Xero Shoes–Huaraches in Color

Invisible Shoes recently changed their name to Xero Shoes. The name-change came about to focus the brand (50% less syllables!) and better capture in words the awesome quality and barefoot-proximity you get with a pair of the Invisible Shoes Xero Shoes huaraches minimalist sandals. And while the name-change is a big deal, on the zero-dropped heels of this change comes news that Xero Shoes just released four new sole colors — “Mocha Earth” (brown), “Electric Mint” (bright green), “Boulder Sky” (light blue), and Hot Salmon (a faded red). All are marked, of course, with the new Xero Shoes logo and branding. I’ve had the luck of getting an advance look at all four new sole colors (Thanks for providing them Steven and Lena!) in order to photo-document them. It should go without saying, but I’m a huge fan of the Xero Shoes product. For the money, it’s hard to beat what you get with a pair of their huaraches:

• They’re the only huaraches manufacturer (and there are a lot of other huaraches or huaraches-derived minimalist sandal makers these days) that has designed and brought to market a rubber sole made specifically for the huaraches sandal lacing. These soles are durable (5,000 mile warranty) and provide incredible ground feel.
• They won’t cost you an arm and a leg — actually, you could argue they’re extremely cost effective.
• More: you can read my full review of them in both the 6mm Contact and the 4mm Connect sole thickness here (or my kid’s review here).

Xero Shoes are simply fantastic huaraches in any color. But as for these four new colors — well, read on to see more of them!

Xero Shoes Huaraches in Four Colors!

As mentioned before, the new colors are a great earthy brown, a light (dare I say “baby”) blue, a faded red (my interpretation), or a bright green. The pictures above fairly accurately depict the colors of these soles. Oh and all these photos are of my personal favorite sole thickness — the 6mm Contact. I like the Contact because for my feet, even though it’s 50% thicker than the Connect, I find it doesn’t sacrifice much ground feel while stabilizing the soles through the middle of my feet (between the main two attachment points — I notice a little too much flex in the soles with the Connect for my taste here — also, the sole after the thong knot is less rigid in the thinner 4mm Connect, which isn’t a problem necessarily but I like a little more stiffness there). That said, this is really a personal preference. More photos! And when you order the DIY kit from Xero Shoes (here), what you get is two soles, laces (you pick the color), a bobby pin, and a leather punch to make the toe hole. There are tons of DIY huaraches videos on the net, but basically anyone can make their own huaraches (My kid’s review has a decent step by step guide here). Xero Shoes has made it particularly easy by providing the punch. You only really need a pair of needle-nose pliers and a lighter to make your own pair in about 15 minutes (Well, that’s how long it takes me and I’ve now DIY’ed five pairs over about 3 years). Xero sent me each sole with the matching laces. Personally, while I like the brown on brown pairing, I think picking laces in either black (“Boring,” you say? Nah! Not with these sole colors!) or some contrasting color will pair better (except for maybe the brown on brown). For some more pairing ideas, check out the video Xero put out about the new sole colors: So what have I done with mine so far? Let’s take a look.

Blue Xero Shoes Huaraches

I recently took a family beach trip and didn’t even pack beach sandals — just the blue/blue laces Xero Shoes kit (and my leatherman, a lighter, and a couple cigars). On Day 1 I realized I probably should make my sandals, so I got to work making my pair (in between applying suntan lotion to my three year old and nine month old). The result? Well You can see it above and below! They were perfectly loud to accompany my bright green swim trunks and were just as good as you’d imagine on the beach and around the pool. I even found (to my surprise) that they worked flawlessly on a bike rental.

Red Xero Shoes Huaraches

I was really excited about getting some red-soled Xero Shoes so that I could construct the ultimate colorway possible — red and black! Once again, being the procrastinator I am, I did just that on Game Day (Saturday) two weeks ago prior to the University of Georgia going on to play and win their third game of the season. The build process took less than 15 minutes and I did it while watching two girls under the age of three. The 9 month old was in my lap at one point. Bias aside (yeah right), red and black is a solid color combination. Sure, the red (“hot salmon”) Xero Shoes soles have a faded look to them that some will definitely call pink, but to my eye it’s just a sun-faded red. You be the judge: And the moment you’ve all been waiting for — yes, I had to go all out wearing my Red & Black Xeros with a Bulldogs T-shirt in front of our Georgia flag. It’s over the top, I know. Why not have a little fun with your feet?

Brown Xero Shoes Huaraches

Finally made my brown-soled Xero Shoes. I used some olive parachute chord instead of standard Xero Shoes laces. I got the cord from WalMart, if memory serves, and it was inexpensive, but I liked the color pairing to the brown soles. I think you’ll agree, these look pretty sharp!

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Green Xero Shoes Huaraches

I’m debating on what color laces to use here but am leaning to either red (crazy!), brown (earthy and elfy?), or black. Help! Pics coming soon!

Conclusion (for now)

I’m going to update this post with more pics of the other sole colors as constructed as soon as possible. For now, what do you think about these new sole colors? What lace colors should I use for the brown and green soles?