I was talking to a friend the other day. He must have noticed the kind of shoes I was wearing but never said a word until the topic of trainers came up.
Another friend joined us and he instantly recognised the barefoot style my feet were in, so we got conversating, and we talked about Lems (which by the way are definitely on the list of to-try). And I told him, look, these are Realfoot, they're a Czech brand and they made some effing good shoes.
Back to the first friend, we took off our trainers to get changed into formal shoes for a wedding event we were to attend on the day. I caught him staring at my Realfoots for a solid minute, and then suddenly he asked me if he can try them on. I didn't know if it was the first time for him hearing about zero heel drop, so I let him know that these are very different to the Air Force Nikes he's been wearing. They are flat and there is no additional height to the heel. But why not? I said. Try them on.
That's when something unexpected happened. He said nah, he didn't want to. Why would he ask to try something on to then decline as the offer was accepted? I still don't know the answer to that to be honest. His rejection didn't surprise me much, it was his "reasoning". This was his rebuttal: they're just a fad.
What? Just a fad? How? These questions of mine went unanswered and dismissed, but ok.
I guessed that he just didn't have a logical reasoning behind his belief. And yes, this was a belief of his, because he clearly wasn't informed on these kinds of shoes. Generally I don't go around trying to convince others of switching to barefoot. Maybe I should...what do you think? And I certainly wasn't trying to sell the barefoot lifestyle to him. I love to get people's real opinions, especially of friends, because that's how you get to know them better and understand where they come from.
Challenging people's beliefs is paramount to finding out what they really want most and how they think. It might just be that my friend wasn't ready to have that discussion. So why did he think barefoot shoes are a fad? So far, I have not read of or talked to a single person who switched to this lifestyle, and I'm using lifestyle loosely, because we don't all gather together annually to throw barefoot parties (although maybe that would be an interesting take).
There are so many strategies and ways to go about life. When it comes to diet especially, you've probably seen the amount of prescriptions flying by. In the end there are over 8 million people in the world, and realistically we can't force the same diet, or a "superiour" diet on people. There's something for everyone. You've heard of fad diets though. Most fads are targeted for weight loss, as we might know why. But shoes? I've never heard of a shoe fad. Apparently barefoot is a fad though. So by definition its job is to convince people that the lifestyle is actually working for them, without actually giving any benefits and even causing complications and issues down the line.
So is barefoot a fad? Let us know in the comments.
Right, let's get to Realfoot. This Czech brand that in my opinion gets overlooked, but Europeans may be giving it more love than our transatlantic friends. People definitely think these are clown shoes, they even look like them to me sometimes, so I get the heat. Somehow though, they don't give full clown vibes, and maybe because they don't look like balloons. In fact, there is an odd similarity between a pair of Realfoot Natural Runners and your average trendy pair of trainers. The latter get narrow sideways, meaning toe space is compromised, whereas the barefoots get narrower on the Y axis. They taper down from the ball of the foot area towards the tip of the shoe, giving it a much cleaner and less clowny look than you expect. I used to have the Trekker Lows from the same brand, and those have some dam bulging toe areas, I was really clowning on everybody with those on, or maybe just on myself :D
I'll give you one nuanced feature of the Natural Runners, which by the way are available at our store. You might find it useful to order a pair if you live in the UK, as we ship to you at local speeds. Anyway, this features is often overlooked or rarely mentioned online.
The area above the big toe, toe thumb, or whatever you want to call it. I've always had a nit to pick with shoes when it comes to this area. Most breathable trainers, and ones made for running or making your feet sweat, come in a mesh. This mesh tends to vary a LOT in build quality, and trust me, if you can relate, the mesh in the toe thumb area always rips 50% of the time. Since no one else talks about it, I thought maybe that it's just a personal issue, but I'm calling out to you out there facing the same thing, the Natural Runners are made for you. They're designed specifically for our prickly big toes that shred through the mesh. While mostly mesh on the forefoot, the leather rim blobs into the area we want, to cover it. This means that a maximum amount of breathability is kept, while protecting the shoe from our hole making juggernaut of a toe. Fantastic, ain't seen nothing else like it, and there's no way that Realfoot didn't design this on purpose.
More than anything, Realfoot this one goes out to you. I thank you for creating pieces of footwear that really inspire the freedom and strength of my feet. If any of you reading this want to check them out, click here, and if you're interested in a pair for yourself, click here. Dokud se znovu nepotkáme!