If you’ve been getting videos of more and more people wearing Vibram FiveFingers on your FYP for the past few months, you are not alone. Ever since Vogue crowned them as the “freaky-chic shoe trend of 2025,” the divisive style has been gaining both fans and detractors, but FiveFingers are more than just about aesthetics.
Part of the new wave of barefoot shoes reported by Vogue Business, Vibram FiveFingers are just as much about the functionality as they are looks, and what better way to test them out to see if they are worth the hype than by walking 25k steps on an international trip?
After seeing them on a few creators online, I decided to go for the machine-washable Vibram V-Soul for my first foray into the world of barefoot walking since they merged two of the most prominent shoewear trends of the moment with a cute ballet-flat-inspired silhouette featuring adjustable dainty straps and the divisive edge of separated toe shoes which have made Tabis a mainstream phenomenon in recent years.
When you first open the box of a Vibram FiveFinger shoe, you are greeted with a small welcome card welcoming you to the world of barefoot footwear, with indications to slowly ease into your new pair. The brand recommends wearing the shoes around the house to lounge in intermittent small periods of time to get your feet to adjust to the new feeling gradually.
Though they V-Souls are supposed to be designed “for indoor alternative fitness,” like plyometrics, pilates, and yoga, from the get-go, I knew I wanted to wear mine out so I wore them around the house for around a week before I headed to Copenhagen, Denmark, where I knew I’d be walking for hours each day.
Courtesy of Sara Delgado.
Courtesy of Sara Delgado.
Now, I’d be a liar if I said I immediately adjusted to the shoes, but judging from Vibram’s pamphlet, I expected the process to be a lot more challenging. I did feel the slightest bit of tension on my instep and pinky toes the first couple of times I put them on, but it disappeared after just a few uses. (I’ve quite honestly had a harder time with other regular sneakers and the infamously hard-to-break-in Dr. Martens.)
The only thing that takes some getting used to is using your fingers to help guide all of your toes into the correct compartments, but even that was not as challenging as some online pointed out to be. (Truly, the only unruly one was, again, the pinky.)
Fit is key when it comes to FiveFingers. Your feet should be snug enough but not too tight and definitely not too loose, and you should be able to fully extend your toes when you are wearing them. In all, and true to their moniker, they should feel as if you are not wearing anything at all, and allow you to fully wiggle your toes with the shoes on. I bought my pair online and opted to stay true to size after measuring my feet and comparing them to the size chart Vibram provides on its website.
