My anecdata: I've been wearing barefoot shoes for the better part of a decade now. I switch between Vibram FiveFingers (the first "toe shoes") and Vivobarefoot. The five fingers combined with toe spreaders improved my toe splay after around 12 months. Fixing my toe splay had a big impact on my balance, which then in turn had a big impact on my core strength. Once I realized what core strength was, I was able to start correcting my APT from sitting in a chair all day. None of this was my original goal, just a pleasant side effect.

Another side effect is most of my socks are Injinji toe socks. Honestly might like these more than the shoes. Zero blisters even while backpacking. The big negative has been when I have to dress up. I have a couple of wide toe-box shoes but the good looking ones all seem to taper. I'm hoping maybe this "resurgence" can give us a few more companies making these and potentially a few new styles that I can wear to a wedding.