Men in Flip Flops

Unpopular opinion: I love men in flip flops.

When we get that first stretch of warm, sunny days in the springtime, along with the Padres caps and the cargo shorts, the men wear their flip flops around town. And I just love it.

Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I want to clarify a few things.

First, these aren’t $2 Old Navy flip flops. These are Rainbows. And OluKais. Occasionally Reef (the younger men, or anyone who fancies themselves a surfer). Men are spending $80 and more on these flip flops. There aren’t too many cities in the US where “high end” and “flip flop” absolutely belong in the same description, and San Diego is one of them. These flip flops are built to last and comfortable enough to walk all day in.

Second, this love absolutely hinges on proper foot care. Trim and file your toenails, lotion the tops of your feet, and wash them very well. Good advice for flip flop wearers of all genders.

Third, there’s a time and a place for everything. That time and place is generally pretty broad for flip flops in San Diego, but the men still know not to wear even the fancy flip flops to a nice dinner.

Fourth, my feelings for men in flip flops do not extend to slides and I have active disdain for boat shoes. 

Maybe it's a calf thing?

OK, my argument.

Men in flip flops signifies a casual confidence (Vogue agrees with my assessment). They’re just out running an errand real quick and popped on the flip flops by the door. They’re from here, or identify with living here, but they probably don’t even go to the beach much. They don’t buy into the idea that male feet should never be visible and don’t care if the sight of feet is offensive. The flip flops were readily available, so that’s what they wore.

This casualness is not to be confused with indifference towards their appearance. These are men who know how to put themselves together (see clarification #3). They’re generally well groomed. They wear t-shirts and hoodies from local coffee shops, breweries, or neighborhood events (every South Park dad has a SoNo chili fest hoodie).

I adore this whole vibe.

I love that the men in flip flops is a sure sign of summer. I love the dads at the playground in flip flops. I love the men wearing jeans and flip flops. I love the men in a beanie and flip flops. I love the men riding bikes in flip flops (though I drew the line when I saw a man on a scooter in flip flops… that’s just unsafe). I love the men who will spend an entire afternoon walking the zoo with the family in flip flops. And I looooove the men out walking their dogs in the cold mornings wearing a puffer jacket and flip flops. The contradiction gets me.*

*Side note: Ever since college I’ve seen people in the rain in flip flops. This is not the same thing, but I love that, too. Flip flops in the rain makes sense. I’d guess that a minority of San Diegans own waterproof shoes, which means the rest of us deal with wet shoes and wet socks when we go out in the rain. (I only technically own waterproof shoes: my hiking boots. But I’m not wearing these out for a city stroll unless we get another hurricane.) But if you’re wearing flip flops, you just need to dry off your feet when you get inside. Back when skinny jeans were a thing, you wouldn’t even get the hem of your pants wet if you wore flip flops. It was low maintenance genius.

He's just a shoes guy.

Dressing like we live in sunny San Diego used to be a mild complaint I had about husband back when he was The Boyfriend. Having grown up in the Bay Area, he moved to San Diego for college and has decided to never look back. Whenever I bring up wanting to live in Seattle, he reminds me that he came from the gray, cold rain and left for a reason (though that reason was more about going to a party school far away from his parents than it was about weather). But it took like a decade of being together before he figured out how to make shorts and flip flops work in a way that suited him. We both strongly prefer jeans and hoodies as our standard uniform, but some of us (me) overheat and it’s too goddamn hot here sometimes. Previously, on the handful of times he actually dressed for summer I got giddy that “summertime boyfriend” had come out. If we’re going to live here, let’s live here, you know? Happily, now he has his own pair of fancy OluKais that he can wear for hours, doesn’t feel awkward in, and even leaves by the door (plus a singular pair of shorts to complete the look). He’s probably only worn them five times since buying them, but still. Progress.

Insert quote about going to a state school.

Or maybe I’m reading too much into this. Maybe loving men in flip flops is simply a sign that I’ve lived in Southern California my whole life. But I was at a neighborhood fundraiser salsa fest earlier this month and the flip flops were out and I loved it.