mensjacket's Blog

Vibram Five Finger Shoes--A Review



The first Vibram shoes I saw were on a personal trainer at my gym. I have to admit, I thought they were darn ugly. I had to ask her what she thought of the shoes and whether she would recommend them for me to buy. The shoes got rave reviews from her. She said that she was in the gym all day long training and they were the most comfortable shoes she has ever worn. She also said that she could "jog" in them. This was a total surprise since they look like "bare feet". I was so intrigued that I did some home work and found out a great deal about the shoes and wanted to share the information with sports minded readers.

Vibram Five Finger Shoes were developed by an industrial designer, Robert Fliri. Fliri presented the design to Vitale Bramani, who liked it, and urged him to further develop the shoe as a substitute for going barefoot. Fliri's design has since become a full performance footwear line, winning the Best Invention of 2007 from Time Magazine. Although the Five Fingers shoes were originally developed for paddlers and recreational sailors, they quickly gained in popularity by barefoot running enthusiasts.

Today the shoes are worn by a variety of athletes, personal trainers, hikers, yogis, climbers, and everyday people. Many trainers recommend Five Finger for their athletes, especially those in track and field. The design is perfectly fitted so the foot operates properly and minimizes the amount of shock to the joints from running and jumping.

They come in a variety of different colors and styles. In designs for women, the "Classic" comes in a two tone grey, purple, blue or black with yellow trimming. The "Jaya" and the "Jaya LR" come in a nice white with pink and grey accents plus others. There are several other styles with colors like black, blue, red and purple. Vibram shoes for men are available in such colors as grey, black, yellow, and blue.

Vibram Five Finger Shoes can be purchased throughout the United States at various shoe retailers and online as well. Their website has a store locator to find a distributor with ease. There is also an interactive map where you click on your state and all the Vibram locations will appear in alphabetical order.

For a premium shoe, Vibram is reasonably priced. Styles for women range from $75.00 to $100.00 and for men, styles run from $75.00 up to $125.00. This information is furnished by the Vibram website and could vary per dealer location.

The women's "Jaya LR" is new to the line introduced for the spring of 2011 and comes in three colors, white and grey, almond and copper, and black and grey. Also, new for 2011 is Vibram Five Finger Shoes for kids. They are available in boys and girls in the KSO style only. They come in red and blue with grey and black for boys and pink and purple and white and pink, both with black trim. The cost is $60.00 for both boys and girls.