VFF Noob Buys his First Pair of Vibram Five Fingers (black Classics)

By Justin Owings on Mar 1, 2010 | In User Stories | Leave a comment »

"This is me the day I got my all black classics. I'm VFF noob in the forum. I thought my canine companion Amy would make a good backdrop. They take a little getting used to but I am liking them more and more and getting them on is getting a lot easier."

Above we see Guy's first pair of Vibram Five Fingers Classics in black. I asked Guy — "VFF noob" on the forums — to share his experience getting his first pair of "barefoot shoes" as I think it's fun and informative for Vibram veterans to remember back to the not-so-distant past, one in which the novelty of foot gloves was still fresh.

Below is what Guy had to share on picking a Vibram Five Fingers style, his buying experience, and how his feet have broken in to his new minimalist shoes:

Initially I was torn between getting classics or KSOs. I kind of hoped to buy locally in case I had any problems as it seems more than a couple people have sizing or product defect issues. I found a store to at least try some on and the only thing they had in my size were blue camo KSOs. I liked the feel but wanted a more casual color scheme. I called around and no one had any black KSOs or classics in stock.

I started checking online and GSS didn't have either KSOs or classics in black in my size, only the KSO treks. Even Vibram was out of stock on black KSOs. I broke down and bought my all black classics directly from Vibram in the same size, M41, that I had tried on in blue camo KSOs.

They arrived pretty quickly, I think I ordered them on the 11th or 12th and they arrived the morning of the 16th. When I first put them on they were pretty snug and I was worried that I had fallen prey to the black classics/KSOs sizing issue. My toes weren't ramming the ends of the toe pockets but definitely touching them. I found that my heel wasn't sitting back all the way which was forcing my toes a little too deep into their pockets.

Another thing was that the seam on the inside bottom edge of my big toes was kind of bulky (where the yellow microfiber footbed is stitched in) and hits about 1/3rd of the way in on the bottom of either big toe. It made me wonder if I have especially fat toes or something but I believe they are just average. This was especially uncomfortable on my right foot at first but it seems to have faded completely away although we'll see how it goes once I go for a long walk in them or something. I have read about people trimming excess fabric and although I don't particularly care for the idea of that but I guess we'll see.

The more I've worn them the more comfortable they have become and the more I forget that I'm even wearing them at all. It's been a little too chilly here in Central Oklahoma to wear them outside much. Wearing them at work isn't particularly comfortable as the flooring is all tile or concrete and the balls of my feet don't care for it at all. I played with my dog in my yard a bit yesterday and the first time I tried to really dig in and chase her both my ankles seemed to scream "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO US!" I guess I've been a little too inactive over the winter :-) (cold weather and no warm-up whatsoever probably didn't help matters).

I hope to get some KSOs or KSO Treks in the near future for some hiking and more active stuff.

Thanks, Guy! I think you'll find that in time the Classics will get more and more comfortable. I'm not sure if it's your feet that are breaking in to the feel of Classic Five Fingers (or VFFs generally) or it's the Classic Vibrams breaking in to your feet, but I find that though Classics may not initially blow your mind in comfort, over time, they feel less and less "on" your foot, which makes your foot feel more and more barefoot!

Also, I think you'll find that as you walk in them on hard surfaces, your gait will adjust so that you don't pound the ground: when you're close to barefoot, you have to walk more gently.

Thanks for sharing your Vibram newbie perspective with us, Guy! We've all been there.

About the Author — I founded BirthdayShoes.com in April 2009 on realizing just how much I enjoyed having "free feet" - I mostly wanted to use them for weights, sprints, and plyometrics (I'm not much of a runner!). I'm a Googler by day and minimalist footwear aficionado by night; you can find me 'round Atlanta. If you want to catch up with what I'm doing outside of the site here, follow me on twitter @bdayshoes or @justinno or check out my personal site JustinOwings.com.
Justin Owings+ has written 754 articles and 302 comments.