Flip-flops get fashionable

It had to happen eventually. All those beautiful people in Los Angeles – celebrities and stars blessed with money and looks and power – have finally put their foot in it.

I’m talking about flip-flops.

Yes, mojos. The signature Filipino footwear, the casual attire that every schoolkid and Tondo dweller flops around in here, has now become… hip.

"I’ve seen guys on the red carpet wearing flip-flops," said Vivian Turner, a celebrity stylist, in the Herald Tribune recently. "It’s the first thing in the summertime: put on a great skinny suit with the shirt open and a pair of thongs. I totally approve. Thongs are cool."

She means thongs between the toes, of course. I personally prefer the step-in flip-flop without the intrusive thong between my toes.

The big name for celebrities and Hollywood execs now is Havaianas, sandals that can be had at places like Fred Segal for about $16. (Yeah, right, like any of us guys are going to head to L.A. to buy flip-flops… I hear Bench is having a sale, though.)

It started with American women. Corporations were starting to notice career women showing up at the office in beach sandals, and it wasn’t just for "casual Friday." Then men started trying to get away with wearing sandals (or "mandals," as they became known.) The more conservative office types sniffed at this (well, not literally), saying flip-flops did not, ahem, connote the corporate image.

Well, no, flip-flops connote quite the opposite, actually. They suggest leisure, weekends out on the lawn, and tropical paradises like Boracay and Palawan.

Leave it to Filipinos to have their finger – or at least their big toe – set firmly on the pulse of 21st-century fashion.

Perhaps we should explore why this is.

As long as modern humans have been stuck in offices, it seems, they have rebelled against the idea of dressing up. First there was the evolution of "casual Friday" – that antidote to wearing ties and dresses. This was perhaps a necessary relief valve for those stuck in corporate cubicles most of their lives.

There is also a shift going on now in the office landscape. Many people have flexi-time schedules. There are options, such as telecommuting, which allow people to do their jobs from home. In their flip-flops, if they like. Overall, there’s been a change taking place wherein people’s home lives are starting to overlap with work lives, and vice versa.

So it wasn’t such a big leap when flip-flops started making an appearance. Feet are probably one of more overstressed parts of our body. Setting feet free also ties in with the success of movies like Gladiator, Troy, and maybe even The Passion of the Christ. Sword-and-sandals epics are kind of big again, so why not carry that fashion into the office?

I had a couple of friends in high school – twins, actually – who adopted the flip-flop look long before other Americans caught on. They were unconventional, smart as whips, and eventually attended M.I.T. together a year early. With their Clark Kent eyeglasses and Jesus hair, they made it known to anyone who cared to notice that they eschewed wearing shoes, preferring bare feet, or sandals.

I asked them why this was, and the slightly younger one (Ralph) simply said: "Well, shoes are pretty much the invention of shoe companies."

He had a point there. We would all be a little more comfortable with less footwear. So sandals and flip-flops are a logical expression of this. Call it a cry for help from our long-suffering dogs.

Filipinos, of course, figured this out a long time ago. Especially males. It didn’t take the arrival of five queer guys in Manila to convince Filipino men that flip-flops were the way to go. You can see men eschewing shoes everywhere you go in Metro Manila. Just walk around Roxas Boulevard, Quezon City – or any mall, for that matter – and you’ll see the open-toe look in full effect. Simple reason: it’s dang hot out there.

Filipinos aren’t the only ones here who favor mojos, by the way. Foreigners, I’ve noticed, seem to like wearing them, too. My observation is that it’s usually European tourists who wear flip-flops – you can usually tell because they wear them with socks. Foreign backpackers, too, have grasped the practicality of flip-flops. (Though one backpacker we glimpsed flying back from Indonesia went too far, tromping about in bare feet, not only on the plane, but all over the airport. Bare feet in airports is about as appropriate as a backrub from President George W. Bush.)

As with any fashion trend, there are rules to flip-flopping. One rule is: you can’t have busted-up toes or shameful feet and expect to get away with the barefoot look.

I’m speaking from personal experience. I would prefer to confine my flip-flopping to around the house, though I’m used to seeing people parade around Megamall or Malate in their bedroom slippers. As long as they have the toes for it, fine.

A second rule is: if you’re going to expose your feet to the air, they must not be malodorous. This is a judgment call. Ask someone, if you can’t decide for yourself. They’ll tell you.

A third rule is: if you’re a guy who wants to wear flip-flops, but you’re less than confident about your feet, don’t go getting a pedicure. That’s just too much pampering for a guy. Just stick with shoes, at least in public.

Perhaps a final rule would be this: a little fashion goes a long way. For us men, getting away with flip-flops is a big step. It doesn’t say: "I’ve given up on style. To hell with it; might as well wear my slippers." No, it says: "I’m cool, I’m casual, I’m comfortable with my feet." Leave it to Filipinos to teach Hollywood how to dress.

But then again, if we start seeing Hollywood celebs walking down the red carpet in sandos rolled up to the belly – maybe it’s time to give this casual fashion a rethink.