Here’s something to consider.  Our toes are an extremely functional part of our foot and are crucial to helping our foot become stable when walking or running.  Our toes have tendons that pass through the arch and cross the ankle to muscles that are in our calf.  The calf muscle is made up of more than just the “gastroc” muscle.  The toe flexors have muscles here as well.  These muscles and tendons control our toes which should function independently and splay apart when in contact with the ground.  The worst thing a person could do is jam their toes into a tight sock which then forces the toes together preventing them from working independently.  An analogy would be to consider yourself doing a push up.  You wouldn’t bunch your fingers up and make a fist, you would splay your fingers to stabilize your hand against the ground.  It’s more efficient.  The same holds true for the foot.