[bluescaptain]

Love that outfit Simon! The Jacket/Boot combo! 

[Rudie]

The toe box doesn't look as square as the normal B5. Did you have it customized or is it the picture angle?

Looking really good, Simon!

[SJC]

Nah its regular, pretty square toe. Comfortable boot. Tip, order a larger (size up) lace placket so the laces close together.

[Rudie]

I wore zero drop sandals and trail runners with a wide toe box all summer while hiking. This pretty much ruined all my other shoes for me. Shoes with a heel and normal toe box feel just plain wrong now and my feet can't stand them anymore. I bought some barefoot boots that don't look completely horrible and haven't worn a normal shoe since receiving them. I don't see me buying normal shoes anytime soon.

[Sean Longden]

That sounds scary!

[Rudie]

Only from an aesthetic point of view. From a health perspective it's like seeing the light. 

[Nik]

Actually, and although it's hard to tell for sure, it seems that alternating between different types of footwear plus periods of time of going barefoot (at home or during exercise, for example) might be the healthiest approach. By different types I mean contemporary running shoes, heeled leather soled shoes, boots of whatever kind that suits the wearer's foot, etc. etc and all of these in different weights, respectively, but suited for the wearer (even running shoes come in different weight classes and types/ amount of support), with trail runners at the top end) and suited for the purpose.
All of this under the premise that the feet/ ankles/ legs are healthy to begin with - healthy arch, healthy toe spread etc.
Other than that, sizing and fit is really important, more so than in any other category of clothing. With footwear, a half size off is a half size off.

[Rudie]

Actually, hardly anybody who wears shoes on a regular basis has healthy feet. If you have a drop from heel to toe box it completely misaligns your posture and your gait changes from forefoot or mid foot strikes to heel strikes. Also, most shoes are not foot shaped, so even with the correct size your toes are squeezed together and you do not have the natural toe splay anymore. Over time, this leads to all sorts of problems like hallux valgus, bunions, splay feet, overpronation, hammer toes, the works. On the other hand, if you splay your toes instantly your whole statics change and you stand more stable.

[Guillermo]

Actually, hardly anybody who wears shoes on a regular basis has healthy feet. If you have a drop from heel to toe box it completely misaligns your posture and your gait changes from forefoot or mid foot strikes to heel strikes. Also, most shoes are not foot shaped, so even with the correct size your toes are squeezed together and you do not have the natural toe splay anymore. Over time, this leads to all sorts of problems like hallux valgus, bunions, splay feet, overpronation, hammer toes, the works. On the other hand, if you splay your toes instantly your whole statics change and you stand more stable.

If you buy quality shoes the lasts are shaped for your foot and your toes aren't squeezed. The problem is that people don't know their shoe sizes and buy shoes that don't fit them which then leads to a lot of real problems.

Regarding heel strikes it's a matter of learning how to walk properly really. Someone who doesn't know how to walk will walk like that with any footwear.

I've never been more comfortable than wearing dress shoes. My feet never hurt, my toes have room, the thick leather insoles are comfortable and they mold to your feet.

Never encountered problems with my feet since I started wearing almost exclusively dress shoes. But again you have to know what you're buying and buy the proper size.

[Nik]

The argument that shoes are essentially an unnatural method to support your gait doesn't hold when you consider that the real issue is the unnatural ground that most of us walk on most of the time, which is concrete. And that's where footwear comes in.

I'm forty now and my feet still have their natural spread and arch. I would argue that exercise (balance and everything that involves the feet) is a factor, though.

[Edward2.0]

Actually, hardly anybody who wears shoes on a regular basis has healthy feet. If you have a drop from heel to toe box it completely misaligns your posture and your gait changes from forefoot or mid foot strikes to heel strikes. Also, most shoes are not foot shaped, so even with the correct size your toes are squeezed together and you do not have the natural toe splay anymore. Over time, this leads to all sorts of problems like hallux valgus, bunions, splay feet, overpronation, hammer toes, the works. On the other hand, if you splay your toes instantly your whole statics change and you stand more stable.

If you buy quality shoes the lasts are shaped for your foot and your toes aren't squeezed. The problem is that people don't know their you sizes and buy shoes that don't fit them which then leads to a lot of real problems.

Regarding heel strikes it's a matter of learning how to walk properly really. Someone who doesn't know how to walk will walk like that with any footwear.

I've never been more comfortable than wearing dress shoes. My feet never hurt, my toes have room, the thick leather insoles are comfortable and they mold to your feet.

Never encountered problems with my feet since I started wearing almost exclusively dress shoes. But again you have to know what you're buying and buy the proper size.

Exactly - me neither. I've nmever had time for those who try to justify a preference for trainers / gutties with claims to comfort. By all means, if that what thjey choose to wear, fair enough, but the idea that a 'proper' leather shoe is inherently uncomfortable is tripe, an indicative that those making the argument have either never treid on a decent pair of shoes that fit right, or that, like children, they think leather shoes are for old farts and therefore affect to find them uncomfortable because they don't like the look.

I understand when I see ladies on the tube travelling to and from work in their gym sneakers, to change into the high heel;s their dress code mandates when they get to the office. What I think is pathetic are the men who do the same, probably having spent more by far on the trainers they wear on the tube than on the shoes they will wear for forty hours plus a week in the office. It's more about kicking out and saying "the man don't own me" in a way that hasn't been *genuinely* rebellious since, what - 1972?  - than it is about comfort. 

I think I last bought a pair of trainers in 2007.... for a costume. The other tihng that puts me off them is how effective disposable they are - as a rule, you can't change the sole...

[Rudie]

Conventional shoes, regardless whether they are "good" welted leather shoes or glued crap, are widest at the ball of the foot and not at the toes, while healthy feet of people who have never worn shoes are widest at the toes. After experiencing three months of freedom in zero drop shoes with a natural shape toe box and in huarache sandals my body made it very clear to me that wearing normal shoes with a drop, toe spring, stiff soles and conventional toe box sucks. I just didn't realize it before because I was so used to wearing normal shoes. YMMV.


Here's a comparable study between shoe wearers and barefoot tribespeople from 1905 when shoes were still made period correct: https://www.tuhykorinek.cz/wp-content/up...offman.pdf 

Do whatever you like. I am not a missionary. 

[bluescaptain]

Conventional shoes, regardless whether they are "good" welted leather shoes or glued crap, are widest at the ball of the foot and not at the toes, while healthy feet of people who have never worn shoes are widest at the toes. After experiencing three months of freedom in zero drop shoes with a natural shape toe box and in huarache sandals my body made it very clear to me that wearing normal shoes with a drop, toe spring, stiff soles and conventional toe box sucks. I just didn't realize it before because I was so used to wearing normal shoes. YMMV.


Here's a comparable study between shoe wearers and barefoot tribespeople from 1905 when shoes were still made period correct: https://www.tuhykorinek.cz/wp-content/up...offman.pdf 

Do whatever you like. I am not a missionary. 

Just curious, what shoes u been wearing lately?

[Rudie]

Lems Boulder boots and business shoes by Senmotic. Looking at Prime Trotter right now. They seem the least ugly to me as far as minimal shoes are concerned.

[Philipp]

Hate to break into the shoe debate, by all means continue... From a gut feeling, I'd agree that the surface we walk on might as important as the shoes we walk in. I tend to get more tired feet when standing around on concrete all day than when hiking in the forest and fields for the same amount of time.

In this picture, I am wearing a pair of five year old Barbour brogues that have aged into some kind of "comfortable shapelessness". Nowadays I tend towards shoes that are wider at the toes, like Doc Martens or reproduction US army boots. A pity that dress shoes tend not to come in that shape.

But what I actually wanted to show off was the linen King Cole jacket that made its debut today. Paired with the Mule Spinner HBT trousers as the matching linen ones are at the tailor's, and the Elba shirt. Almost SJC from neck to heel today...