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Stepping into Everyday, Casual Barefooting

I got a great user story from Evan, who has made it a habit of gifting FiveFingers to his wife Crystal on her birthday! Given the name of this site and it’s foundations in FiveFingers, I can’t think of a better birthday gift than a new pair of “birthda…

I got a great user story from Evan, who has made it a habit of gifting FiveFingers to his wife Crystal on her birthday! Given the name of this site and it’s foundations in FiveFingers, I can’t think of a better birthday gift than a new pair of “birthday shoes” — except for maybe a birthday shoes cake! And that’s exactly what Evan did. But before I show off the culinary masterpiece (and cause a little bit of salivation, if I do say so myself), I want to share Evan’s story because I think it will really resonate with a lot of you — so many of which aren’t runners and didn’t get into FiveFingers for running, but rather just wanted to be more in touch with the ground, more comfortable in your shoes, and all around healthier! Here’s Evan:
It all started for us in 2009 on our annual family vacation to Acadia National Park. We live in Maine and try to get there at least once a year to explore the natural beauty of Mount Desert Island. We were taking a boat tour early one morning, and we were walking down the ramp to the boat behind a guy who had some of those “crazy toe-shoes.” Naturally, we started talking to him about them, and were formally introduced to Vibram FiveFingers. I was extremely skeptical at first and had a lot of questions, but I had recalled seeing something about them online a while before and we decided to look into it further. We got back to our hotel and started reading anything we could online about them. From an objective point of view, what we read started making a lot of sense. I looked at my wife, Crystal, and said, “Well, you love being barefoot, maybe you should get a pair.” From there, I knew what I was going to get her for her birthday. I, however, could never picture myself wearing those things. My wife’s birthday in February 2010 came, and so did her first pair of VFFs, – “Chili” Classics. Somewhere along the line, I convinced myself that maybe they would be OK to wear, as long as I never left the house in them. Crystal had no such qualms; she couldn’t wait to wear them as much as she could. “Why would I wear them in the house?” she asked. So, shortly after my wife’s came in, a conservative pair of Black Classics arrived for me to wear in secret. Soon after breaking them in around the house, I started thinking that maybe they would be OK for walks outside with the family, as long as nobody actually saw me. I steeled my nerves, and stepped out the front door. What has surprised me the most is how many people really do care what kind of shoes you wear! On one of my first walks with the family, my neighbors stopped me to tell me how awful those things must be for my feet. Before long, I started going more places for two reasons – because I loved my newfound “barefoot freedom” and then to see what people would (or wouldn’t!) say to me about them. I started sounding like a Vibram commercial as my care about what other people thought disappeared. I can feel the ground! I can bend my feet! My toes have functions in my daily life! Crystal and I would compare notes at the end of the day. Later in 2010, we went back to Acadia, and this time we made a vow to spend as much time in our VFFs as possible. What is so amazing about Acadia is that so much has been done to keep people in touch with nature. As we were on the trails, on the beach, exploring Cadillac Mountain, we felt more in touch with our surroundings than we ever had before. We also had lots of conversations with strangers, including a discussion I had with one of the staff members of Jordan Pond House, where they told me that the groundskeeper there used to have all kinds of back problems until he started wearing “those shoes” and then going barefoot entirely to care for the gardens and landscaping! We have never talked to so many people about what they wear on their feet until we started wearing VFFs. We’re not runners, we’re just a regular couple chasing around kids trying to live normal lives while trying to let our feet do what they were built to do in the process. Since those days, we have added Speeds, KSOs, and a pair of Soft Star Roos for myself (I may have just found the perfect “house” shoe!) last week. So, when my wife’s birthday came around this year, it seemed fitting to do something to commemorate the occasion while giving the wallet a break from yet another pair of barefoot shoes. We have a friend who has a business making custom gourmet cakes and has a talent for making things that you would not expect. I tasked her with attempting to make a cake out of my wife’s VFF Speeds (which she hasn’t had a chance to wear much due to the Maine winters – perhaps that’s a problem that could be solved with some KSO Treks?? I digress…) and the result is better than we could have ever imagined. The cake came out amazing, as you can see – and my wife could not have been more surprised. I wanted to share this with you to let you know that your site has been a great resource for us, and to hopefully encourage other people to take their first step (so to speak) into a lifestyle of everyday, casual barefooting. Not everyone is a runner, and I want to make sure that people know that you don’t have to be to enjoy the benefits and freedom of using your body the way it was designed. It’s wonderful to have such advanced technology available to us in these types of shoes, and we love putting them on every chance we get. Here’s to walking the world in a whole new, old way.
A special cake made to look like a pair of the teal FiveFingers Speeds (women’s). I don’t think a pair of shoes ever looked so tasty!
Thank you for sharing, Evan! I love this story and love the cake, too. It’s hugely reaffirming (to me) to read how people’s lives can be so positively affected by a relatively small change — adopting footwear that is more “human” and allows you to get a little closer to the ground beneath your feet. That Evan and his wife Crystal aren’t runners resonates deeply within me and I think sometimes a bit too much focus is placed on the running aspect of “barefoot shoes” — 99.9% of the population could just stand to be in better footwear. And runners and non-runners alike could all benefit from wearing shoes that allow a foot to do what it’s designed to do. If more people wore barefoot-like shoes and found themselves running (or playing, or jumping, or working out) more, well that’s just gravy!

By Justin

Justin Owings is a deadlifting dad of three, working from Atlanta. When he's not chasing his three kids around, you'll find him trying to understand systems, risk, and human behavior.

7 replies on “Stepping into Everyday, Casual Barefooting”

Vibram has managed to do what so few companies ever do. How many companies have customers that go out and make cakes, get tattoos, have custom t-shirts made, etc. of that company’s product?

Very *very* few.

You simply cannot buy that kind of loyalty and enthusiasm.

Glad to see Maine representing! I’m from Maine also, and I have only seen a handful of people wearing these glorious shoes (especially outside of “standard” use – running).

Good to know more VFFs are out there than meets the eye!

You should try going full barefoot. That’s when the fun starts.

Seriously, it gets a million times better. Walking around town…going into stores…playing in playgrounds…just whatever.

You’d be surprised how many places don’t mind the full barefootedness

I went into a Target a while ago and my buddy talked to the manager for about 10 minutes and the manager was staring straight at my feet for a few minutes and he never told me to put shoes on.

Just try it. Test places out. Think of it as a challenge. To see if they’ll actually tell you to put on shoes

VFFs get attention even in discreet colors like brown / black. I had random guys near an elevator I was in say “nice shoes”.

One woman did a doubletake when she thought I was barefoot in public.

No plans to go full barefoot in Maine – it’s way too cold for me most of the year!

I got my Speeds online several months ago while they were on sale at River Sports Outfitters (thanks to Birthday Shoes for the heads up on the sale!).

No, it wasn’t too weird to eat my shoe, it was delicious! 🙂

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