Patent ID: 8490298

Claim:
A shoe to be worn on a person's foot, which has an instep, a heel and an ankle, wherein said shoe comprises a sole, an upper structure and a releasable and adjustable fastening member, and wherein said upper structure comprises: an upper body heel portion that is fixedly attached to said sole at a bottom of said upper body heel portion and extends upwardly from said sole, and that is positioned and configured to cover at least some of the heel of the foot, an upper body instep portion that is fixedly attached to said sole at a bottom of said upper body instep portion and extends upwardly from said sole, and that is positioned and configured to cover at least some of the instep of the foot, with a gap between said upper body heel portion and said upper body instep portion along an upper opening of said upper structure on at least a first side being a lateral side or a medial side of said shoe, a tongue partially overlapping and extending upwardly and rearwardly from said upper body instep portion along said gap, at least one extendable region that is respectively interposed on at least said first side of said shoe between said upper body heel portion and said tongue, such that said extendable region interconnects said tongue and said upper body heel portion across said gap, and such that said upper opening is bounded by said upper body heel portion, said extendable region and said tongue, wherein said extendable region is elastically extendable and contractible in a longitudinal direction of said shoe, and an outside upper member that overlaps outwardly on at least some of said upper body heel portion, at least some of said upper body instep portion, and at least some of said tongue, and that is bounded by at least a bottom edge portion, a rear edge portion and an instep edge portion, wherein said bottom edge portion is fixedly attached respectively to said bottom of said upper body heel portion and said upper body instep portion, wherein said instep edge portion is separate from and extends onto said upper body instep portion and said tongue, wherein said instep edge portion is connected to and adjustably and releasably secured by said fastening member of said shoe, and wherein said rear edge portion is provided separate from said upper body heel portion such that said rear edge portion and said instep edge portion of said outside upper member can be pulled outwardly away from said upper body heel portion, said upper body instep portion and said tongue when said fastening member is released.