I'll start off by saying these shoes or rather what I first called them "foot gloves" are not really new, the fact is they have been around for over 12 years now, but only those in the know have had access to this fine Italian footwear. The concept of a "foot gloves" with articulated toes were introduced in 1999. The Glove Shoes or as the inventor/designer called them "Five-Fingers" were the brainchild of Italian designer Robert Fliri. Today, they are called Minimalist Shoes or Skele-Toes.

Skele-toes Up Close And Personal
Photo by: Rudy Fernandez
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Fliri was making a simple case, he says "if feet evolved to experience the world naked, then why are we strapping heavily cushioned, high-heeled, marshmallow shoes like Reebok or Nikes onto our feet in order to walk around safely or without hurting ourselves?" Here's the one thing I know for sure, while I was at my doctors office earlier in the week getting my back worked on, I noticed that the nurse was wearing a pair of foot gloves and she made a startling revelation, that "if you wear them long enough, two things happen that are healthy for your feet. one, your foot will shrink by at least one shoe size, and two,  the arch in your foot will return to normal as well."

Which brings me to the reason for this blog, I spotted Shay "In The Midday" Hill, sporting a pair the newly released "Fila Skele-toes". The Fila's are a bit more reasonably priced. She says "it's like walking around barefoot and not worrying about cut feet or injuries." Furthermore, she got hers one size bigger and they fit as she says "wonderfully." I asked if she thought she would wear them with a formal dress and she replied, 'No although they do look awesome with shorts, jeans, capri's and casual wear."

Skele-toes Made For The Rugged Terrian
Photo by: Rudy Fernandez
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The tag that was attached to the shoe, boasted that the Skele-toes are good in gravel, mud, grass, mountains, trees, rocks, pavement, dirt and water. Now that I own a pair of Skele-Toes, I'll admit they are awesome to SCUBA dive in, I can go in and out of my fins in no time. In closing, they're great shoes and perfect for lounging around the house in, no more furry house slippers.

 

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