Going to a dinner with monkey feet is risking the dessert with your partner

Today I'm talking about sizes and what I told Fernando, a customer who always uses FiveFingers (toe shoes).

When I say always, I mean always:

• Going out for dinner with your partner,
• a family meal,
• a wedding,
• a graduation...

I understand that Fernando has fallen in love with wearing each finger separately.

The experience is unique.

You feel more stable, firmer and with more space.

As if you have more control over your body. And the same feeling of freedom, as when you walk barefoot on a fine white sandy beach.

But combining them with a pair of chinos for lunch with your in-laws is like going to a wedding dressed as SpongeBob SquarePants.

No one will get rid of the joke: "you're wearing monkey feet!"

Fernando doesn't care about that, but he doesn't want to strain his girlfriend any further and wants to buy minimalist shoes for everyday wear.

When he calls, he asks me the following question:

"How is it possible that the sizes are so different depending on the shoe?"

His feet are 25.5 cm long and in Fivefingers he wears a 41, but in other shoes he wears a 43.

And in the Birkenstock safety shoes, which he is looking to buy, the size chart recommends a 40.

Several things about this.

The first thing is that the Fivefingers should fit you snugly, like a glove, so the size is almost certainly going to be different from your normal footwear.

The second thing is that each brand and model sizes differently. As you read it, in the same brand you can have a 42 in one model and a 43 in another.  

The third thing is that when you measure your foot you are standing still, there is no movement, but the moment you start to move: walking, running, dancing, jumping ... the foot also moves and grows, about 10%, to return to its initial size with each stride.

It is as if the foot opens and closes with each step. If you do the movement with your hand, you can imagine it.

For this reason, your minimalist shoes should be between 0.8 and 1.2 cm longer than your foot. Slightly less in sandals.

And fourthly, don't worry if your shoes look big at first.

Just check if you can fit a toe between the heel of your foot and the shoe (unbuckled). If it fits, the size is correct.

Well, that's what I told Fernando and he tells me that he has just started working for a company that requires him to wear narrow, rigid safety shoes.

I've only been wearing these shoes for a week and he already has a ball in his big toe.

So the first thing to do is to change to flat, wide and flexible safety shoes.

A wise decision, as he spends more than 8 hours a day in them.

Birkenstocks meet these requirements: flat, wide and flexible. In addition, they do not have a counter or reinforcements that interfere with the movements of your feet.

Of course, you have to use them Without the insole that they come with.

Or, change it for an insole that is thin, flat and flexible.  


In this link you can see all the models.


Health starts with your feet.

Antonio Caballo


Pd. To measure your foot and know more about the size see here.