[Review] Vibram Five Fingers

I've owned my Freaky Fuchsia Five Fingers for 6 months now, so I figured it was time to let the world know how I really feel about them beyond their propensity for being highly photogenic. I have the mary-jane-esque Five Fingers, but there are options if you want more coverage (the KSOs, which do their darnedest to Keep Stuff Out) or more freedom for your feet (the Classics do not have a velcro strap).

Before I purchased them, I had a few concerns:

1. I hate having things between my toes. Toe socks are like some sort of 1970s-era human rights violation as far as I am concerned.
   
2. Will they hurt? Am I going to die of blisters and achy arches?!
   
3. Will I feel like a complete dork walking around in pink foot gloves?
4. They're expensive! Can I really justify the cost?

Within one month of purchase, all of my fears had been allayed.

1. Fit is very important for the Five Fingers. I measured my feet several times before committing to the size. I don't notice anything annoying or irritating about the fact that my toes are separate and clearly not equal. The only discomfort is when the toes are not properly in their spaces. It can take a little work at first to make sure that everything is situated correctly. I truly find the Five Fingers to be just as comfortable as being barefoot.
2. I've found that I don't really need the support of highly cushioned shoes to be comfortable. The only thing that hurts is standing or walking on concrete, but that's a problem with concrete, not the shoes. Asphalt, grass, sand, and interior flooring are all a dream to walk upon in my FFFFs. They protect your feet from minor dangers, such as pebbles, hot surfaces, moist surfaces, etc while allowing your feet to be free the way they were intended to be! I have also yet to get a blister from the FFFFs-- there's no rubbing because they fit like a...well... glove.
   
3. No. It turns out that I have absolutely no shame when it comes to wearing fabulous shoes. I do get a lot of attention from passersby and it is almost universally good. My favorite was "Damn, girl! Look at your shoes!"
4. Absolutely worth the cost for me. I wear my FFFFs everywhere that is appropriate for non-specialized casual footwear. To date, I have used them for walking around town, hiking in the woods, walking on the beach, boating, wading in oceans and streams, and quite a bit more. They have been in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. :^) The photo above is from a trip that I took to the Redwoods shortly after acquiring the shoes. I wore them exclusively on that trip except where there was snow.

Another great thing about the Five Fingers is that they are machine washable. So far the only slight downside I've encountered is that they need to be machine washable. ::holds nose::

Overall, I give them 6 out of 5 stars. I made up the rating system, so I can do that. I can't bike in them, otherwise they would have scored the elusive 7th star.