Meet your new favorite formal shoe: the Softstar Oxford. Time to ditch traditional dress shoes in favor of barefoot comfort.

Softstar is proud to feature this guest essay by Jennifer Gwirtz, Mind/Body Professional, Facilitator and Teacher (Pilates, GYROKINESIS®, performance and therapeutic movement). Over her 15+ years of experience, Jennifer has delighted in exploring the relationship between mental and physical balance, particularly at the origin of stability: the foot.  Understanding Resilience: Follow the Bouncing Ball... Resilience has been on my mind a...

A New Study From Harvard and PolyU Reveals Minimalist Shoes Make Your Legs and Feet Stronger, Decrease Chance of Injury The public debate over minimalist shoes has been on a roller coaster for several years now, but perhaps not for much longer. Although minimalist shoes for kids have been popular for several decades (we've made a business of it since 1985), the idea that...

Shoes that are pointy and/or have heels can cause serious health problems from toe to head. Here's why you should kick the tight shoe habit for good

After wearing my Soft Stars exclusively to work/play in all of 2009, a few months ago I started to experiment with running in my "minimal" Soft Stars on the advice of our customers. After 4 months of trying out both moccasins and ramblers, I'm happy to have graduated to actual "running" a few miles at a time several times a...

Like the proverbial chicken and the egg, is it the barefoot running that makes people happy, or are naturally happy people the type to experiment with barefoot running? Thanks to our friend Dalit for the heads up on this recent article in the New York Times: "Is Running Barefoot Better for You?". In a nutshell, the author, Gretchen Reynolds positions...

Flat feet are soooo maligned! People who have them often have an accompanying complex that something is "wrong" with them... in fact, for many years the Army wouldn't even take recruits "handicapped" with flat feet. "Flatfoots" of the world - take heart. Not only will the Army take you now :-), they actually have found that flat footed soldiers may...