Let’s follow up on feet. Elissa, who I happen to know is my age and also runs marathons, recommended “barefoot” shoes here. (Related, I wonder when I will simply “nope out” on societal changes and trends but I guess I’m game, for now.) Let’s be clear however: Grande Dames would not wear these in public. Perhaps not in their own houses. For gardening, perhaps. Artsy Cousins have embraced this sort of footwear since they were 12, even when a trip to Turkey to get them handmade was required. Sturdy Gals, well, when we get old we become even bigger fans of sturdy shoes than in our youth, and despite our qualms, we’re nothing if not good sports.
Elissa’s Top Two:
Xero
I know these are doofy, but only marginally more so than my SAS and New Balance – why not double down on doof? Also, they’re all white, so we inherit something like the presumption of cool.
Vivo Barefoot
Their sneakers are too high-backed for me (insult to injury, my Achilles hurt when compressed), but what about these, for camping booties? Lost in the forest for the trees, no one sees. (Apparently questionable rhymes must also have their day.)
Once I knew about barefootness, I found other friends were talking about it too, or at least about “minimal” shoes. Basically wide toes boxes and good soles. Now I’m thinking:
Vibae
These + Eileen Fisher pants miiiiiiggghhhhhttttt be too much for me. But with a linen dress, can do. Or maybe slim EFs? The leather looks like you could eat it with a spoon.
Be Lenka
Finally, a pair of Chelsea boots (roughly speaking) that could perhaps work for camp and also for the semi-regular tricky weather forays I make to the East Coast.
Now I’m just going to mull. Perhaps visit a shoe store or two to see what I think. I guess, wait for it, this shift warrants terrible jokes, I’m dipping my toes in the water.
All my best and have a very comfy weekend.
9 Responses
i can confirm that the vibae slides are comfy + buttery leather. maybe not my most fashionable choice ever, but easy to slip on+go.
Oh, thank you!
This Spring, I drove support car for a group of women marchers who walked from Asheville to Washington D.C, They picked up trash , blessed the waters, scattered wildflower seeds, brought love and radiant juju wherever they went. I was SO in admiration of them, those beautiful pilgrims, radiant souls. I watched utube videos about caring for feet and each night when they trudged into their campsites, I tried my best to help melt their aches and soothe their pains. I fell in love with feet, they’re as different as faces, they’re so small and miraculous carry the whole towering body above them. Each toe was so tender, each arch so amazing. I know they chose shoes at least a half size larger than their regulars. I don’t mean to be too off subject, dear, but your feet remind me of that sweet journey.
Bronwyn, thank you so much for this beautiful post. Perfect, actually, and perfectly on subject. Our feet are for journeys.
My flat feet don’t do well with barefoot but oh that melty leather. Had good luck with La Canadienne, they make lovely boots for East Coast winters. Cost the earth but I got a pair on really good markdown.
Bronwyn, reading about those marchers lifted my spirits immeasurably — they and you are doing such wonderful things!
Aha, yes, I got my daughter some from them for her New York winter. Great quality.
I’d go with the Xero – wide toe box, laced onto your foot to minimize toe clenching, easy to replace the insole with whatever your foot doctor prescribes. I will only admit this here, where I’m among friends: I’ve been buying elastic shoe laces on Amazon and replacing the tie laces with them on my sneaker-shoes. I’m not so old and feeble that I can’t bend down to tie them. I like being able to slip into my shoes quickly since my retirement routine involves frequent shoe on/off behaviors.
I would think the last boot would trouble your Achilles tendon in the same area as the minimal/barefoot booties, but maybe not.
Generally I do not look to backless shoes for anything more than walking into the shower or to the pool from the locker room. I find that the flexing of my feet to keep the scuffs on gives me cramps later in the day.
Spouse and I are ramping up for a Fall trip to walk a portion of the Camino. It looks like I’ll be going with a pair of Moab 3 hikers and Teva off-trail sandals. Yesterday I tried some highly recommended toe socks. I can see they’re good for keeping your toes from rubbing against each other, but they feel odd across the ball of my foot and I don’t think they’ll be my mainstay sock. I like Bombas compression socks. There’s been a lot of sock technology applied in the 40 years since I was a Girl Scout.
What a lovely set of blessedly logo-free footwear! But I’m still in the back row loving your classic NB and SAS sneakers completely. I’m also seated in the back row because I wore my high-arch-supported doofies [who knew?] out of the house, onto the street, and into today’s symposium, with native Artsy Grande impunity.
I too will be mulling, those Xeros are very tempting, the comments attached to the listing are positively rapturous.
Ooooh, the barefoot shoe concept is interesting! I wore literal ballet shoes for my wedding (extremely flexible white leather; the practice kind with two half-soles?) because it’s a lot of standing and hugging and I wanted to not think about my shoes the entire day, and wanted to have no blisters at the end and: behold: it worked! But it sounds like your feet require cushion at this time? How does that go with the barefoot-ness?