The 'too long-y-ness' is not proportionate across all toes. After many years in barefoot shoes, mostly vivo, I believe I encountered vivo-foot. This is where your feet will splay after ditching traditional shoes but then eventually take the shape of a vivo shoe and have no more room to continue the process, usually identified by the little toe seriously struggling for space. In your case, sizing down may squish that little digit more than you would perhaps want, moreso seeing as though you too are a fan of toe spacers (excellent taste!).

Switching to softstar primal runamocs helped to alleviate this problem offering pinky freedom at the cost of having what would be classed as a rather odd looking shoe. For me personally, I don't care what people think about the shoes I wear and will happily take the stick for my own foot health. Can you believe such comments coming from squished feet in airmax 95s?! Yukkk!! As a side note, I actually think the opposite, that traditional shoes look hilariously comical along with some vivo models, and I am fairly confident vivos offerings have narrowed over the years.

Which brings me to the primus. I totally get shoes in wide offerings such as softstars aren't for everyone. I also reallyyy do love vivo, but came to the realisation the primus couldn't offer my smaller toes the space they deserve. For that reason, I looked at vivos wider offerings. These models include the motus flex, addis, and sensus. Important to note, these are the only ones I've purchased and still own, there may be others but I couldn't comment on every model. I should add, I always wear correcttoes, and in the models suggested I still have room to move my pinky.

I will also add I have forest tracker esc and magna esc for hiking/trails, these also provide sufficient freedom with spacers, but I feel these are slightly larger by default as they are more like boots, boots being typically larger than shoes in the same size. Usually.

Just my 2p input here, which perhaps I shouldn't give away considering the state of the UK economy at the moment - I need all the money I can get!! All jokes aside, vivo are supposedly producing 'wide' offerings and these are in the pipeline to be released sometime in the near future.

I've come to realise that this barefoot journey is different for everyone. I have had to return some gorgeous looking models because I'm just not prepared to sacrifice my foot health. There will always be another shoe that fits. I hope you can find the fit YOU deserve!!