Birkenstock vs. Bare Feet
 

Recently purchased some Birki's (Birkenstock clogs) to wear at work.

http://www.birkenstock.co.uk/index.p...id=5&fabric=15

I totally love my Birkies, despite the hippie, tree-hugging associations. They are comfortable. I have several different styles.

Are you sure you're from Texas?
I love my old Birkies as well, although mine are the traditional leather sandals.

I have never even visited Texas. 100% Pennsylvanian, with a detour for childhood in Chicago Suburbs.

Flint, Ms Wolf.

ooooh. I get it. Thought you meant me because I was the immediately prior poster. Thanks for the clarification.

Each summer for the last ten years or so, my foot would take a few days to get used to the Birkenstock sole, but would then be happy with it. Last summer, I got Teva flip flops. They are so much better than my old leather Birks. More comfortable, and they don't fall apart when they get drenched. Very nice.

To answer your poll, I'll take the Birkenstocks over bare feet. My feet are too tender. But Tevas are better.

Each new pair of Birkenstock takes about a week of constant wear to really adjust to your individual foot. After that, you experience a sensual foot massage upon each step! I even wear them around the house sometimes, when there is no real reason to wear shoes.

I also experienced a brief adjustment period where muscles I had forgotten about woke up and got sore for a few days, since it has been a while since I wore a pair of Birkenstock.

I always wore the standard two-strap leather sandals. Every year, I couldn't wait for the weather to turn warm enough to break them out! Then, I started working on that Birkenstock tan...you know, the burned-in white stripes on
your feet all summer.

Now, I have a pair I can wear to work every day. This is a truly monumental development.

I've got a pair of Birks and a pair of Tevas and both are quite comfy, although I think the Tevas are a bit better. That said, I *still* prefer bare feets. I do my best to keep from becoming a soft-paw as I disovered the hard way that you never know when you're going to be without shoes.

I prefer bare feet, but I've gone thru several pairs of much-loved Birks over the years. Mine always held up after a soaking, but were often done in by being too close to a camp fire (melts the sole right off the cork).
I'm not at all impressed by Tevas but I absolutely :heartpump Keens and can't recommend them highly enough. They are Birki comfortable but much more durable, waterproof, fit better, have toe protection.... they just rule. That being said, I took 2 pairs to the beach with us last week and went barefoot the whole time...

I like my birks but I :heartpump bare feet!

@jinx: these http://www.keenfootwear.com/pdp_page.cfm?productID=8 look pretty sweet! I have a pair of cheap Airwalk sandals from Payless that are similar to this, without the reinforced toe.

Yep, I have those and love 'em. They're great for the kids too.
LJ, a diehard Birks fan, has these and swears by them.

Please learn from my unfortunate lesson ... make sure that you put sunscreen on that gap, otherwise you may end up being unable to wear any kind of shoes for a week ...