If you’ve been in barefoot shoes for any amount of time, your feet have started to wake up and have a say. They might not like the width of a shoe, or the look of another shoe, or how a different one feels. Maybe you have a more unique shape with needs that aren’t easily met by mass-produced footwear.
Enter: Custom Work
This is really daunting for most people. How do you convey the feelings in your head to the shoemaker? How do you even know what you want?
There are various levels to this segment of barefoot shoes and I’ll tackle them in the following order:
- Etsy Sellers
- Custom Sandal Makers
- Custom Shoe Makers
- Drifter Leather
Etsy Sellers:
The range in this area can really vary. You have sellers like Dextra Perspective doing both pre-made and custom work, and lots of sandal makers primarily making non-barefoot shoes, but willing to incorporate varying levels of customization from changing widths and strap lengths to footbeds. Some will only do the later, which can lead to unintended problems if the design, shape, and width of the shoe are not ideal for your feet.
Example sellers: Laboo Leather, Calpas Footwear, Crupon, and GrecianSandals
Custom Sandal Makers:
This is centered on the US market, so mostly focuses on Deliberate Life Sandals and Paisley Running Sandals. A custom-lite option are the DIY Xero sandals, and there are international brands that also do custom work, such as Panta Sandals.
Deliberate Life offers both pre-made sandals and custom work via the website, while Paisley Running Sandals is a newer startup that works as extensively as required to refine shoes to perfectly match the wearers’ feet and needs.
Custom Shoe Makers:
There are some great European shoemakers in this segment, such as Gea Soles, Botky Mechovky, Zlatush, Ashfield Leather, Gaucho Ninja, and Ruth Emily Davey and the Original Shandals Company, as well as the US maker Broadwinger. Even here, things vary, though. Some offer both pre-made and custom shoes. Some will take complete measurements. Some only want to change the strap length. Investigate, ask questions, and dig as deep as you need to make sure you understand what can and cannot be customized.
Drifter Leather:
Then we get to an ultimate custom experience that I have now personally completed: The Drifter Leather. I eyed them for months before I finally worked up the courage to place an order for Slouch Boots. I also reached out to them in advance (highly recommend this) to start asking questions before I placed the actual order.
Questions I asked included:
- How do you do the arches from the tracings? (Answer: they’ve done this before and know exactly where arches belong)
- I have upturned big toenails, will this be a problem? (Answer: they can add to the toe box height, up to a limit of 2.5 cm, which was perfectly fine for me)
- Can the top of the boot opening be customized? (Answer: no)
It was a really easy process and they were perfectly patient with my incessant questions. Their experience, knowledge, and professionalism show.
That’s enough about Drifter, as I’m sure I will have plenty to say as I wear the boots as much as possible in the coming months!
Once you zero in on a look you like, how do you make it happen?
First, different companies offer different levels of customization. Find out what your options are. They may only cut off heels on traditional shoes, or they may change the footbed to a more flexible offering to any of their mainstream designs. If they are doing these minimal options, pick your design carefully. Not every mainstream design will work well as a barefoot shoe. Some won’t have the structure necessary to stay on your feet well without toe grip, for example.
Second, ask lots of questions, such as what measurements they can accept or want, and in what form. They may ask you for an ankle or instep measurement because they only thing they are going to do is shorten or lengthen a strap while others ask for your length and width but only for a general sizing, not as an actual footbed match. While still others will take your actual tracing to match up to your foot.
Third, get down with measuring and, ideally, ask your significant other or a friend for help. Katja at Bosenogice has done an excellent, in-depth look at how to properly measure yourself and I highly suggest that you check it out, along with her foot type guide. For the general idea here, there are 3 primary ways to measure yourself and different companies are basing their sizing off different usually number 1 or number 2:
These are Katja’s Youtube videos because, well, why remake perfection? 😘
Wall measurement:
Tracing measurement:
Plus 12 measurement (kinda fun and becoming a favorite for me):
Each is a little different, but when done correctly they should produce very similar measurements.
Really important note: consider the type of shoe and how you will wear it when doing your measurement. If a sandal, you want a great fit and you won’t be wearing socks, but when I measured for my suede boots I wore medium weight socks when completing my measurements.
Make sure you ask LOTS of questions. My email chain with Drifter Leather is 17 messages long. Dig deep and make sure you understand what they can and cannot do, what any charges will be, and if they are able or will make any customizations such as foot-friendly toe boxes.
Take a moment to consider your barefoot journey and whether you expect your feet have more growing to do. If you have bunions, are you working on resolving them, which will likely increase your splay? If you wore a lot of heeled, tight, pointy shoes and are still new to the barefoot shoes, you have a high chance of foot growth and should consider holding off on custom work for the time being, but if (like me) you are mostly barefoot and confident you’re unlikely to have much spread, or willing to redo it in a year or two if you do, then go ahead and jump.
In the end, custom shoe work is a great way to get the look you want and the fit you need. Don’t be afraid of the process, but advocate for yourself and don’t compromise important aspects of healthy shoes:
Primary goals:
- zero drop
- wide toe box
- high flexibility
Additional goals:
- low stack height
- minimal cushion
- light weight
Typically, custom work is not returnable and may not be modifiable unless there are gross errors. Check policies before you order. And don’t leave orders like this to the last minute or even a month in advance. Typical lead times are about 2 months for a seller to make your shoes and for you to receive them from an international location.
Have questions or comments? Drop a line here or join the conversation on the Obsessed with Barefoot Shoes Instagram page.
