A Shoe Only a (Gorilla) Mother Could Love

A few weeks ago at a local Apple Store, Derek and I were chatting with a salesperson about the various features of the iPod Touch (or rather, Derek was chatting and I was resisting the temptation to whip out my credit card right then and there), when I happened to glance down at the weirdest shoes I think I've ever seen (and I've seen some weird shoes in my day). This particular salesperson's shoes had toes - yes, individual toes - that gave his feet a wacky, cartoonish, exaggerated appearance. It was the first time in my life that someone's shoes gave me the heebie-jeebies.

I briefly glanced over at Derek who, judging by his horrified expression, had clearly noticed the creepy feet-shoes as well. I spent the remainder of our time in the store desperately fighting the urge to laugh and avoiding eye contact with the salesperson. Later on, I casually asked Derek, "Hey, did you notice the Apple guy's shoes?"

"YES," he replied emphatically, wearing the same horrified expression as earlier that day. We didn't discuss it further. In all honesty, I had forgotten all about the incident until I read this article on "gorilla shoes" in the New York Times this morning.

On paper (or, rather, on Interwebs), the shoes actually seem kind of cool, with their technology rooted in sound scientific theory:

The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.

That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, play, and for fun. Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.

In reality, though, they're just ... weird. But why? I haven't quite put my finger on it - no pun intended!

Vibram FiveFingers KSO, $85.00