Agreed on the "horses for causes" point.
I don´t think it´s so exceptional to be careful with "barefoot" shoes, especially for the "best-agers".. The older you get the more you are prone to suffer from arch failure (a "flatfoot" being the end of that process"). Add some general degenerative issues like arthrosis in the toes and the last thing you shoould do is to enhance the natural movement of the foot.
My wife isn´t meant to walk around barefoot anymore at all, especially not on instable surfaces. If it was up to her doc, she would nail her feet on some plywood planks and be done with it.
That said, I just ordered a pair of "Duckfeet" shoes, as per the discussion on TFL last week. Not really "barefoot" shoes, but with a broad toebox and very little heel elevation. Just curious at this point in time, but visually I guess they will work well enough with a simple pair of Jeans and a T-Shirt.