Beyond Babedom

We're (way) over 40. Deal with it.

Flipping Out

Now that summer is truly over, I’d like to broach a subject that some of you might disagree with: the overuse of flip flops and other kind of grotty personal grooming habits that used to be verboten. . .but are now culturally – and unfortunately – acceptable.

So, what’s so bad about flip flops? If you’re on the beach, no problem. If you’re hanging around on a summer weekend, a-ok. If you’re going to work – and you don’t have a broken toe – them., yuck.

Yes, some people keep up well with foot-grooming. But  not most. And don’t kid yourself: getting a pedicure on Saturday doesn’t mean that your tootsies don’t look terrible on Tuesday. And simply toes that are polished does not necessarily an attractive sight make. Not to  mention that wearing flip flops is essentially the same as going bare foot. Think of the bacteria. . .Do any of us really want to see – when we’re at work or especially at a restaurant – what was meant to be hidden from public view? And I’m just addressing flip flop wearing by people with nice looking feet. Think about those of us who have gangly toes, misshapen insteps or hairy foot knuckles!

Yes, I realize women’s sandals also expose a lot of foot, but it seems like when someone is wearing a 2 inch heel, they are more likely to first check out the status of their callouses and cuticles. But with flip flops, not only are we exposed to simply gross looking foot faux pas, we’re also seeing the bottoms of their hooves.  I don’t care if you washed them this morning, by dinner time the bottoms are not something I want to be viewing as I sup.

And as you all know, not everyone is maintaining their metatarsals. No; I have seen some pretty funky feet, exposed for all the world, in the work place, in restaurants and even – unbelievably – at job interviews. Yes, I know it’s a somewhat more casual world than it was in the 80s or even the 90s, but the line has to be drawn somewhere. And I think it needs to be drawn here.

I broke my toe this summer and loved the excuse of having to wear flip flops to work and even to a trade show (Ahhhh. . . that’s how to bear an 8 hour on-your-feet shift!). But after a few weeks of flip flopping, I started to become more aware of other people’s feet and how much yuck I was seeing. The worst offenders? Men. Come on, guys. It’s bad enough when your shoes are raggedly looking. But must we be also exposed to those damaged dogs?

http://fashion-angst.blogspot.com/2010/09/flop-week-inappropriate-office-attire.html

So, in conclusion, please think twice before you slip into a flip flop and head to work, a restaurant or – God forbid – a job interview. It may be casual Friday, but your feet are saying it’s I-don’t-care day.

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 14th, 2013 at 12:30 PM and is filed under Fashion, My Pet Peeves. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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