Comments on: Splitting Toes: Irregular Choice’s ‘Tippy Toe’ split toe court shoes

By: Erasch

Erasch — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:57:21 +0000

They look very uncomfortable and like a horse feet but they offer a very good comfort and in special dont compress your toes.
I like them very much

By: Mika Kobayashi

Mika Kobayashi — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:53:40 +0000

“Those of you commenting about tabi being socks etc – I know, the only reason I mentioned them in this post is because the *last* time I wrote about split-toe shoes I was absolutely flamed and called a racist by people who felt that shoes “inspired by” Tabi could not be commented on. People are strange ”
Actually, fashion police, as one of the people who complained the last time, that is completely untrue.
The last time you posted about split-toe shoes, someone made a disgustingly racist comment that said something like “Asian inspired shoes? What’s next, fashionable foot-binding?” *That* comment is what was the issue, not that people couldn’t have an opinion on something inspired by another culture.
If you don’t know what foot binding is, it was a horrendously cruel, torturous and crippling practice that was widespread in China, and it left women in a state where it was agonizingly painful simply to walk for the rest of their lives. Look it up on wikipedia sometime. It was a disgusting practice, and I was horrified to see that all Asian cultures were being pigeon-holed like that into such torture. It made me see red, I was appalled to see that my culture was being slighted like this, to say that my culture’s traditional dress was something akin to human butchery.
I went and searched for that previous topic, but it seems to be gone. I’m happy about that, at least you’re not allowing such vile remarks on your site. But please, do not whitewash why people were outraged last time this topic came up, because it wasn’t about the shoes in question, it was about the cultural remarks made.
***
Ok, more on topic.
I think when people are pointing out that they’re inspired by Japanese style, they’re are giving you another angle to look at. People here are saying “hooves”, but to look at it from the Japanese perspective, you see the elegance and beauty in it. The style of having your big toe not squished together with your other toes is not supposed to look like an animal, but it’s how your toes are, the big one is separate from the others in design and how it moves.
I love tabi, they are so comfortable, they feel great and can look so beautiful and elegant. I say you should look at this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/txtamz/2365744240/
Or this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dadaya/2461155188
As for these shoes in specific… I think when you have a Japanese inspired style by a western designer, some times it looks great, but sometimes not so much. The irregular choice ones above, definitely not so much. But, irregular choice have done this style before, and they did it extremely well. Here is a picture:
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/9821/5262496132423eea84eo.jpg
Somebody mentioned Nike has done shoes like this, I think these too look very good:
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/6672/5278078253012944a3co.jpg
I don’t really think that the tabi style should go with high heels though, it doesn’t really seem right.

By: Amber

Amber — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:56:22 +0000

I think there’s a pretty big difference between “prejudice” and “Having an opinion on the appearance of a pair of shoes,” Spengler. Emotive, much?
Why would the fact that Nike make split toe shoes make us more likely to find these ones attractive? Are you saying that if Nike do something then it MUST be good?
People are allowed to have opinions on clothes, you know. Just because they don’t happen to correspond to yours, it doesn’t mean they’re “prejudiced”. They ARE only shoes, after all.

By: Spengler

Spengler — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:44:00 +0000

Prejucice is always a bad thing.
Not only split toe shoes are extremely comfortable, but I like them a lot.
It’s a matter of tastes, that’s all (I find hideous stilettos, for example).
Also please remember that Nike also sells several kind of split toe shoes (Ikoi, Air Rift and some other). I have also Royal Elastic shoes that sport this kind of design.
They are original, fun and great to walk in.
Hooves? No way.

By: **Star

**Star — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:09:34 +0000

ha ha!
camel toe!

By: annet

annet — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:07:05 +0000

that has been done by margiela countless times.
i haven’t had the chance to try them on yet, but i own tabi socks and those are extremely comfortable. someone i know who owns the margiela tabi shoes (she can actually pull them off) says they actually feel pretty good, not that much difference woth normal shoes.
i guess you can’t wear them when you have big toes.

By: Rock Hyrax

Rock Hyrax — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:42:52 +0000

Marianne makes a good point – I had precisely that problem with high-heeled flip flops. (They were wedges – not as hideous as they sound ;-} .)

By: E.

E. — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:47:02 +0000

It’s like having labia on your foot. Ew. No thanks. I do like the rest of the shoe, though.

By: The Fashion Police

The Fashion Police — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:55:24 +0000

Those of you commenting about tabi being socks etc – I know, the only reason I mentioned them in this post is because the *last* time I wrote about split-toe shoes I was absolutely flamed and called a racist by people who felt that shoes “inspired by” Tabi could not be commented on. People are strange

By: Mousy

Mousy — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:42:06 +0000

It’s not just socks, there are also jika-tabi (tabi that contact the ground) – tabi boots in other words, commonly associated with ninjas and also still used by workmen and martial arts practitioners. These have a split toe, and it helps to improve grip on the ground and that sort of thing.
… the IC shoes? They don’t. And they have no need to. And they look like cloven hooves.