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Softstar Shoes in Paleo Magazine, 2015
Look for a great review of our Hawthorne Chukka shoe in the Dec 2015/Jan 2016 issue of Paleo Magazine:
Article Text:
Softstar Hawthorne
A versatile Handcrafted Leather Boot
WITH EACH PASSING YEAR since Christopher McDougall's groundbreaking book Born to Run was published, the minimalist footwear scene gets more and more sophisticated. Minimalist-shoe wearers have decided that they wanted a comfortable pair of shoes for every setting, and shoe manufacturers have listened. What started out as a very limited selection of awkward-looking athletic shoes has grown into a diverse range of options for every facet of life.
Nowhere has this trend been evidenced more clearly than with Softstar Shoes, a family-owned company out of Corvallis. Oregon. Softstar started out making comfortable moccasins for kids, then expanded their line of mocs to adults. As the demand for minimalist running shoes increased, Softstar started making running moccasins, and not too long after that, they started producing casual shoes for everyday wear. The trend has continued to the present day with Softstar's recent release of the Hawthorne, a comfortable, hip Chukka-style boot.
The Softstar Hawthorne is made with premium bullhide leather, which lends itself well to the classic Chukka look. The classy styling gives the Hawthorne the ability to fit in equally well at the office, the grocery store or a trendy bar. This versatility is important for anyone hoping to maximize the value they get out of a product handmade in the USA with U.S.-sourced materials.
Although the Hawthorne doesn't look like your typical minimalist shoe, it stands up to any measure of minimalist performance. And if a shoe is versatile enough to be worn all day long, it needs the comfort to match. The Hawthorne certainly doesn't disappoint, with a deceptively roomy toe-box, an ultra-flexible sole, no heel-toe height differential and no arch support to be found. Softstar also did a good job compromising on comfort and ground feel with a 12-millimeter stack height, giving you just enough cushion for the concrete jungle without rendering the thousands of nerves on your feet useless.
The Hawthorne is available in black, brown or red leather exclusively at Softstar's website, SoftStarShoes.com. They retail for $190, which is in line with most luxury footwear prices, but still quite expensive for most people. Buying an expensive pair of shoes like the Hawthorne necessitates two mental leaps for most consumers. The first is buying for the long haul, with an intention to keep the purchase for a long time. The second is understanding the externalities of a purchase by following the product from the source materials to the factory to your feet. If you are prepared to take those two mental leaps and are in the market for a pair of versatile, stylish boots, check out the Softstar Hawthorne.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I have purchased over 8 pair of 'minimalist' shoes in the past 3 years...none of them felt like walking barefoot to me......until now. Your leather is soft your soles are flat and my foot is relaxed!!!"
"My entire experience with Softstar has been nothing short of an amazing experience from beginning to end. Will not buy any other shoes...my feet no longer hurt at all."
"This shoe is exactly what you would hope it to be. High quality leather and workmanship in a simple, natural stance running shoes made of all natural materials. Glad I found them."
"I've never had shoes that have fit as well as these or received as many compliments… I wish I had found them sooner!"
"There are no other shoes like Softstar - strong, comfortable, pretty - the best choice of minimal shoes one can get. Thank you for making our lives easier and wonderful!"
"I am loving these shoes! They are just lovely to have on the feet. And I am not easily impressed... There's nothing on the market that I know of that allows full toe splay! To me, it's a beautiful thing to let the toes move with absolute freedom in the shoe. I cannot do that with ANY OTHER of the barefoot shoes."
"I spent SO MANY years searching for a shoe to fit my feet. At last, you have given me such a shoe! I am convinced that had I met this shoe 30 years ago, I would not have the deformed feet I have now, nor would I have had surgery done on one of them. Abundant thanks for this design that honors my feet."
"These shoes are absolute perfection… The toe box finally allows my pinky toe and big toe to splay naturally and has taken away all previous foot pain… My feet will accept nothing less now."
"Finally something I will wear to work that is truly foot shaped… I usually take my shoes off as soon as I arrive home. I was so comfortable in these that I didn't think about it, and I left them on for hours into the evening."
"These are fantastic. Softstar showed themselves as the best minimal shoe company on the market with these. Functionally, they are the best fitting shoes I own, and they are the most stylish."
"Blown away. These should be the standard. I work at a physio clinic and see multiple people come in with foot pain (bunions, flat feet, plantar fasciitis) and it's mostly because of the effects of improper footwear over time... These shoes are the perfect solution."
"These are the best shoes I've ever owned. FINALLY A TOE BOX SHAPED LIKE A HEALTHY FOOT… I can wear my toe separators in these without any squishing or pressure against the sides of the shoe. Finally, finally, finally... someone prioritized function over form in creating a shoe that feels great to wear."