Flip-Flop/Thong Sandals - Cute or Lazy?

UPDATE 6/6/2010: Due to the popularity of this blog entry and the topic discussed, I have made a secondary, shopping-exclusive blog called "John's Shop Space." A link specific to this topic will be featured later.

Flip-Flop/Thong sandals have been the quintessential sandals (let alone shoes) of warm weather. They've been the go-to shoes to wear with garments. It used to be that the mid-1990s (and even late 1990s) had the Keds Champion sneaker as the most popular shoes worn by femmes. This blog entry is not necessarily about flip-flop/thong sandals. But rather, are wearing these cute or lazy?

I use "Flip-flop/thong sandals" almost interchangeably. Flip-flops are very popular thong sandals. I'm using "thong sandals" to differentiate from thong underwear and thong sandals. Most people usually immediately think of thong underwear and swimwear whenever "thong" is mentioned. So I've used both terms almost interchangeably. But for the most part, I'm referring to your average flip-flop sandals.

NOTE: This blog entry contains links to Amazon products. You are welcome to click on images and links to learn more about each item or even purchase these items if you so choose. Please see "An Important Amazon Note" in my blog's sidebar to see more information on any Amazon items shown.

LATEST UPDATE(S)/REVISION(S)

MAY 10 2012 - edited look of post and corrected certain spelling errors. Also edited a lot of the featured content.

--- Flip-Flops/Thong Sandals at a Glance ---

Whether really flat, has a wedge heel, a platform base, or has a high thong design... flip-flop/thong sandals have been the simplest pair of sandals to wear. I've honestly never hated flip-flops. Whether or not to wear these depends on what you're wearing these with. Glamour Magazine announced in its "25 Biggest Do's and Don'ts" that "rocking ugly shoes across town" is a don't. It's actually #22 or #21 on that list. Flip-flops are famous because of the open-air comfort. However, many think they are ONLY for the beach and should never be worn with any kind of casual outfit. Some like wearing flip-flops for their comfort and all the open-air comfort. An online friend of mine with a Wordpress blog called Monie's Closet dislikes thong sandals because of "too much naked foot." Then, perhaps the most notorious incident in fashion:


^ (from: collegerecruiter.com) - Considered one of the biggest fashion faux pas ever, some members of Northwestern University's national championship-winning women's lacrosse team wore flip-flops with their fancy outfits.

This was criticized heavily as the Northwestern University women's lacrosse team had some of its players take a picture with the U.S. President... wearing flip-flop sandals. It may be one of the biggest fashion faux pas of the past ten years. It is also testament to the fact that some love flip-flops so much that femmes constantly incorporate these into their looks.

Time to look at this from both sides- cute and lazy.

--- Flip-Flops are... Cute! ---

There would be reason to say they are cute. I think females with cute feet couldn't find a better pair of sandals to show off how cute their feet and toes are. There is no shame in wearing flip-flops. Their popularity has even developed into a shop, called simply the Flip-Flop Shops (not to be confused with Mary Lou's "Flip-Flop Shop" of PBS fame). Flip-Flop Shops' slogan is "Free Your Toes!" Why wear shoes when you can enjoy open-air comfort? At least, that is what Flip-Flop Shops would preach.

There are various flip-flops of various kinds, many of which come in a variety of colors and embellishments. Even some companies have their own flip-flop sandals to be sold, including those of your favorite colleges, sports teams, etc. The most popular flip-flops I see are from Old Navy.

Many wear flip-flop/thong sandals as casual wear. Some wear them as comfortable shoes to wear when not wearing any fancy shoes.

--- Flip-Flops are... Lazy! ---

The primary intent of this blog entry was to talk about if flip-flop wearing is lazy. Lazy in the context of... "you could have worn shoes (or even different kinds of sandals), but you chose to wear THESE?" There are even those who'd criticize wearing flip-flops even when it's cold. Some wear socks with flip-flops. So there are those who think it's lazy to wear these.

I hope I don't offend any of my Californian readers, but some people tend to wear flip-flops like everywhere is Venice Beach or Huntington Beach. Not every place is the beach, and not every place is coastal southern California. There was that beach/surfing inspired trend from 2005 or so with lots of surfing-themed fashions and styles. I've seen some casual fashion looks with semi-formal clothing paired with flip-flops. Some femmes could have went with a dressy pair of pumps or some dressy sandals, but chose flip-flops. If it's a casual setting, then this is acceptable. But if it's more of a formal or semi-formal deal, it's lazy to go with a simple pair of flip-flops for a formal or dressy occasion. The only exception is if you're at some event and want to wear some more comfortable footwear AFTER a fancy occasion.

The flip-flops at the White House deal was an incident of wearing comfortable footwear in a dressy setting. However, you can't go with dressy outfits and then wear flip-flops. A better idea would be a more dressy pair of thong sandals (not flip-flops) if you still fancy wearing thong-type shoes.





Wearing flip-flop/thong sandals... cute or lazy? Are there times and places to wear these sandals? What do you think?

If you would like to shop for flip-flop/thong sandals, you can buy flip-flop/thong sandals that I've found on Amazon through my new blog called "John's Shop Space." Click on the image below to check out my shopping-exclusive blog entry on flip-flop/thong sandals, which features many more flip-flops you can buy from Amazon:





Thanks for reading and happy shopping (if you're doing any)! :)

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