brands you’ve mentioned. I have a feeling this is going to become expensive...!

Those barefoot socks are so cool! Never seen anything like them. Slightly odd question but what does everyone do for slippers? Grippy socks? Anyone found any good moccasins? Would be good to have something I can also nip outside...

Well as you name says, more is more

Slippers - I have indoor Kiwi Sheepskins (like Uggs)
Grippy socks - some massive ones called Heat Holders or something like that.
Pull on shoes - Softstar, or my socks!

Oohh, I'm glad I've found this thread. I'm thinking of buying my first pair of barefoot shoes but I'm wondering if they'll be sturdy enough for city and beach walking when it's hot?

I wear heels maybe twice per year, boots, pumps or trainers at other times and I'm most happy barefoot or in thin soled slipper boots (I am very stylish ).

Any recommendations please and have you had success buying online with the sizing ?

They’ll be absolutely fine for the heat, Poppy - you don’t actually need much to protect your feet from hot pavements. I live in the Middle East where temps reach 40+++ in summer and have never had problems, even with very very thin pool slippers.

I was worried about wearing through the soles, but it turns out when I walk properly rather than crashing down on heels, that doesn’t happen!

Conker shoes in Totnes offer a baresole option on their boots/shoes. They cost a bit but are repairable and they use top leather so last for years.

@thislido lol, yes good point! This is all sounding v positive!

Paul that’s a great tip, thanks. Unintentionally or otherwise, they are rather coy about the thickness of their barefoot soles and the pictures are unhelpful (the ones on the barefoot page don’t appear to actually depict the soles described), but I shall email then and ask! Have you had any?

I’ve reread their page now and I think the pictures are right but the soles look very thick! I shall ask them anyway.

The only downside is that normal shoes will feel horribly restrictive after you've been wearing them for a while. I wear my trainers to work, switch to normal flats for walking to and from the copier/filing cabinets and leave them off under the desk.

No but I like the idea of the barefoot ones. I have the pull on boots with the tyre sole. I can vouch for them being wonderfully comfortable and good quality though.

Thanks feesh. I've just ordered some Nike free trainer things to break me in gently whilst I'm finding the right shoes. They must be non-leather for me so I doubt they'll be very hardy. May also get some of the socks mentioned upthread, the ones that look like aquashoes (which I could quite happily wear all the time).

I had an answer from Conker. The barefoot crepe Coles are about 10mm and the barefoot tyre about 11-12mm - the mid layer of crepe you can use in the pics is a manufacturing necessity. However, on request they will use the thinner crepe that normally goes on the sandals, which gives a thickness of about 6mm.

I don't know were Coles came from. Soles!

I've been looking at getting some barefoot shoes, because my arches collapsed and my body alignment is all off now. Does anybody have any tips on how to transition to barefoot walking? I've read you have to walk more on your toes, but that doesn't seem comfortable?

It’s quite hard to find nice barefoot shoes for work. At the moment I have some Josef Seibel ones that have about a 1cm heel, but otherwise are a good compromise on width and flexibility. Saying that, I don’t wear them very often, as I usually work from home and can be proper barefoot. I have tried and returned a couple of pairs of dressier Vivo shoes, as they didn’t fit quite right.

I have amassed a good collection of shoes over the last 5 or so years. I have some viva boots, trainers and sandals, some wildling trainers and some Camper Peu boots and trainers. Some are more barefoot than others and they are mainly casual, but I quite like having a variety of different soles. I can’t go back to shoe-shaped feet. I like having strong feet and feeling everything.

Good luck with finding the right shoes. It can be a bit pricey at first, getting enough pairs to suit your lifestyle, but in the long run, there’s a lot less choice when you go out shopping.

You don’t have to walk on your toes!

It probably depends how you walk already. For me it was about slowing down a bit and not massively over striding. I focus on using my glutes and keep my feet more underneath me, rather than what I was doing before which was striding out and kind of falling onto my feet using gravity.

Look up Katy Bowman’s booksand her website/ podcast Nutritious Movement.

Tilikum
There is a real relationship between your hips/glutes and the arches of your feet. If you stand up and try to align your hips over your ankles (I used to feel like I was falling backwards till I got used to better alignment) and then engage your glutes by, sort of, twisting your heels (without actually moving them) towards one another. You should see your arch lift up.

That’s why people like Katy Bowman (who is brilliant and a good place to start) talk about the whole body rather than just trying to address one part of the body.

You will still get a lot of benefit from foot exercises, like picking stuff up with your toes.

To walk ‘properly’ you want to be barefoot or in properly flexible shoes and walk all the way through your foot; heel to toe. Play around with it, try and walk with as much of your foot getting in contact with the ground as you can. That way you should push off from the toes and use your glutes, rather than lifting forward from the quads (like the green man on traffic lights does). I found that my getting my head position right made a big difference.