Flip-flop Fashion?

Okay, maybe I’m getting old, but when did flip-flops become a fashion statement? I know they do wonders for our feet at the beach, but now they’re popping up everywhere from store windows to college graduations—and not just in hot weather! I teach on a campus in the mountains, and I was shocked to see students on the coldest of winter morns donning their sweaters, coats and the latest in flip-flop fashion on their cold, icy feet. What gives? So, I was at the mall the other day, and I saw mannequins in a very swanky, hip store—along the lines of Banana Republic, but another name—with flip-flops of differing styles and hues. And I have to admit, I thought to myself, “Those look kind of stylish dressed up that way.”

Now, I’m not knocking the thongy little shoes. I actually own a few pair myself: sequin-lined, cowry-shell-adorned, basic black… I just wonder when they became so fashionable. There’s always a flipside, of course (excuse the pun). Do you flip-flop?