Carets RAPTOR Wingtip Oxford, Honey

$350 but they are $300 for their pre order. Click here to buy.

Let me tell you the story of how I got a pair of these shoes:

I’ve been trying to find a dressy barefoot pair of shoes for my husband for a long time. I’ve tried different brands and models, but they were never dressy enough for him. I knew about Carets, but they were too expensive for us. They do have an outlet store where they sell samples or pre-owned shoes for a discounted price. They have 3 different prices:

• Irregular: $150 These have minor defects or signs of use, but are still very presentable. If you get them and they are not acceptable to you, Carets will cover your return shipping to upgrade to a higher tier. 
• Flexpoint: $225 With all leather shoes, normal creasing occurs at the shoe’s flexpoint, almost immediately upon trying on. These are returns/exchanges.
• New (no box): $240 Many pairs are only here because the original branded box was damaged in shipping. The shoes are in brand-new condition. 

One day, I checked their Carets Outlet Store and found an Irregular pair of Falcon Wingtip Honey, size 10 (which I thought was the right size for my husband) and quickly bought them for him. I paid $145.

Shortly after, I received an email asking to confirm I had bought the right size. I imagined they have received quite a few exchanges and want to make sure the sizing is right the first time. Carets recommend sizing down one size. I sent measurements to make sure and they did confirm he should size down to size 9. 

Of course, these are discounted shoes, one of a kind, so there was no size 9 for us to get. I told Mountain, the owner, our story and offered us the sample pair of his new collection. Of course we wanted to try the new Raptors!

My husband has been wearing them daily for a few weeks and I am now ready to share our opinion.

You can see Carets website here.

Company

Carets was founded by Mountain in California. It all started with an idea in 2009. He was a barefoot runner that was tired of wearing heavy and tapered shoes to work as an accountant.

He designed his shoes and decided he wanted to make them ethically and sustainably. I am still learning about their suppliers and manufacturer in Mexico.

Materials

Carets uses full-grain aniline leather from Texas steers, tanned in Wisconsin. 

1. Aniline leather is made from the most durable and strongest part of the animal hide, it is also rather strong. It is more durable than top grain leather.
2. Full aniline leather hides are colored using non-toxic aniline dyes, but are not treated with a protective topcoat. Because of this it will quickly absorb natural oils and develop a rich patina.

The outsoles are made in Missouri with Polyurethane.

• Upper: Full-grain aniline cowhide
• Liner: Full-grain aniline cowhide
• Insole: Poron (urethane)
• Outsole: Thermoplastic Polyurethane

Design

Carets design shoes for the Primal Professional that needs dress shoes for work. The design creates tricks of the eye, making it look more tapered than they are. The toe box provides more space than your traditional dress shoe in wide, but not as much as your barefoot sneaker. There is extra space at the front of the shoe to create this illusion and because of this, they had to add a slight toe spring (otherwise, they would flap when you walk).

They do not have the traditional rounded toe box from barefoot shoes, which means there will be less width. They are created for a specific customer: one that wants a better dress shoe in order to dress professionally. Rounded shoes cannot provide the professional look required in various fields. 

They are:

• Zero drop with toe spring
• Sole is 3.5 mm thick + a layer of smooth full-grain leather
• Removable insole is made of a thin layer of poron and leather
• Total stack height: 9 mm thick
• Flexible: Carets recommends to NOT fold your shoe because you want to avoid flexpoints on them.
• Wide: best for narrow to medium width feet.
• Lightweight: 13 ounces for 1 shoe, size 9
• High volume

Specifics for size 9:

• Insole measurements: 10 cm x 29 cm (including 2.5 cm extra space at the front)

First impressions

• These are fancy shoes!!!
• They are extremely well made with intricate detailing.
• My husband was surprised they were barefoot, he thought they looked “normal.”
• Designed for high volume feet. My husband added tongue and heel pads as his feet and heels are low volume. He left the insoles in, but they can be removed to provide even more space.
• Extremely lightweight.
• After taking a few steps at home, he thought his heels were shifting and was worried they were going to hurt when wearing for long periods of time.

After a couple of wears (long days 8-5, standing for long periods of time):

• No heel slippage, there was nothing to worry about (he did add a heel pad)
• Extremely comfortable (have I mentioned how picky he is with his shoes?!?)
• Love the looks! My husband works in a conservative place. He wants his shoes to look “normal” and presentable with his suits. He is happy with his Raptor.

Imperfection / Quality defect

Unfortunately, after 4 days of wear, the sole separated from the uppers! This was disappointing because these are expensive shoes and I expected better quality. I reached out to Carets and they offered to:

1. Pay for a cobbler to fix it
2. Send me the materials for me to fix it or
3. Send it to Mountain (the owner) and he could fix it (I don’t think this is an option, but he wanted to make things right).

I chose the second option, I fixed it myself. He is also sending a free pair of their women’s shoes to us when they become available.

Carets’ policy

If there is a quality issue, they will:

1. Repair and
2. Send a free pair of shoes.

You can buy without worry because Carets stand behind their shoes.

Shoe Repair

I repaired the shoes myself and made a couple of videos, which you can watch here:

I will be adding PART 2 here.

Personal Experience

While I was waiting for the materials to repair the shoe, my husband went back to his former shoes, Cole Haan Williams Cap Toe Oxford in wide, and immediately noticed how much more comfortable the Carets are to wear over the Cole Haan.

He stands for fairly long stretches of time at work and he was surprised by how big the difference in comfort was for Carets over his former shoes when he had to revert back for a short time.

With Carets, his feet do not feel tired or sore even after several hours on his feet. In contrast to the Cole Haan, which are like typical business professional shoes, not terribly comfortable.

He would recommend them for use in a business professional setting.  

Things to know

I’ve read a lot of comments stating these are not true barefoot shoes because they are tapered.

Carets might not be for you if:

1. You are looking for wide, foot shaped, barefoot shoes.
2. You do not need formal, dress shoes.
3. You can wear casual shoes.

Carets ARE for you if:

1. You need to look professional.
2. You need zero drop, foot friendly, lighter dress shoes.
3. You can compromise on the toe box/width in order to wear better dress shoes.

Comparisons

I’ve been trying to find shoes for my husband for a long time. I bought different brands and models and they were NOT dressy enough for his job. He tried:

• Tadeevo Derby Gentleman
• Vivobarefoot Ra
• Lems Nine2Five

He agreed to try them on but refused to wear them to work. They are NOT dressy enough for his office.

As you can see from the picture:

• Carets are longer than Vivobarefoot in comparable sizes.
• The toe box in the Carets is tapered to create a more formal look.
• Carets are not as wide as Vivobarefoot.
• Carets are formal dress shoes while Vivobarefoot are casual shoes.
• Carets pass as “traditional” shoes while Vivobarefoot has the recognizable rounded toe box from barefoot shoes.
• The leather used by Carets creates a structured form while Vivobarefoot are lighter and unstructured.

Final thoughts

I am extremely happy that I finally found a pair of barefoot shoes formal enough for my husband. He wears them every day to work and has received several compliments.

They are zero drop and light. They offer a better toe box than ANY other dress shoe he has owned. But I do have to admit the toe box is tapered compared to a barefoot sneaker or casual shoe. This is still 100% better than the other option: traditional dress shoes.

If you need to look professional for work, Carets is the BEST option on the barefoot market.