My FiveFingers

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Five Fingers for Teachers AND Students

by Dana Patterson » on Oct 08, 2010 3

Wearing Five Fingers to work is like going to work without any shoes on. That probably sounds like a dream to you, but in my world, it’s a reality! I am a Health and Physical Education Teacher at a middle school and I get to rock my five fingers everyday.

work-bikilas-pink-vibram-five-fingersThe first time that I wore my pink Bikilas to school, my students had so many questions and comments about them. They would say things like “I love your shoes”, “Are those flippers?”, “Are those things comfortable?” or “Those are the coolest shoes ever!”.  Of course the teacher in me had me repeatedly explaining to them all about the shoes and why they are designed the way they are . I also had several teachers comment on my VFFs with intrigue. I tend to think that I’m from one of the more fashion-forward places on the east coast (Northern Virginia) but I’m constantly surprised at how few people have ever seen or heard of VFFs before.

The students were all clamoring to get a pair of Five Fingers after seeing mine, but I wasn’t too sure if my middle schoolers would be able to fit into them. I did a bit of research and found them this useful sizing chart and article . Some of my girls have a smaller size foot than a woman’s 5, so I told them they just have something to look forward to. For those that do have large enough feet, I advised them that their best bet on getting the right size would be to go to the local running store and use the foot chart that Vibram sends them (and try a few different sizes if they have them in stock).

I have bunch of guesses on the future of Vibram Five Fingers. In a few years I think VFF’s will be significantly more common to the general public as a whole, and definitely nothing new to avid runners. I also think it will likely become the ‘Crocs‘ for a whole new generation, and that the trend will start off slow like Uggs and then become a giant fashion craze. We’ll see if my predictions are right – we can check back on this blog post in a few years and see if I nailed it or completely missed. For now, I love them and my students think they are the coolest shoes ever!  I’ll let you all know as soon as I see some of my students coming to school in new VFFs.

Submitted Comments

  1. Andrea McKinley says:

    Awesome! I’m a middle school science teacher and I rock my trek sports, jayas, and occasionally Komodo sports to work! Students and teachers alike are very intrigued and ask a lot of questions. So far, one of my students went out and got a pair of the Fila skeletors after being inspired by my vibrams.

  2. Lili O'Reilly says:

    I absolutely love my FiveFingers especially for running. I just go a pair for my 8 year old daughter who was thrilled to use them in her gym class only to be told “No Way! You can’t use them in gym class!”. My daughter is crushed. Can you point me to any literature I can provide our Phys. Ed. teacher so we can convince her that FiveFingers can be worn in gym class?

    Sad Mom,
    Lili O’Reilly

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