Barefoot Shoes TikTok Couple / Christi and Seth Fritz

Submission 969

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About

The Barefoot Shoes TikTok Couple or Christi and Seth Fritz is a couple on TikTok who, in January 2024, announced that they would be walking barefoot everywhere from then on, including in public places. The couple posted numerous videos documenting their transition to going barefoot everywhere, including a video in February in which they cut the bottoms of their shoes off so they can stealthily walk around in stores and public areas barefoot. The videos went viral online and inspired reactions and media attention.

Online History

Christi Fritz (@ChristiFritz) is a TikToker with over 2.2 million followers. She is known for vlog videos documenting her life with her husband Seth and their daughter, Noelle.^[1]

Barefoot Arc

On January 20th, 2024, Christi Fritz posted a video to TikTok^[2] in which she announced that she and her husband Seth were no longer wearing shoes, whether in public or outside. In the video, in which they walk around barefoot, she claims there are "many benefits" to going barefoot, including improved posture and feeling more connected to nature. She admits that people will think they're crazy but says it's worth it. She also uses her bare feet to touch the crosswalk button. The video gained over 11 million views in two weeks (shown below).

Later that day, she uploaded another video to TikTok^[3] claiming she and her husband were kicked out of the mall for being barefoot, garnering over 1.2 million views in two weeks (shown below, left). On January 23rd, she posted another vlog to TikTok^[4] documenting them walking barefoot in public, garnering over 900,000 views in the same span of time (shown below, right).

On January 26th, 2024, the couple posted a video to TikTok^[5] where Christi explains that she was kicked from Sephora for entering the store barefoot, documenting herself sneaking into Sephora with shoes on to get what she needs.

On January 29th and 30th, the TikToker^[6]^[7] uploaded two videos documenting herself getting a tattoo that reads "foot queen" on her foot to celebrate their barefoot journey, garnering over 700,000 and 1.5 million views respectively in four days (shown below, left and right).

Barefoot Shoes Video

On February 1st, 2024, the TikToker^[8] uploaded a video in which she explained how she and her husband cut the bottoms of their shoes out so they could walk around in public barefoot without anyone noticing. In the video, she claims that their shoe collection is worth over $20,000 USD, but that "the benefits of walking barefoot are priceless." They then film themselves going to Sephora in their barefoot shoes. The video gained over 35 million views in a day.

Online Reactions

Shortly after uploading their first video announcing their decision to go barefoot on January 20th, 2024, the couple became the subject of criticism and memes online. On January 21st, TikToker^[9] @vish_avva posted a video reacting to the couple, calling their barefoot behavior "WPS," garnering over 11 million views in two weeks (shown below).

On January 31st, X^[10] user @ThisIsBoonie reposted the barefoot shoes video, writing, "They cut the bottoms of their shoes out to walk barefoot," garnering over 7,300 likes in two days. On February 1st, X^[11] user @Comrade_Waluigi quote-reposted the video, writing, "these guys are very quickly going to realize that shoes weren't invented because of societal norms lmao," garnering over 80,000 likes in a day.

Also on February 1st, 2024, YouTuber^[12] Penguinz0 posted a video about the couple titled "This is Gross," garnering over 925,000 views in under 24 hours (shown below). On the same day, the New York Post^[13] notably reported on the couple.