Reviews

This is my first review for Toesalad about a shoe that I really wanted to have and that I now really love to wear.

There is a trend that I am seeing in sports nutrition that seems to be moving towards natural ingredients and whole foods. From what I can tell, as with minimalist footwear, it appears to be largely being driven by consumers - and it may very well be the same people who are driving both. In a nutshell, we as consumers are looking to improve our health by moving back towards more wholesome practices. Whether that be through stepping out of overly engineered footwear or stepping away from overly engineered food.

2011 has been the year for minimalist footwear, and we are barely half-way through it. This spring Merrell hit the scene running with their new barefoot line and shortly thereafter expanded it with additional models, including two for kids. The three models to hit shelves first for men were the Trail Glove, the True Glove, and the Tough Glove. All built on the same last, with the same the same sole, the three models differ only in the fabrics and construction of the uppers. The Trail Glove features a breathable mostly mesh upper, the True Glove has a slightly beefier, more abrasion resistant sythetic leather/mesh upper, and the Tough Glove is all leather.

For the past year or so I have been wanting to replace my old pink crocs with a more minimalist "croc-type" shoe. Specifically, I was looking for a summer shoe that is multi-purpose for gardening, hiking, and summer life in general. Does the VIVOBAREFOOT Ultra meet those expectations?

The OTZ-300GMS is a new lightweight offering from OeTZI3300. It is a unisex model designed in a resort style and comes in a variety of colors of coarse linen. OeTZI3300 calls it a minimalist design and says it is ideal for warm weather.