Surviving December without going in the red is indeed challenging. There are a lot of things to buy for a lot of people, making it all the easier to clear out the bank account before the end of the month. However, if I had only £70 left on my account, these are the shoes I would buy.
I test running shoes for a living but I already confessed that I'm a big sucker for barefoot shoes and Vivobarefoot shoes in particular. Don't get me wrong; I love my Xero Denver boots but the shoes I always return to are the Vivobarefoot Primus Lite III. Ask everyone who knows me and they'll tell you that I wear those shoes 90% of the time.
I have been wearing various iterations of the Primus Lite for a couple of years now; I think it's time for me to move on. Well, move on to wearing different Vivobarefoot shoes, that is. And since I'm broke to the nth degree, it's probably best if I chose shoes from Vivobarefoot's clearance section.
The shoes I'm eyeballing are the Addis Mens in slate. They are down to £70 from £95 and just look utter gorgeous. My current Vivo shoes are black, so wearing something a bit more lively will surely lighten up my wardrobe.
The Addis range is handmade in Ethiopia with a minimalist ergonomic design for "super-natural comfort wherever life takes you next", as Vivobarefoot explains. The upper is made of leather, and not just any leather but naturally scarred leather from free-roaming cattle sourced from small scale farmers.
The Ababa Sole features a footprint design inspired by the Laetoli found in Tanzania, the oldest recorded persevered human footprints dating back to around 3.7 million years ago. It also might help confuse people walking behind you on a beach.
Best of all, the Addis is part of the Revivo collection so when I'm finished with them, I can send them back to Vivo using the Revivo website. Come to think of it, I can actually just buy a pair of upcycled shoes straight through Revivo for cheap...
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Matt Kollat is a journalist and content creator who works for T3.com and its magazine counterpart as an Active Editor. His areas of expertise include wearables, drones, fitness equipment, nutrition and outdoor gear. He joined T3 in 2019. His byline appears in several publications, including Techradar and Fit&Well, and more. Matt also collaborated with other content creators (e.g. Garage Gym Reviews) and judged many awards, such as the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance's ESSNawards. When he isn't working out, running or cycling, you'll find him roaming the countryside and trying out new podcasting and content creation equipment.