The idea of restoration footwear is so, so tempting for those who spend numerous time in your toes, whether or not you’re at the moment coaching for a race or always working a double. Drawback is, so most of the restoration footwear on the market are literally restoration sandals, which makes them so much much less attractive when it’s not 75 and sunny.
Enter the Oofos Oocoozie Thermo Mule ($120, oofos.com), the most recent providing from the footwear large that’s higher identified for its feel-good flip-flops and slides. It guarantees the identical impact-blunting match as its summery footwear, simply in a design that’s a little bit, uh, coozier. I’ve been sporting the identical beat-up pair of Ugg slippers as my post-run “restoration” footwear for the previous 10 years, so I slipped on a pattern pair of those mules to search out out if there’s a real profit to the true deal.
Who these footwear are for
Whereas “energetic restoration” is having a second within the health world, restoration footwear just like the Oocoozie mule aren’t only for athletes. Certain, runners, hikers, pickup basketball gamers, and individuals who play different sports activities may benefit from a snug, supportive shoe, however so can people with bodily demanding jobs (say, nurses or development employees) or issues with their toes, like plantar fasciitis.
That’s as a result of Oofos footwear are designed to “cradle” your arches (which reduces stress and distributes forces extra evenly), put your heel and forefoot within the correct place for a extra pure gait, and maintain you extra steady as you stride. All of this, the corporate says, helps you recuperate extra shortly after an extended, robust day in your toes. Whereas that is sort of onerous to quantify, the American Podiatric Medical Affiliation awarded the corporate’s huge line of footwear its seal of acceptance, which it offers to merchandise “discovered to help good foot well being.”
Christa Sgobba
Out of the field
Two issues instantly stood out to me: One, these footwear are ridiculously mild (which bodes nicely after a tough exercise while you need to exert as little effort as doable), and two, the ugly-cute vibe remains to be going robust. The mules look a little bit bit like a rubbish bag and a few marshmallows had a child: They’re black, puffy (made with their Primaloft insulation), shiny, and quilted, they usually really feel such as you’re not sporting a lot of something in any respect. They in some way appear like they go along with nothing and every little thing. Initially, I deliberate on solely sporting these round the home, however the first look intrigued me a lot—ought to they be this stylish?—that I knew I needed to take them out and about.
Match and really feel
A restoration shoe ought to really feel like stepping on a cloud, and I can report that the Oocoozie Thermo Mule actually did. However not an amorphous one: There was a construction to the footbed that made my toes really feel actually supported and—dare I say it—cradled. The froth made for cozy strides, and the insulation stored me heat, regardless that the design leaves the backs of your ankles uncovered.
