All you need to know about #LFWM, plus he undergoes a gruelling pedicure - all in the line of duty, so he tells the missus.
Q To flip-flop or not to flip-flop? That is my question.
James, Anerley
A No corner of a man’s wardrobe is more likely to divide opinion than the one labelled “open-toed footwear”. Indeed, five years ago, you could have swapped the word “divide” for “deride” and that sentence would have been doubly true. So, in a sense, you could say that passions have been allayed. Nevertheless, this is a stylistic minefield that must be trodden carefully, one strappy foot at a time.
Sandals are the oldest footwear known to man. Historically and geographically, they have meant many things to many people. From the Far East to South America, they were for thousands of years associated with poverty and labour. By contrast, in Biblical times, they were seen as a symbol of both high birth and eroticism. In the Book of Judith, the eponymous heroine seduces an Assyrian general by dint of her lavish leather thongs, which apparently “ravished his eyes”. Whether the fact that she then decapitated him with his own sword tells us anything meaningful about sandal-wearers, it is impossible to say.
More recently things have been less equivocal. To late 20th-century British sensibilities, an open male toe was uniformly regarded as an open menswear goal. (It is customary at this point to make a casually disparaging remark about German tourists wearing socks with Birkenstocks, but I shall refrain.)It has therefore made for curious viewing in latter seasons to watch this sartorial bugbear achieve unlikely fashion status.
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Take the humble pool slide. Once the preserve of verruca-infected teenagers and district swimming galas, the classic Adidas Adilette hasn’t simply enjoyed a revival, it has experienced a style apotheosis. Of course, the cool kids and runway models of today aren’t accessorising theirs with wet Speedos and Bazuka gel, but rather long white sports socks and expensive shorts. Nor are Adilettes simply Adilettes any more: along with offerings from Givenchy, Saint Laurent and Moncler, the slide of the summer comes from yet another winning collaboration between Adidas and Raf Simons.
Stranger still has been Christopher Kane’s unlikely appropriation of Crocs. Yes, Crocs. Before last September, when the feted Scottish designer dressed female models in shoes more commonly associated with kids, crusties and kitchen porters, these perforated foam clogs were the most universally pilloried footwear choice of all time. Now you can find them encrusted with crystals and going for a snappy £275 a pair. Quite who’s laughing here is unclear.
Even away from directional fashion, where irony is all too frequently mistaken for virtuosity, the strapped flat is being reborn. Conservative luxury brands such as the Italian Bottega Veneta and Viennese Ludwig Reiter are both doing a nice line in woven leather slip-ons, purposefully designed for the soiree as opposed to the beach. Of particular note is Alvaro Gonzalez, a Spanish designer who has spent his career working for the likes of Tod’s, Valentino and Jimmy Choo, but who is now dedicated to making his own exquisitely crafted and elegant sandals.
So have we just been getting it wrong all this time? Are we Brits, once so eager to ridicule the open toe, finally having our eyes opened? I’m not so sure. Rather, I think it’s about context. Gonzalez, for instance, lives and works in Florence. He shares his name with Latin footballers. In the cradle of the Renaissance, his sculpted, flesh-exposing creations make total sense. Likewise, while a set of Raf slides might raise eyebrows in the corporate corner office, you know they’ll fit right in with a matcha latte by the rooftop pool at Shoreditch House.
Which brings us neatly to your flip-flops. Remember: context. If you happen to be strolling along Copacabana Beach, great. If you’re an Australian barista from Manly then… well, it’s to be expected. But seeing as you live in the London borough of Bromley and your nearest social hotspot is a place called Penge, the answer is, alas, simple. Not to flip-flop.