Flip Flop Revolution

By Author: Kacy Suther
Total Articles: 223
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Whether they're designer flip flops or brandless Japanese imports, you can walk tall knowing that those flimsy things you're slipping onto your feet have a well-deserved place in history. Flip flops are as iconic as blue jeans, and sliding on a pair can signal a trip to the beach or a trip to the laundromat. Flip flops don't discriminate. They can be seen adorning toes across social and economic lines, in thousands of situations and thousands of variations, from plain rubber flip flops to jewelry embellished flip flops.

Flip flops, also referred to as zories, thongs, flaps, slaps, and beachwalkers, are the first pairs of shoes for millions of Third World consumers. In the developing nations, where flip flops are sold for less than $1, these shoes are more like standard footwear than a fashion statement. Many efforts are made to keep their cost low, such as making them out of recycled tires. For someone who has previously been without shoes, their first pair of flip flops can indicate some upward mobility. And in time they may signify a step toward an eventual pair of closed-toed shoes.

The basic design ...
... of the flip flop is about as classic as it gets. There's even an Egyptian hieroglyph for the sandals ancestral to today's flip flop--consisting of a long oval with an inverted V shape. Even King Tutankhamen's tomb bears the original "flip flop" design. Archaeologists say that this particular design has served well a vast and varied genre of shoe--encompassing both the sandal in its most primitive form and modern designer flip flops-- the world's second oldest footwear, after moccasins.

Flip flops and thong sandals now come in a variety of shoe styles, such as women's heels, slides, wedges, and kitten heels. They can be made from rubber, leather, wood, plastic, canvas, patent leather, suede, fabric, metallic finishes, and much more. There's a great deal of debate over what defines a "flip flop" sandal. Most agree that a flip flop has always been a flat, casual sandal that is free at the back, so that when you walk you get a flapping sound.

Over the centuries, the core design of the sandal has evolved to meet new needs and landscapes, but for the past 70 years, it has remained virtually unchanged. The blank canvas that is the inverted V has in fact allowed many designers to make everything from really unusual to really sexy flip flops. No matter who makes them, they are still cheap and easy to produce, acquire and fit. And generally, should your relationship with a single pair of flip flops end in disaster, you won't have lost much money.

Based on prevailing fashion and the whim of the wearer, flip flops and their "dressier" cousin--the thong sandal--are sometimes embellished with jewelry, buckles, rhinestones, fringes, and beading. The term "flip flop" generally refers to the simpler, more economical version of the thong sandal, although nice designer flip flops can be found for a higher price.
Whether you call them flip flops, thongs or beach shoes; their versatility allows them to become extensions of the wearer's personality.