WHERE IN THE WORLD

Has RedShoes been?

I know that it has been a while … lots of things going on. And, as a matter of fact, I have been around quite a bit. But more on that later; now there are far more important things to talk about.

So, hello there again. Summer is finally here; hence, it’s time to talk thongs. White, black, red, blue, green, leopard print or sequined – in all the colors and patterns one can imagine. And it is really hard these days to say who loves wearing them more, the guys or the girls..

You say what? No, I am talking about shoes: flip-flops, beach sandals, or, well, thongs. These terms are often used interchangeably, since all three terms depict shoes which have a toe-separating component and y-shaped straps (that’s what makes them thongs). Another thing they share is the flip-flop sound when walking due to the free back. Sometimes, however, flip-flops and thongs do stand for two different types of shoes: flip-flops are usually made of rubber or foam – materials which tolerate getting wet and are generally pretty sturdy. Usually, these shoes are flat or may have a wedged heel and are for said reasons often less expensive than the more fashionable and elegant thong sandal.

Thong sandals on the other hand are usually made of a variety of materials and come with different types of heels and different heights. Often they can be rather extravagant and are worn with elegant outfits but they can also spice up casual clothing.

However, today I’m going to talk about the foam-type flip-flops. As long as there are flip-flops there will also be discussion about their propriety. When are they appropriate? And on what occasions? Easy question? Don’t fool yourself; it isn’t THAT easy (at least for some people – you’ll be surprised!). The most prominent example of a flip-flop No-No leads us back to the White House in 2007. The good old times? Not really. The fashion faux pas was as follows: Northwestern University's champion women's lacrosse team visited the White House to meet with President Bush WEARING FLIP-FLOPS. How could they? In this article two fashion specialists clearly state their disgust with these women’s poor sense of fashion. In this situation (meeting the president is a rather rare occasion...) flip-flops are surely unacceptable; but on which other occasions should one choose more appropriate footwear?

Here’s a list:

• restaurants (if not on the beach)

• churches (especially not at a funeral!!)
  weddings

• in your office, especially in a corporate environment or other job(except if you work at the beach)
  
• clubs or bars (yes, people wear flip-flops with dresses)
  
• concerts
  
• first dates or other, important out-of-work meetings
  
• and, most importantly, whenever your feet are not in the right condition to be presented to the world; make sure your toes are pedicured.

David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief for Men's Health magazine, even claims it best not to show toes at all, especially at your work place. According to a Men’s Health poll 55% of women said that they do not want to see men in open-toed sandals. Something I can fully relate to. There’s nothing more disgusting than seeing old men’s abhorrent toes. Atrocious! (Photos wouldn’t be appropriate here either!!)

This list doesn’t cover every occasion but surely the most important ones. Wearing the appropriate clothes is an important means of signaling respect and thus places like churches (and I’m trying not to sound hypocritical, this is serious for once), your work-place, restaurants and other meeting places with people you respect. Taking this into account we should probably go for more polished shoes at university as well but on the other hand there is nothing like a “university dress code”. To make flip-flops appropriate for a day at university one should combine them with casual clothes such as capris, shorts or skirts (casual I said) or with blue jeans, an item of clothing you can always rely on. On the contrary, the only places where flip-flops are more than appropriate and fully serve their function are the public shower, the swimming pool and the beach.

Having set straight when to wear flip-flops and when to choose closed shoes considering the situation only leaves one question left to be discussed. According to Hathorn “white people wear flip-flops all year round and with everything.” A claim which certainly holds true: A friend of mine once told me, absolutely convinced of herself, that “flip-flop season starts in March and ends in October/ early November” no matter if there’s already snow two meters high. In addition, Hathorn says “White people don’t consider weather conditions or the rest of their outfit when they slide their feet into those flip flops.” Is this true? I don’t think so; allow me to introduce you to this website, if you haven’t heard of it yet. At the same time incredibly hilarious and hideous. Sometimes I do ask myself whether people have a full-length mirror at home or do they just not care about what they look like? Incredible, really. However, coming back to Hathorn’s claim, there seems to be some truth in it. Eight of the ten comments on his post confirm his observations and his point of view; the ninth is a “year round flip-flopper who couldn’t care less what anyone else thinks of [his/her] footwear choice”. The tenth commentator, however, takes the opposite position and writes about a black man coming out of the laudromat with flip flops on in the winter though. So there’s at least a tad of proof that it’s not just us “whities” committing this particular fashion faux-pas.

The last point I am going to talk about is the question of whether wearing flip-flops damages your health. According to this article by Daily Mail Online medics claim that flip-flops may cause joint pain, shin splints and twisted ankles. Mike O’Neill, a foot surgeon, even calls this type of footwear dangerous as they stretch the calf muscles and strains the achilles tendon and the back of the foot. The “thong” presents another problem because it doesn’t offer enough support to the wearer, which is dangerous in terms of tripping over and hurting yourself. According to the statistics in the article, “55,100 men and women went to hospital with flip-flop-related complaints in 2002.” However, doctors also warn about wearing high-heels which sounds much more plausible. If you’re out and about on high-heels and a little bit tipsy and tired (you know what it’s like) you’ll be a “little unstable” by the end of the night and thus much more likely to fall over. Usually such falls often include dislocated ankles, torn ligaments or, in the worst case, a broken ankle or leg. Those doctors don’t make deciding what to wear out on such hot nights easy, eh? Your safest bet is probably staying home. Not cool.

So, what have we learned today? Usually white people wear flip-flops all year round in all weather conditions and do not care what they wear with them. Also, flip-flops can be as bad for your health as they can be for your career. Choose wisely when to wear flip-flops or more polished shoes (always taking the situation and the imposition into account), because wearing the right outfit is an important (and also very obvious!!) means of signaling respect. And, just in case you are invited to the White House make sure to wear APPROPRIATE shoes (I cannot emphasize this enough) or if you cannot get around your poor sense of fashion do it the “Northwestern University Lacrosse Team 4-step”- way:

Step 1: Wear the ugliest and most inappropriate shoes you have in your closet: flip-flops made of foam.

Step 2: Combine it with some rather appropriate outfit and pretend not to care about the way you look.

Step 3: Ignore the media discussions you have started and turn them to your benefit ->

Step 4: Calm the media, forget about your faux-pass and auction your flip-flops off for charity.

TTFN RedShoes.