Splay 101 - Whiteout

The sneakers have a great aesthetic. Clean classic look. Love that they're not canvas and does not look like a barefoot shoe. I order 1 pair for everyday, and 2 pairs of the whiteouts for clinic. I wanted the barefoot feel while in scrubs.

The wider toe box is comfortable for the little toes to spread out. The reason they got 4 star instead of 5, The big toe feels a bit restricted. The outer side of the toe box is rounded to accommodate toe spread. However, the inner side of toe box is not rounded but straight so my big toe can't spread. This leads them not to be as comfy as my other barefoot shoes. If they were to round out the toe box for the big toe, they would be perfect. Right now they're 3rd favorite after Hobibear, and Pulltop.

The sizing is off for women. Go a size up or use the European sizing to find your accurate size. The recommended size using their website camera had me ordered the W8 but their women's 8 is actually Eu38. I ended up having to exchange for a W9 which is Eu39; usually a is equivalent to US W8. For reference I'm an 8, or EU39 for all other brands.

I love splay shoes. I have multiple pairs but they're all different sizes. I never know what size is going to fit me. I have to to buy and return and exchange multiple times. Even my shoes that are the same size of previous shoes I've bought. I'm a 7.5/8 in all other brands, with splay I never know what will fit. I've gotten a couple pairs of the size 8 that are way too small or huge, some I have to return because I'm not able to fit in either the 8 or the 7 comfortably , this will be the case with these shoes as well unfortunately. Please consider real women's sizing and half sizes for all your shoes. I LOVE these, but unfortunately will have to return after the last size exchange.

I love the shoe itself. Great for skating and the gym and it gets lots of good looks and works with many outfits.

The problem I have is I normally wear 10.5 and I went with their suggestion and sized down, but after a couple weeks I can feel slight rubbing on the very front/inside top of the big toe.

All these years of normal shoes definitely caused my big toes to curve outward a little bit, which is why I bought these in the first place to avoid bunions. So it's possible after wearing these shoes for long enough my toes are straightening out and I need to size up to 11's instead... There is more of a natural gap between my big and middle toes now for sure. Regardless, the 10 feels like a 10 to me, not a 10.5. Wish I could return to size up but it's too late.

Basically, the Splay Whiteout is a well-engineered, zero-drop, natural foot-shaped, quite wide-toe-boxed, and highly flexible shoe. Splay improved on their original "white-canvas-looking" prototype by making the bottom out-soles of Whiteout totally flat, and most critically: flat right to the outer edge, creating a far more stable out-sole foundation (this is in sharp contrast to the original model that was rounded toward the out-sole edge, and made that earlier model less stable when turning and/or changing direction). The "roof" of the toe-box is higher than the original -- which is an improvement, but could still be raised a bit further to accommodate more (buyer supplied) insole options. And, of course, Splay needs to adopt "half-size" options, as many people (like myself) require a half-size (for me, a 12.5) for a proper fit instead of "the next size up" (for me, a 13), which can cause slipping while walking. Otherwise, it is a very good health-focused "barefoot" shoe that comfortably accommodates Dr. Ray McClanahan's "Correct Toes", which I always wear with any pair of shoes.