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Wide shoes? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

I have weird flipper feet, so I find myself limited to brands that offer 4E width (typically 10.5 @ EEEE ) does anyone have any recommendations? Any style goes as long as they offer closed toes

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[-] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

As a fellow duck footed person, I've found that Barefoot style shoes offer the widest and most comfortable experience, as they're designed to let the toes splay out naturally instead of scrunching them up to conform to an aesthetic.

Another common feature of barefoot style shoes is that they are extremely flexible, and usually have very thinly padded soles to accomplish that, which can take some getting used to. They also generally offer no arch support (by design), and no heel-drop.

This video does a good job of explaining why they're designed that way.

If you decide to go that route, I'd recommend:

  • Freet (Often use recycled material, average pricing, good durability, made in UK)
  • Vivobarefoot (Higher pricing, generally more stylish, offer a trade-in program for used shoes which are refurbished/repaired to be resold for cheaper).
  • Xero shoes (Average pricing, perhaps slightly lower quality compared to Freet)
  • Whitins (Very affordable entry-level pricing, surprisingly well made and durable, downside is they are only available on Amazon).

If you're looking for something that can be re-soled and last the longest, Jim Green make a couple barefoot-style extra wide model heritage boots that can be resoled almost infinitely, but I personally found them to still be a bit too narrow for me compared to a set of Vivobarefoot boots (thankfully their return process was pretty seamless, with free return shipping). They're made in Africa. (EDIT: I just noticed that they now offer an extra wide AnatomX model, which wasn't available when I tried them. That would likely be an ideal BIFL boot for wide-footed people).

[-] ianhclark510@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Sadly, until Vibram starts buying off congressmen any kind of barefoot style shoes are banned at my workplace

[-] ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Hm, do they need to be Steel toe? The Jim Green boots are not truly barefoot, as they still have a proper thick tread, they just don't have a heeldrop and are extra wide. Unless your workplace asks for like, a receipt for your boots where they would notice they're called barefoot, they wouldn't be perceived as barefoot from a casual inspection, they just look like a leather hiking/work boot.

The same could be said for the other brands I linked, none of them have like individual toes or anything, they look like normal sneakers, just wide.

[-] ianhclark510@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 month ago

Ahhhhh, I thought you meant like fivefingers lol

this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2026
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