Merrell Lithe Glove Review

PRICE: $125
WEIGHT: 6.5 ounces
WEBSITE: www.Merrell.com

The Merrell Lithe Glove women’s shoe is near the top of the price range for the barefoot line. They are supposed to be more waterproof than some of the other barefoot styles that use mesh rather than the thicker fabric found on the Lithe Gloves. They feature sturdy Vibram soles and and the zero-drop from ball to heel. They are designed to be worn barefoot, but thin socks may be used if desired. You will need to break them in slowly if you want to avoid injuries.

User Reviews

After reading the many positive reviews found on the Merrell website, customers appear to be pretty happy with their Lithe gloves. Just be careful when beginning to use these minimalist shoes, because breaking them in too quickly can be quite painful, as some users describe below.

I want to love these shoes, but the material on the heel is stiff and rubs my foot raw! I didn’t return them because I thought I had to break them in. I usually have to wear 2 pairs of socks to keep the blistering at bay and even that isn’t a perfect solution. Because of this, I cannot recommend these shoes. ~AquaFilly

These shoes are AWESOME! The sales guy warned me to break them in slowly, especially if you’re not used to being sockless and/or going barefoot. Initially I did get a little blister at the back of my heel, but I’ve had much worse from wearing socks in regular tennis shoes – these Barefoot shoes really do fit like gloves. I am also overweight with high arches so I was worried about not having enough support, but I’ve been walking outside, on a treadmill, and doing DVD workouts with these shoes and I have to say they are the best and most comfortable I’ve had in ages!!! Thank you Merrell! ~adsmile

I could not be happier with these shoes; in fact, I’ve never written a product review before, and as such, these are the only product I’ve ever owned that I liked so much that I had to gush. Pros: – Fit perfectly straight out of the box – Compliment-worthy and adorable – SO MUCH TRACTION – Zero blisters, even with bare feet (and I’ve never been a barefoot-in-shoe girl) – Great for standing, walking, running, jumping, hiking, and are airplane-comfy. My feet do not ever feel constricted or weighed down by them, and feel like a glove on my feet. – Great even for those with poor arches. I usually wear inserts, but in these shoes, my feet seem to naturally want to put their weight on the outside of the foot, making my arches raise all on their own. Sweet. Cons: – I usually have zero foot odor, but these are developing a bit of a smell after 2 weeks of wear. I have to do coin op laundry, so the odor frequency might become a bit expensive, but the plus side is that there is room for thin socks, which greatly reduce the instance of odor! I’ve never just wanted to RUN before; in these shoes, I want to sprint or hop or skip or jump to all my destinations. No biking for me for a while! ~likakdkat

Comfortable, until you wear them for more than a few minutes (at which point they become sweaty and a little gross). I can see the appeal of these shoes for outdoorsy stuff where you want to keep water away from your feet. However, since I am not an outdoorsy type, this is not an appealing quality for me. I suppose this is simply a consequence of me not being the target audience. There is no ventilation. I’d been wearing the shoes for too long, otherwise I’d have returned them. To address this issue, I cut little slits with an exacto-type knife, next to the seams. It’s somewhat inconspicuous (unless the shoe is bent). It’s a reasonable half-assed thrown-together makeshift solution. However, aside from this issue, they are very comfortable and very cute. ~LPox