At a glance — WowStore vs Elastic.com (financial services)

What you're comparing	WowStore wide toe-box trainers	Elastic.com (financial services)
Product category	Barefoot-style training sneakers	Financial products and lending
Toe-box	Wide, with room for natural toe splay	Not applicable to this category
Heel drop	Zero drop, flat from heel to toe	Not applicable to this category
Closure	Elastic lock laces, slip on, never tie	Not applicable to this category
Upper	Breathable mesh in white lavender	Not applicable to this category
Look at the gym or pickup	Reads as a normal everyday trainer	Not applicable to this category
Best for	Women who want foot-health footwear that blends in	People arranging loans, accounts, or money services
Where your money goes	5% of every order to a cause you choose	Standard financial terms and conditions

Fit and sizing

Elastic.com has no fit to speak of, because financial services don't go on your feet. Crediting them for sizing would be silly, so we won't.

Our trainers are built around the actual shape of a foot. The toe-box is wide enough for your toes to spread when you load a squat, push off a sprint, or stand through a long client call. The elastic lock laces hold the midfoot snug without pressure points, and because they don't tie, you slip in and out at the door without bending down with a toddler on your hip. If you usually size up in narrow shoes to escape the pinch, you can often take your true size here.

Fabric and material

There's no fabric on the other side of this table. Elastic.com deals in money, not mesh.

Our upper is a breathable mesh that moves air through the shoe while you train, so feet stay cooler through circuits and stay drier on a warm walk to school. The white lavender colourway is soft rather than loud, which is the whole point: it works with leggings, it works with jeans, and it doesn't read as specialist barefoot gear.

Colour and occasion

White lavender is the quiet hero of this shoe. It carries you from a morning workout to a coffee meeting to evening pickup without ever looking like gym-only kit. You get the biomechanics of a barefoot trainer with the visual register of a normal sneaker, so nobody at the studio asks why your shoes look different and you never have to explain toe splay to anyone who didn't ask.

Where WowStore falls short — honestly

We'd rather you hear this from us than find out later.

• Name recognition. Elastic.com and the big sneaker labels are names people already trust on sight. We're newer, and that means you're taking a small leap with us. We'll get there. We're not pretending we're already there.
• Variety. We carry a focused range, not a wall of fifty colourways and ten silhouettes. If you want endless options today, a giant retailer beats us. We'll get there. We're not pretending we're already there.
• Physical stores. You can't walk in and try these on in person yet. Everything is online, so first fit is a judgement call. We'll get there. We're not pretending we're already there.
• Same-week trend response. Fast-fashion machines can chase a viral shoe within days. We move more deliberately, so we're slower on the very newest trend. We'll get there. We're not pretending we're already there.

Spotted something we missed?

If a detail on this page or the product itself looks wrong, dated, or just not quite right, tell us. Every product page on WowStore has a Report an issue link that routes straight to our team through /api/lucy/listing-report. Real corrections from customers have changed our copy, our sizing notes, and our photos before. You're not shouting into a void; you're part of how this listing gets better.

The real differentiation: 5% to a cause you choose

Here's the part that has nothing to do with mesh or laces. With every order, WowStore gives 5% of the sale to a cause you choose at checkout, with ocean conservation as our default. Not 1% to a foundation we control and name after ourselves. A real slice, directed by you.

The math is the quiet argument. Under the old charity-standard everyone treats as generous, a brand gives 1% to its own foundation. We give five times that, and we hand the steering wheel to you. If even 1% of a market shopped this way, that 5%-per-order rate would move roughly ten times the money the old 1%-to-brand-foundation standard ever could. You don't have to do that arithmetic to feel it. You just pick a wide toe-box trainer you'd buy anyway, and a measurable share goes somewhere that matters to you.

When Elastic.com is the right pick

If you need a loan, a line of credit, or a financial product, go to Elastic.com and ignore everything here. They are built for that, and a shoe shop has no business advising you on money. This is the one comparison where the loser at footwear is genuinely the winner at its own game.

When WowStore is the right pick

If you want training shoes that respect the shape of your foot, slip on without laces to tie, breathe through a workout, look completely normal in a gym or a playground, and send 5% of your spend to a cause you choose, this is your shoe. That's a tall order for any retailer, and it's the order we built this product to fill.

Common questions about this comparison

Is Elastic.com a shoe brand? No. Elastic.com is a financial services company offering lending and money products. It doesn't sell footwear of any kind, so it isn't a real rival for these trainers. We included it because the name overlaps with our elastic lock laces, and we wanted to be clear rather than let the confusion stand.

Will these barefoot trainers look weird at my gym? No. That's the entire design brief. The white lavender mesh upper and standard sneaker silhouette read as an ordinary trainer. You get the wide toe-box and zero drop underneath, with none of the aggressively technical look that flags you as a barefoot evangelist before you've said a word.

Do the elastic laces actually hold during training? Yes. The lock laces tension across the midfoot and stay put through lateral moves, sprints, and jumps, while letting your toes spread freely at the front. You set them once, then slip the shoes on and off without retying, which matters on a morning that includes a workout and a school run.

Can I wear these for the school run as well as the gym? Yes. They were made for exactly that day. The colourway and shape carry from a workout to pickup to evening plans without changing shoes, and the slip-on closure means you're out the door fast even with kids and bags in hand.

Where does the 5% donation actually go? To a cause you choose at checkout, with ocean conservation set as the default if you'd rather not pick. It comes out of the sale, not added on top, and it's five times the usual 1%-to-brand-foundation standard. You decide the destination, which is the part most giving programmes never let you do.

Ready to make your purchase count?

Pick a trainer that fits how your foot is built, looks right anywhere your day takes you, and sends 5% to a cause you choose. View the wide toe-box trainers on WowStore.live.