I won myself a pair of Taloppa Barefoot Sandals in the Gear and Footwear section.
My first impression is how small the box was when it arrived in my mailbox. I didn't waste any time ripping into the box and inside is a small cloth bag filled with two black straps that looks like they came off my JanSport backpack, in fact I went and grabbed my bag and they are made from the same material.
Putting them on is pretty straightforward, follow six steps and you are good to go. I threw them on at lunch since sandals are allowed at work and I am know for my minimalist shoes. Unfortunately my first thought was these are not fooling anyone whatsoever. I went back to work with my VFF in my bag and as soon as I walk in my boss comes over and gives me a strange look followed by asking me if I had any shoes on or did I destroy a backpack on my lunch.
Had to throw my VFFs back on and finish the work day. After work I needed to get some groceries so once again I pulled the black straps out of my bag and threw them on. I went to my local grocery store to get some food for dinner. Immediately upon entering the loss prevention guy(yes I live in a sketchy neighborhood) at the front of the store stopped me to ask me if I was wearing shoes. I said yes, but there was no convincing him he said shoes are required by company policy and I could come back once I was wearing actual shoes.
At this point I knew that these weren't going to fool anyone at all. They are selling them for about 25 dollars after shipping if you order them from their website. http://www.taloppa.com and to me that price is absolutely ridiculous. As I said above they are basically the same straps you find on any run of the mill backpack and they don't fool anyone. Their selling point of these is that you can wear them and still be barefoot and still go into places that require shoes. They quote on their website "At first glance Taloppas give the appearance of someone wearing conventional sandals." They may give the appearance as a passing glance but anymore than that and it all looks pretty ridiculous.
With the price being 25 dollars with shipping if you want something like this go to your local fabric store and you can most likely buy the clips and straps for maybe 10 dollars at the absolute max. Also be aware you can get the 4mm xero sandals for a dollar or two more then buying Taloppas. I would not recommend these though I do appreciate the chance to give them a try. The only people I would recommend these to would be someone who is into bondage as you can pull these pretty tight and you get around 10 feet of straps out of the bag.
My first impression is how small the box was when it arrived in my mailbox. I didn't waste any time ripping into the box and inside is a small cloth bag filled with two black straps that looks like they came off my JanSport backpack, in fact I went and grabbed my bag and they are made from the same material.
Putting them on is pretty straightforward, follow six steps and you are good to go. I threw them on at lunch since sandals are allowed at work and I am know for my minimalist shoes. Unfortunately my first thought was these are not fooling anyone whatsoever. I went back to work with my VFF in my bag and as soon as I walk in my boss comes over and gives me a strange look followed by asking me if I had any shoes on or did I destroy a backpack on my lunch.
Had to throw my VFFs back on and finish the work day. After work I needed to get some groceries so once again I pulled the black straps out of my bag and threw them on. I went to my local grocery store to get some food for dinner. Immediately upon entering the loss prevention guy(yes I live in a sketchy neighborhood) at the front of the store stopped me to ask me if I was wearing shoes. I said yes, but there was no convincing him he said shoes are required by company policy and I could come back once I was wearing actual shoes.
At this point I knew that these weren't going to fool anyone at all. They are selling them for about 25 dollars after shipping if you order them from their website. http://www.taloppa.com and to me that price is absolutely ridiculous. As I said above they are basically the same straps you find on any run of the mill backpack and they don't fool anyone. Their selling point of these is that you can wear them and still be barefoot and still go into places that require shoes. They quote on their website "At first glance Taloppas give the appearance of someone wearing conventional sandals." They may give the appearance as a passing glance but anymore than that and it all looks pretty ridiculous.
With the price being 25 dollars with shipping if you want something like this go to your local fabric store and you can most likely buy the clips and straps for maybe 10 dollars at the absolute max. Also be aware you can get the 4mm xero sandals for a dollar or two more then buying Taloppas. I would not recommend these though I do appreciate the chance to give them a try. The only people I would recommend these to would be someone who is into bondage as you can pull these pretty tight and you get around 10 feet of straps out of the bag.
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