Day 75/183: Friday's Unscientific Poll: a highly controversial topic

[nanila]

Poll #24047 Birkenstocks

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 53

View Respondents

Birkenstocks are

View Answers

Ugly shoes
20 (37.7%)

Essential
12 (22.6%)

So comfy
26 (49.1%)

Worn with socks
12 (22.6%)

Absolutely not worn with socks
24 (45.3%)

Sexy
3 (5.7%)

To be avoided at all costs
7 (13.2%)

Comments

[azurelunatic]

Worn with whatever! But probably not socks if it's foot-sweat season.

[nanila]

Haha! Hot feet are very so uncomfortable.

[cmcmck]

Tried them only once- just about the most uncomfortable 'shoe' I have ever worn.

If I'm doing serious walking I use my Brasher boots for long distance and hi tecs for shorter stuff.

[mummimamma]

I thought I was the only one who thought they were really uncomfortable because the footbeds are really all wrong for me, so I'm glad to see I'm not alone.

[nanila]

I have a pair of Teva hiking boots that are my favourite ever, and I hope it is at least another decade before they disintegrate off my feet on a walk!

[white_hart]

I love the look of Birkenstocks and would really like to wear them, but I have fussy feet and I know that they would rub my feet raw in minutes (and, when I've tried them on, the footbeds don't feel the right shape for me).

[nanila]

I'm told the footbeds always feel weird at first but then get super comfortable after they've been broken in, hence why they're so popular.

[silveradept]

I have not worn Birks in my size, so I know not, but a person whose name is not to be mentioned swore by them as the best kind of shoes.

[nanila]

The devotees of Birkenstocks are fervent indeed.

[slemslempike]

Some of the Birkenstock styles are incredibly ugly to me but the newer styles (I think more from the offshoot brands) are nicer. I say they should NEVER be worn with socks, but then I mostly wear them in hot climes where socks would be uncomfortable. They are not super comfortable but they do at least support better than the most comfortable flip flops I own so I try to wear them more for the good of my knees.

[nanila]

The newer styles are still not what I would call elegant. I used to love flip-flops but agree, as I've gotten older, my joints object strongly to wearing them over any distance further than pottering about the garden.