Vibram Five Fingers and Morton’s Toe
I thought I would be the first to blog on this, but Google already has 796 results for this term. Le’sigh.
I have Morton’s Toe – the name for a foot where the second toe is longer than the first. One could say I suffer, but apparently it was an idealized form in Greek sculpture and my mom (fellow sufferer) always told me that it was a sign of perfection. Not much suffering there. Apparently this is a condition common to 10% to 30% of the population, depending on who you believe.
Anyway, Vibram Five Fingers don’t have long second toe’s! The result is a sub-optimal fit.
Apparently, Vibram’s CEO also suffers from Morton’s Toe, yet his advice to fellow perfect people is to simply buy a bigger size. Allow me to offer my beta-testing services should they make the wise decision to roll out perfect shoes for their perfect customers.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Though I can’t seem to put my fingers on it at the moment, I seem to have read recently that someone was told by Vibram that they may be testing out a Morton’s toe version of VFFs. I have no idea if this is true or not.
There are a lot of people w/Morton’s toe who manage to wear VFFs with success though (Vibram CEO being one). I’m guessing it really comes down to the severity of the difference. Toes 3-5 are all too long for me in VFFs, and it doesn’t cause a problem, so I guess a long big toe would also be fine. Wish I had more insight for ya -
November 24th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Will the Morton’s Toe version look better? Doubtful.
Any shoes with actual toes are a fail. Ha!
January 5th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
I have Morton’s toe. Slightly more on my right foot than my left. In addition, the left is a half USA size longer than the right. Still, I tried on one size larger than the size chart indicated for the left foot, and it felt like a perfect fit. On the right foot, it fit all right once I snugged the strap up, but there was some extra space in the heel. It was comfortable, anyway. No slipping or unusual feel. I jogged around the store in them, and decided I could probably run in them just fine.
February 19th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
I too have Morton’s toe, and also suffer from slightly odd feet too. Similar to Mark, my left is larger than my right, and feel the fit on my VFF are tight, but when running i tend not to notice. I’d love to see a Morton Toe version of the VFF, as they are a little uncomfortable, or maybe not as comfortable as they are for others, when walking about. I tend not to notice too much when running but certainly feel my 2nd toe is a little squashed.
Come on Vibram! We want some VFF Morton Toe editions, available in odd sizes!
Both Morton’s Toe and odd size feet are much more common than you think.
February 27th, 2010 at 12:03 am
Morton’s toe I have, too. At the moment, I am trying to stretch the involved 2nd toe space with any implement I find. Anybody out there tried this? Any success? I followed the VFF sizing but the 2nd toe is squashed. If I take the next size up, the rest of the toes will have too much space and I trip on them (like when doing lunges with toes flexed)