If you're looking for some of the best barefoot men's dress shoes, look no further! We have tested and tried OAKA Studio's zero heel drop dress shoes and they turned out to be practical for travel (foldable), comfortable when wearing and considerate towards the environment. We're also offering our dear readers a promo code for the OAKA dress shoes - for details, read further! And before we forget: we also recommend getting some metatarsal pads for added comfort. [This post was written by my boyfriend Tamás as these are men's travel dress shoes, after all!]
Table of Contents:
- Introduction: Our Review of the OAKA Travel Dress Shoes
- They're Foldable And Thus One of the Best Zero Drop Men's Dress Shoes For Travel
- Truly Wonderful Barefoot Style Dress Shoes
- OAKA Are Consciously Reducing Waste Production
- My Experience Wearing OAKA's Mens Barefoot Dress Shoes
- OAKA Shoes Coupon Code: 15% Off for Our Dear Readers!
- Wrap Up: These Are Wonderful Zero Heel Drop Dress Shoes For Men!
Our OAKA Dress Shoes Review
One of the first things that you learn whilst travelling is that the lighter your bag the better. This is because the heavier your bag, the more annoying it is - particularly if you travel in hot and sweaty places, where every extra ounce on your back makes you hotter and sweatier. Even if you are getting taxis everywhere, you will still find yourself at times having to lift and carry your bag. And trust me, no matter how diligently you pack, there will always be things you don't use.
Which is fine... until you're carrying them unnecessarily, and that's when it gets annoying. It's okay, it's a process and every time you pack again you find yourself leaving more and more things behind and only taking the things that work for you.
One of the hardest, if not the hardest things to think about though is shoes: there are the shoes you wear on your feet whilst travelling, of course, and for some travellers that's enough shoes. But feet experts have been saying for a while that it's important to swap your footwear regularly so your feet and spine don't get used to just one type of shoe. And foot experts aside, it's nice to have variety anyway! It's the spice of life after all. But whilst other clothes are easy to pack thanks to their malleability, shoes generally are not so. They tend to be heavy, firm and unyielding. So what's a professional on the road to do? Enter the new age and the OAKA men's dress shoe:
One of the Best Zero Drop Men's Dress Shoes For Travel
The first thing that attracted me to OAKA Studio's shoe is that it is a travel friendly shoe. Unlike your average shoe, the OAKA men's dress shoe is malleable and soft, meaning that you can pack it into your backpack and not worry about it taking up too much valuable space or coming out all squished.
It does the (what I believed up until this point to be) impossible: it gives you a dressier shoe that is also incredibly comfortable and travel friendly. You can literally fold it in half! Perfect for sliding into nooks and crannies. And it is light! They're also machine washable which, as anyone whose walked down the dusty and muddy roads of this planet knows, is such an added bonus.
Truly Wonderful Barefoot Style Dress Shoes
Travellers like myself look for two things in a shoe - pack-ability and comfort and the OAKA shoe certainly ticks the former, but what about the latter? Although I was first intrigued by these mens' dress shoes because of their clever ability to fold neatly into my carry-on bag, it's even more important that the shoe is actually comfortable... so are the OAKA travel dress shoes comfortable?
Well, I personally believe that walking barefoot is not only the most comfortable kind of walking but is something we are meant to be doing as much as possible for our health. However, it's unfortunately not that possible to walk barefoot in today's urban terrain of broken glass and other nasties on the ground. Thus one of my latest obsessions is walking as if I was barefoot, in shoes that are designed to feel that way (aka the best of both worlds).
Fortunately, the OAKA shoe is one of those such barefoot dress shoes. It has something called an 'Zero Drop Inner Soul' which allows you to walk as if you were barefoot! Over time this will help with my (or your) posture and strengthen my (/your) feet. The shoe is cleverly designed so that even though it is truly a zero drop, it doesn't look like it thanks to a faux heel. Now I'm personally not fussed about whether it looks like it has a heel or not, but for those that do... this shoe is for you! All in all, I'm just happy because they're comfy and good for me. They're soft too and I like that I don't have to bother with tying up laces (which by the way you can easily replace with your own laces).
OAKA Are Consciously Reducing Waste Production
Whilst I like to think about myself (my feet, my back, my backpack and so on) as much as the next person, it's also 2023 - we like to think about others too nowadays, right? And so does OAKA. Production waste has been reduced thanks to the upper part of the shoe being made with flynit fibres. This is unlike your average shoe which uses a more wasteful type of sewing.
Circling back again to the fact that these shoes are machine washable - I think this is such a pro, not just from a personal viewpoint (I will be able to easily clean my shoes just by chucking them in the washing machine instead of the classic sponge and soap combo) but from the viewpoint of reducing even more unnecessary waste. I know a lot of people simply throw away their shoes pre-emptively, either because they're non machine washable or because they try to machine wash them which ruins them and amounts to the same (they throw them out). This is why I'm grateful the OAKA shoe is actually machine washable and why I believe it will further help reduce waste.
My Experience Wearing OAKA's Mens Barefoot Dress Shoes
So they look good on paper (or rather online), what's my conclusion as to how they actually are in real life? Well, I got a pair (the grey version), tested and tried them in rural Ireland and in my experience, they are indeed flexible and easy to fold (yey), so they are indeed a great travel shoe. I'm definitely taking them to my next destination (Eastern Europe... again!)
They look as neat and elegant as they do in the photos. They're comfy and soft. Over time we will see if they really do help my posture and strengthen my feet, but for now I must say it is nice to feel the ground beneath my feet (without the risk of broken glass and splinters.) All in all, I am impressed and hence recommend them to you if you're thinking about them.
OAKA Studio Dress Shoes Discount Code
Since the dawn of time, human has been excited by discount codes and here at Travelling Weasels we aim to please. Thus, I am pleased to offer you a 15% discount code for these wonderful OAKA barefoot dress shoes. Simply use this affiliate link that we created and when promoted insert our promo code: TRAVELLINGWEASELS
Wrap Up: These Are Wonderful Zero Heel Drop Dress Shoes For Men!
All in all, I think you can probably tell by now, I was really impressed with the OAKA travel dress shoes. It's clear that a lot of thought and effort went into it because you can literally feel it. It's there in the softness and comfortableness of the shoe. It's there in the ingenious way it's able to fold up. With the OAKA shoe you can truly have the best of both worlds - a dress shoe that looks fancy, and the ability to pack it to the envy of any well-travelled traveller. And by the way, this wonderful project - like so many others - all started on Kickstarter, check out their video:
P. S. If you're interested in purchasing these wonderfully comfortable men's dress shoes, feel free to use the our coupon code TRAVELLINGWEASELS for 15% off which will only work after you click on our affiliate link.
ABOUTME
We overland. We eat plants and fungi. We live outside as much as possible. We are all connected. A female travel blogger overlanding and writing about ecotourism, ethical and sustainable travel, socially conscious travel and housesitting. An online travel magazine since 2015.
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