They feel utterly bizarre, as if your heels are in a hole while your toes are hovering above the ground.
But the pain. It’s gone. It’s gone!
And they’re vegan! I wouldn’t have sought out vegan shoes, but I think it’s pretty cool nonetheless.
All ye with weird feet, try these shoes. According to the salespeople at the store, people either fall immediately in love and refuse to take them off or they take two steps and are horrified and beg to get out of the torture devices. I was among the former.
My husband ended up loving them, too. He ordered a pair in blue.
I will be calling the store nearest me tomorrow. My feet are killing me (and I need to see the podiatrist again), but he recommended Earth shoes last year to me. I remember earth shoes as something… different. They were a fad when I was in 8th grade. Those Lazer’s look promising. thanks!
You’ll have to report back, eleanor. I originally just wanted to try them because they were so light and extremely soft, but once I had them on, no one was getting them back off my feet.
They do recommend breaking them in. We went to store immediately after buying them, and by the end of the supermarket I could tell I was using leg muscles in a very different way than “normal.”
Wow. They really look nothing like the ones of my youth. I think I need to try some on. I’ve been struggling to find comfy shoes; maybe these will be the ones.
I had a Morton’s neuroma. Painful bugger. When it became almost debilitating to walk, I had it cut out. If I had known about these shoes I certainly would have tried them before surgery. I’m glad you found something to alleviate the pain!
If I wasn’t so tired tonight, I’d drive there (about 40 minutes away) now. I called the store: first store didn’t answer their phone after 20 rings, so they don’t get my business. Next store, I spoke with a nice kid who went and looked at the shoes for me. They don’t carry Lazer at that store, but I’m going to go tomorrow anyway and just see how the shoes fit etc. If I find something I like better, I’ll get it; if not I’ll get a brownish (I call them “school shoes” in my head) version of the Lazer online–maybe the chocolate or the ash gray. I desperately need a good shoe for my bone spur. I recently started running (as in last week) and I hurt. I’m not about to stop running, but the plantar’s fascitis has kicked into high gear. I already wear orthotics, but these seem worth the expense (IF they fit well and feel good).
I’ll definitely report back.
Ooh, I don’t know about these for plantar fasciitis. They might make that even worse. But they are a weird, weird shoe, so they may work in mysterious ways, their foot goodies to reveal.
Heh - you must be about the same age as I am; that was about the age where I got a pair of cheap knock-offs (they were negative heel shoes, just not Earth-brand). I did like them. Dunno how I’d do with them now.
jsgoddess, another option for shoes would be Birkenstocks (those were recommended by my podiatrist when we thought I had neuromas) if you want a break from Earth Shoes. I live in them.
I went to that store to try on Birkenstocks. My husband has a pair of sandals, and I had put on a couple of pairs of socks and was clumping around in them to see how it felt. It felt good, so I went to try on something in my size.
They didn’t have any closed shoes, though, and I’m not a sandals sort of person, so the Earth Shoes saved me.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who remembers the first iteration of Earth Shoes. I had a pair, way back in junior high. Hideously uncomfortable they were. But, damn, I was all eco-trendy!
I can understand why they might help with Morton’s neuroma, though.
I have no arches, and have had some form of ankle/knee pain since I was 16. I’ve been wearing custom orthotics since I was 18. This helped some. Switching to New Balance (1123 or similar: they have no arch cut-out) helped some.
I am now 28. This Summer I switched to Vibram Five Fingers, and most of the joint pain has left. The only downside is that they need to be washed every 2-3 days.
Thanks for posting this. I’ve been looking all day for shoes at Zappos and 6pm.com, among others. So far, I can only reliably wear Mephisto shoes or my heel and knees start to really hurt. But Mephistos are crazy expensive for the most part (unless there’s a really good sale), so I’ve been trying to find an alternative. This looks like it might be worth trying. Thanks for the recommendation.
They worked wonders for my heel spurs, believe it or not! I wear the Midway. Having the back of my legs constantly stretched from the negative heel helps tremendously. Birkenstocks help me too, but these have more cushioning. When I looked it up on the internets, it seemed heel spur sufferers were pretty evenly split between loving the shoes and hating them.
Wow, real Earth shoes are back? I wore them many years ago, and was very sad to see them disappear. I have all kinds of foot problems these days, including a mild but chronic neuroma between my 2nd and 3rd toes; I wonder if they’d help? Recently I’ve noticed that wearing shoes with an extra 1/2 inch of heel often is more comfortable than flats, but the negative tilt of Earth Shoes might work better. I’ll have to see if I can find somewhere around here that carries them to try them on. Or I guess I could do the Zappo’s thing and just send them back if they don’t work.
Ok, I’m back from the store. The woman who waited on me was very nice, but overwhelmed. In the 40 minutes I was in there, she had to wait on at least 10 people. Her help came in about 10 minutes before I left. Couple of things:
I like the Earth shoes a lot. I had to try on the Nolita because this store doesn’t carry the Lazer. Woman told me that the Lazer I wanted wasn’t available anymore from the company and tried to sell me the man’s equivalent (which, I’m sorry, looks like the shoes Long Duck Dong wore). No go–thanks to my little internet friends.
I liked the Nolita a lot. It’s a very comfortable shoe. nolita The “incline” is minimal (I wasn’t surprised by the change in my center of gravity or whatever); it is very comfortable to walk in; I just don’t like the look of this particular model. So, I will order the Lazer later today.
However, I do want to check with my podiatrist because while I was waiting to be waited on, I tried on some MBTs that were on the floor next to me (they were my size). OMG–instant relief from everything. Here is a link:
MBT
They are a very unusual shoe. They are ugly (sorry, but to me they are). They make me about 5’10" (or it feels like it). But the utter comfort of those shoes. I didn’t want to take them off.
The ONLY reason I’m hesitating on getting a pair of MBTs is the cost–like $260. I am already gulping at the cost of the Earth shoes ($120). I did buy some cork based orthotics for running–my orthotics are killing my feet when I run. They were $60. Foot problems don’t come cheap.
Given that I’m doing all these different things to my feet, I want to check with my podiatrist (although I may end up just doing what gets me out of pain).
Those MBTs are a little strange looking, but your feet are so important. If they feel good, I’d go for it. You sure don’t want to have surgery looming like I might for this stupid neuroma. Grr.
I got my Lazer’s for $90! from Zappo’s online. They were $99 at the other place.
I am going to make an appt with my podiatrist and talk to him about my options and the shoes. Already after a half a day in the new orthotics, my feet feel better.
I will be telling my daughter about Earth shoes when she comes home at Xmas–she has that neuroma that you do.
Last year I had a pair of Earth mary janes that i wore until the seams came apart. I was walking two miles to class and back, and, while I never really noticed the heel-toe reverse thing, they were super comfy. You’ve inspired me to look into getting another pair.
