Primal Professional Dress Shoe

[JustinB]

http://www.indiegogo.com/the-Primal-Professional-barefoot-dress-shoe

This guy has a start up.  He is trying to design a barefoot dress shoe.  Looks like a solid design. 

[Wehttam]

Looks awesome!

[Kryx]

Wow this looks amazing! I will definitely get some depending on price!

[Hawkeye]

$300 is pricey. Would probably get a pair for $200 though.

[BearFooted]

Hey a shoe that is mean to be dressy.  I like that idea.

The price is steep.  I like the idea though.  The reason it is so much is because it is made local/sustainably.  If they were made in China they could be sold for $140 or much less. 

I don't know I feel about the idea of the fake sides that make it look like a heel.  I wonder how that would feel around the foot.  Seems like it would be kind of like having your foot in a Tupperware container or something.

I wonder how well the toe effect works.  Does tapering it dramatically after the toe splay area affect the movement of your toes at all. 

I think I may make my partner buy this.  His dress shoes kind of suck. 

[JustinB]

I agree $300 is a ton of money and that local stuff is a killer.  He says they are equivalent with other pairs of dress shoes, but we are a niche market and he is pricing himself out of it.  I have never shelled out that kind of money for shoes and I am accountant and used to be an auditor.

The heel is an ingenious idea, and I think as long as they were wide enough and wrapped in a nice inner it would do a fantastic job.

[BearFooted]

If you do not feel any structure from the recessed heal I would not mind it.  It depends on how flexible the rubber is around that part. 

$300-400 is how much I would expect to spend on a super nice leather jacket... I don't like paying over $160 for a pair of shoes. 

He is right though some poeple pay lots of money for shoes.  Personally if it gets the cost down I don't give a crap where it is made or any of that junk.

I wonder if he runs in to the issue of your slacks being too short then.  If it is minimal like it should be and you are recessed in the heel you should be shorter then you would be in regular dress shoes.  This could affect the end of pants like VFF can. 

Personally I had all my pants taken up to a 27 inch inseam from a 31-32inch inseam because I did not want them touching the ground in my previous shoes.  The wet Seattle ground would ruin Khakis real quick if they drag on your shoe bottom.  I lucked out though because of that modification all my Khakis fit with my VFFs for the most part.   

Also fun fact I don't own a pair of jeans, jean shorts, or any shorts at all.  The only thing I ever wear out of the house is Khaki pants. 

[JustinB]

Wow, that's a big take down.  You either had really long pants, or brought them up high.  I own two lengths of jeans.  32 and 30's.  32's I use safety pins or S biner clips, for 30's they sit just barely above my heel.  If it were wet out, the bottom might get a little wet, but for everday wear it's not an issue.

I would think for dress pants, they would have to be hemmed, but for the most part, dress pants are shorter than jeans because you never want them under your shoes or even covering your shoes. 

[BearFooted]

I wear my pants on my hips quite low.  I have a belly and it sets below it.  I don't do like some heavy poeple do and put their pants around their belly button.

I am currently 6foot 1inch barefooted.  I am around 260lbs.  I was around 300 but I have just been loosing weight natural over the past few years.  Once I settle on a weight I am going to update my Khaki wardrobe to a new size.  I just reached the very last best on my belt today.  I cant make it go any tighter with out making a new hole.    I went down 5 belt holes since I first got this belt.

I went down to 27 because I got sick of having wet pant bottoms here in Seattle.  The splashing from walking in puddles would get them wet at the bottom.  So I went short enough that I don't have to worry about wet pant legs.  They look fine when I am standing.  If I sit and cross my leg they ride up a bit but if I am wearing long socks it looks fine.  

I watched the video a few more times.  I am interested in the shoes but I don't know.  I don't have an issue wearing VFF to ultra formal events.  I would perfer to wear VFF all the time.  The only way I would go back to a non-toe shoe is if I had to go to a place that banned VFF.  Then I would be willing to spend $300 on something that would help me.

[Wehttam]

There is a shoe with a similar heel design on it, but is not as dressy. I believe it's called the Vans Pritchard.

http://www.vans.com/microsites/otw/pritchard.php

[acc]

I don't see why you would want this over the VivoBarefoot Ra?

[BearFooted]

I don't see why you would want this over the VivoBarefoot Ra?

Don't like Vivo or Merrell they are too narrow for my wide feet.  I also don't like the toe box on most of them.

[JustinB]

I don't see why you would want this over the VivoBarefoot Ra?

The Ra is not professional at all.  I could not wear the Ra to work or with a suit, you could wear these to as a formal dressy occassion

[somnapathy]

I don't see why you would want this over the VivoBarefoot Ra?

Options.  Competition.  The field of dressy options in minimalist footwear is woefully underserved.  I've read good things about the Ra.  But other than that, pickings are few and far between.

[Little King]

I'm not sure about a dress shoe but I would be willing to pay a lot for a high quality cowboy boot that was made like this