The Outdoor Retailer Winter Market show report

Everybody and their dog...

...is getting into barefoot / minimalist style shoes.  Yay!  You know you have become a mainstream trend when Dr. Scholl's is redesigning their line to include minimalist shoes.  They were giving them away at the show, and like a propper mooch I grabbed a pair in size 10.  They felt pretty good, except that the toe box is a bit narrower than I have gotten used to, so after walking on the Salt Palace floor for about 30 minutes I swapped them out for a pair of size 11s.  The 11s are a bit too long, but my toes felt much better.  Were I to speculate, I'd bet that traditional shoe manufactures may have a difficult time widening the toe box on their minimalist shoes enough for people like me.  The average women's foot is 3 1/4 inches wide while the average woman's shoe is 3 inches wide.  And then everyone acts all shocked when we end up with foot problems. 

I got to stop by Terra Plana and take a gander at the next few season's VIVOBAREFOOT styles and I suspect I will be spending more money to buy 2 - 4 pair of shoes this year.  I can't get over how comfortable their shoes are.  They have some Mary Janes coming out next fall with an adjustable forefoot strap that I drool over.  I did gripe about their US online customer support, so we shall see if it improves at all.  I have my doubts, but you never know!

There is a new shoe company coming on line this August who where showing their wares at the show - Stem Footwear.   I got to try on a pair of their shoes, and they felt great.  Too bad all their sample sizes were men's 9.5 otherwise I would have done my darndest to try to promote a pair of shows then and there.  I was particularly attracted to the lucious dark plum color of the shoes.  Their website doesn't have actual photos of the shoes up, just drawings like this:

The shoes were very very light feeling on my foot, and the sole was incredibly flexible.  The styling is plain enough, or the colors are sober enough that I would happily wear these shoes to work.  They are planning to have shoes available for sale starting sometime in August, so I look forward to seeing this company again at the Summer Market show.

Camper also had a booth (relatively near Dr. Scholls) and I finally got to fondle some of the shoes from their Peu line.  Like the Dr. Scholl's shoes I worry that their shoe last (the original design shape that their shoes start from) is too narrow in the toe box for me (as shown in the image on the left).  I do want to try the pair on the right though, if the one local retailer in SLC has them in my size: