“Funky,” “Ugly,” ninja shoe,” and “those are not right” are some of the things that people have said about senior Cierra Wheeler’s Vibram Fivefingers shoes. Vibram and Toms have been appearing on students’ feet early this year and have been trending. Wheeler has had Vibram shoes for almost two years now. The shoes are like toe socks but they have a sole. She said she first heard about the Vibram shoes online, and that is where she did her research. What Wheeler found was, regular shoes confine your toes and your whole foot, which in turn is supposedly not good for your feet. Also, wearing Vibrams helps make your 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and over 100s of receptors and tendons in your foot healthier and helps your lower leg become stronger. Wheeler definitely agrees. She said wearing her Vibrams has helped her in her lifetime personal fitness class, where she does a lot of running. The shoes helped straighten out her pinky toe, and she also has stronger calf muscles now, she said. She thinks it was worth the $85 buy she got at R.E.I. Some advice if you’re thinking about Vibrams is “They get kind of stinky so you need to wash them,” Wheeler said. Senior Gus Gunderson, who owns two pairs of Vibrams, bought them because ” I wanted to get into the whole barefoot running.” Gunderson also said that the Vibrams were worth the buy, and are comfortable. People have said the same sort of comments, good and bad, about Gunderson’s Vibrams including, ” Those are cool,” “Those are weird” and “I want a pair.” Gunderson said he has heard almost everything. Also, he is looking into buying a pair Toms shoes. Dimond sophomore Taylor Ramsdell owns a pair of Toms. He first heard about the shoes through a video You Tuber Mitchell Davis put together a few years ago. The Toms shoe company started when American traveler Blake Mycoskie became friends with children in Argentina and came to see that most of them had no shoes on their feet, according to information on the company’s website. Mycoskie wanted to help out children in many different countries and the company was created. For every pair of Toms purchased, the company will give a pair of new shoes for a child in need, ” One for One.” Ramsdell feels that help by giving a pair of shoes to one child in need bit also. “Wearing my Toms people ask about them and buy their own pair. It’s kind of a snowball effect,” he said. He said the shoes are really comfy. Ramsdell said people either love the shoes or don’t care for them. Whether it happens to be keeping your feet in balance or wearing a pair of Toms, these kinds of footwear are walking around the halls at Dimond High School.