Wearing flip-flops in the city degrades your dignity .
I see some fainting in the front row. I should have warned that it was going to start strong . Put down that kitchen knife, I 'm going to lead my indictment against the flip-flop
When people ask me my point of view on this or that fashion object , I always reason according to two criteria: practicality and aesthetics.
We're not going to debate the aesthetics of the flip-flop . If it tugs at your heartstrings, that's your business and I have no complaints about that.
On the practical criterion , however, we can say more things and more objectives .
4 objective reasons to never wear flip flops
1. You can't count on them
They slip away when you walk and the heel is often found on the edge of them or On the ground . I'm not making this up and you know it.
2. The flip flop sings
But she does not sing with the voice of an angel fallen from heaven. It is rather the nagging complaint of a child who, at the same time as he plays, jabbers the same part of a nursery rhyme over and over again. The song of the flip-flops goes “flip, flop, flip, flop, flip, flop” . We can hear those walking in flip-flops coming from afar.
In this video, you have a flip + flop + squeak combo.
But there is better!
3. They mean you harm
There's also the fact that , just when you don't expect it, the rubber strap pulls out your hair like a sadistic beautician . If someone is screaming on a summer day and they're wearing flip flops, look no further . He will have been a victim of the depilatory strip.
4. The thong is vicious
I'm not joking.
This was already illustrated by the previous reason but here I am talking about something else. Did you see how easy it was to “ detonate ”? A bit like taking off your shoes when skiing. There should be a word of warning under the sole of the flip-flop when you buy it: “Warning: High risk of falling onto the ground at any time and for no apparent reason.”
Also, the rare times I have worn , I curled my toes like the claws of a bird of prey , each time the foot launched a little too quickly . In flip-flops, every step can be your last.
I'm sweating just thinking about what would happen if the flip-flop came off my foot at the worst time and place : in the bathroom of a bar after some guy played lasso with his mess , in the wine and spirits section of a supermarket while an e burst bottle littering the ground, in the subway everywhere and all the time , when the foot passes just above a manhole , at the exit of a shooting room .
Just for these four reasons which relate to the thong object evaluated according to the practical criterion, I disqualify them.
Or at least, I relegate them to a single job in a single type of environment : protecting the soles of the feet on the edges of a swimming pool or at the beach.
This is where they come in handy because they are insensitive to water and easily removable ; with a kick of the leg we make them flutter before rushing into the ocean like a human beast . And then, when you leave the beach, it's true that you don't spend two hours hitting them like crazy against the ground to extract all the grains of sand. The thong being open, it does not capture any . It also prevents us from walking barefoot on areas with warts (when it doesn't twist for no reason) and also protects us from the burning bites of summer sand .
However, outside of these times and particularly in the city, I am against flip-flops. You have to choose your battles.
And it is not only because of these four practical reasons that I decry it, it is also because it degrades our dignity in five ways.
5 reasons why to wear flip flops
1. The flip-flop calls into question the personal hygiene of its wearer
I have a question for you.
You know the expression: “we would eat off the floor!” ? Well, I doubt if anyone has ever used it to talk about the streets of a city. I'm not an expert on the infinitely small, but if we were to point a microscope at a sidewalk, I bet it would give a whole new definition to the term “disgusting”. And I say that without being a stickler for cleanliness. I'm rather lax even. Ask my girlfriend.
But when it comes to the ground of the streets I tell myself that we have to face facts . If I could avoid letting my feet soak in this teeming bath before walking them throughout my apartment, I wouldn't say no.
2. The flip-flop betrays a lack of consideration for its environment
Then, beyond hygiene, I see another problem : when you take transport, walk in the street, climb steps in flip-flops, your feet are not protected. And if I had to receive 1€ each time someone stepped on my feet in the street, well I would have ... I would probably only have 20 balls but that's already it !
Of course, all this does not apply to you if you live in a city without sidewalks, where you can teleport , if the city is flat, without stairs, without ledges, without sharp corners, without stray pieces of glass. on a corner of bitumen, that pollution is a myth, that cars are made of marshmallows with engines that work like Volvic , a city where the dust falls in flakes that can be eaten because they are full of vitamin C , where viruses do not socialize , where dogs know how to use public toilets and where a particular gravity causes that Pigeons send their droppings to the heavens and the vast universe ! So OR you can wear them with your flip-flops! But for the rest of us who live in imperfect cities, I don't recommend it.
I'm going to get myself a glass of water, I'm on the verge of overheating.
It's better.
I resume my indictment against the flip-flop and for the preservation of your dignity.
3. Flip-flops make you animal
Bare feet recall the state of nature.
This is my big problem with flip flops and open shoes worn around town. Here we fall into the subjective.
I consider that seeing someone's feet is crossing the boundary of one's intimacy. And by reciprocal , showing one's feet in the city means transgressing the rules of society and living together .
Sounds bad, huh? However, this is my feeling. And, in fact, I got used to seeing people in flip-flops. It's just that, I can't help but think that this is an admission of a certain defeat.
I ask you a question.
What do you think of people who take off their t-shirts while walking around town? I find that disrespectful. Precisely because they impose their state of nature on us. I didn't ask for anything. I just wanted to eat my salted caramel and white chocolate ice cream. Instead, I get toppings nipple and chest hair.
Besides, we can fine them. And this is quite normal because the city is a place of commerce, of representation, where we present ourselves to others under the mask of our social character. It's the contract we make when we enter the city, when we live there, when we work there, not out of love for conventions but because it facilitates all exchanges in a place of extreme promiscuity.
It's the same with the feet. Don't impose them on me. Well, you have a free pass if your name is Chuck Norris.
4. All feet are suspect
Without suffering from podophobia, I find that feet are not the most charming part of the human body. Because the feet stand out from the rest of the body with their heels, their malleolus, the fact that they are parallel to the ground and their five toes. Ten in all.
Not to mention that they can be flat, twisted, very short, very long, with two toes much longer than the rest, bushy Hobbit-style hairs on the top, pointed, bumpy heels, beveled toes, small spots red... In short, it is rare that they are harmonious.
But let's be clear: it's not because they are often disharmonious that we should hide them.
Just like you shouldn't hide your nose just because it's ugly . We deal with the body we have and we shouldn't be ashamed of our body for what it is . Never. But we can not be ashamed of a part of our body and not want to expose it either. It's just a parenthesis. The real reason lies further down the line.
Beyond the morphology, the foot is not very presentable and this is due to the fact that it is overused and put to the test. It is the one who keeps us upright, the one who supports our weight, the one who stumbles against the external elements, the one who works incessantly. He bends, twists, he stands on point. Blood often rushes there and the veins swell.
Plus, most men don't take good care of it. As a result, sometimes they are odorous, have horniness, bunions, corns, warts, fungus, the nails are yellow and brittle. I say “sometimes”.
However this “sometimes” is so memorable when we encounter it that we then suspect all feet of hiding something. And so we are reluctant to see those of others. Perhaps because we know very well what secrets ours hide.
So, all feet are suspect and the sight of them can make you uncomfortable.
5. Wearing flip-flops in town means giving up
“A coat is an idea that floats around a man.”
It's beautiful. It's not from me but from Chevreuil, a tailor in the 19th century. And what he says also applies to women.
This means that elegance is not about exposing the naked truth of your body . But, using the garment, to trace an idea like a line around it to make a silhouette, the ideal silhouette, which highlights it . It is our personal creation. Our way of being our own Pygmalion. Redraw our contours by wanting them to be more harmonious. This is elegance.
An important part of my dressing process consists of building this idea that Chevreuil speaks of around my body and, without having filthy feet either too this or too that, it seems to me that, to be elegant, it would be beneficial for me to have them keep for myself or moments of relaxation.
Perhaps deep down I let myself be convinced by the idea that the feet, close to the ground, were to be put in opposition to the head, towards the sky, spirituality which would be something more noble. But I don't think that's the case. At most it is an intuition that has little influence on the way I think.
Or perhaps I am still a victim of the parallel that exists between sex and the foot, a phallic symbol as Freud thinks. And that's why I prefer to hide it. (After all, we do say “getting off.”) I don't know. All I know is that foot fetishists exist and that they see the parallel between sex and the foot. We could read it in the newspapers and we can see it on the internet. Here's a little gift just for you .
Just know that that flip-flop that reveals your foot is, for some, like the thong string that sticks out of your pants. I don't know about you but personally I prefer not to feed the lustful desires of my peers (although it is not up to me to judge them).
“Cover this foot that I cannot see,” Molière could have written.
“A suit is an idea that floats around a man” is an axiom that speaks to me because it reminds us of the need to be elegant for others and especially for ourselves and if that feels retrograde, well too bad.
When the sun shines a little too brightly, some consider that all the rules of living together fall away at once. It is so easy to abandon elegance and fall behind so-called “comfort” . But these people use the word “comfort” wrongly. In fact, they express their renunciation of presenting themselves well to the world. True comfort is always at the center of the concerns of truly elegant people and the flip-flop that twists and pulls the hairs is not comfortable.
I am reaching the end of my indictment
I 'm not saying that everything is unstoppably logical . This decision not to show my feet in town is the result of arguments of reason as well as of the heart. And as much as flip-flops in the city, I am absolutely against it for all the reasons cited above, as much I'm not anti-sandals .
For example, I find this model interesting. On the other hand, they are too expensive for their quality. I'm talking about the aesthetics of the model with the protected heel and the openwork upper of the shoe.
Church's Sandals
They protect the foot, preserve the dignity of its wearer and its elegance. also , even increase it with beautiful loose and flowing pants. They don't show too much foot.
And I also really like these sandals which I also proposed in an article presenting the team's selection of sandals and flip-flops :
With feet that have been taken care of, it's better.
These are models that echo the idea that floats around the body, which Chevreuil talks about.
SO ? Am I crazy, full of contradictions or retrograde? To you.
