Flip flops

i dont mind bare foot in my house or backyard but not on the streets or woods, theres lots of glass and other sharp stuff laying around, in the summer the pavement is way too hot itll burn my feet, winter ill get frost bite and lose my toes, little pebbles and rocks hurt like a mother fucker, splinters suck ass, stores have no shirt no pants no shoes no service signs.

 

I'm almost never without my flip flops. When I don't have them on, I still carry them with me. I also like the sound of them...but best of all I can be nearly barefoot without getting my feet very dirty.

 

I know a lot of people assume that since flip-flops have become more and more popular in recent years, that this will, or should, result in more people just going barefoot.

Actually the exact opposite is true.

Back in the '60's almost nobody wore flip-flops, not even women. A lot of people did go barefoot though. In the late '60's and early '70's, a few people, mainly hippy-types, began actually wearing flip-flops and other kinds of sandals in public, but this type of footwear was definitely not in the mainstream. There was still a lot of barefooting going on. But as the popularity of flip-flops has increased over the years since then, the popularity of going barefoot definitely has decreased. And I think there's a direct relationship. Back when people's only choice was to either wear closed shoes or go barefoot, a lot of people chose being barefoot. There was just nothing else, since sandals or flip-flops just were not worn by anybody in public. If somebody did, they would be stared at and thought of as kind of weird (kind of like what happens now when you go barefoot in public).

But nowadays, there are generally three choices: closed shoes, barefoot, or flip-flops. I think many people who really don't like the confinement of shoes would choose to go barefoot if flip-flops were not an option.

 

I used to have those problems too when I first started barefooting. Even little pebbles at the beach and in the woods were uncomfortable. My feet used to ache when going barefoot since they were used to being held rigid in shoes for so long.

My soles have thickened, and these things feel comfortable now. I can even walk on gravel without trouble. I never thought I would be able to do that.

I've done snow too when it's not too cold. Extremely hot pavement is a problem, but hot pavement doesn't bother me like it used to.

It just feels good to feel the Earth on the soles and toes. It takes a little time to get used to it.

 

That's probably true. I've never worn sandals or flip flops. It just never occurred to me. So, when I don't absolutely have to wear shoes, I go barefoot.

 

I've noticed that flipflops help a lot against the cold. People often told me 'aren't you cold' and said they get cold when the ground is cold under their feet... since that doesn't bother me at anything close to the temperatures they were talking about (anything below 70F, or sometimes even when it's much warmer!!) I dismissed the entire thing for my first few winters. As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, I went barefoot and when it was too cold for that, I wore closed shoes. But two or three winters ago I discovered that just putting that something between the cold ground and my feet does make a lot of difference, even if my cold tolerance is way beyond what all those people were talking about... Not that I need it often (not at all yet this winter) but since then, there have been a few occasions where I got too cold barefoot, put on flipflops, and was fine. Even once when there was some sudden snow and I had to cross a lot of roads they had salted (the melted water feels a lot colder than just fresh snow, and it spilled all over the soles of my flipflops; still made a difference) and a couple times when my toes had started to get real cold they actually warmed up once I wore flops... It sounds crazy 'cause they provide so little cover, and as I said I didn't believe it at first, but it works.

 

Flip flops are good because they are small and light and waterproof. You can almost put them in your pockets. Ice water is the worst for me. Like you said, a lot colder than snow.

 

You know I guess this sounds weird, but I've never really heard of people going bearfoot in My City! I've never seen it, everyone just either wears shoes, sandles, or flip flops. Nobody has ever gone barefoot. I think I might actually start doing that once it starts to get a bit warmer(and the snow disapears). I bet it's such a great feeling, and I would feel so much more connected ...I will do this.

Oh but I have flat feet, will this pose as a problem? Like right now I just wear chucks all the time and they hardly have any support at all so I figure just going barefoot would not be much diffrent. I love this idea.

 

My arches actually got higher once I quit wearing shoes and started going barefoot all over the place. My feet ached for the first couple weeks because they weren't used to being flexed. My feet are flexible and like rubber now. My toes used to be scrunched together from shoes and now they spread apart like rubber. My feet have gotten more muscular also. The muscle tone feels great.

When I started barefooting, I used to walk as if I were wearing shoes. This caused me to stub my toes a lot and I would drive my heels into the ground hard. I learned to lift my toes and land my feet gently. I used to sometimes get aches in the knees and ankles from banging my heels into the ground. This doesn't happen anymore since I learned to walk more gently. Walking barefoot is a little different than having the protection of shoes.

 

It was normal for kids to go barefoot the whole summer in the 70s. No one thought anything about it.

Skateboarding barefoot used to be popular in the 60s and 70s. I have nostalgia footage from TV sports and movies about skateboarders. Wide World of Sports on ABC used to have skateboarding contests each year and almost all the contestants rode them barefoot. I also noticed that the best riders were usually the barefoot ones.

 

wel i jus hate socks and shoes..i never wear those!!! i usualy just wear 'flip flops'..but i jus cal em slippers. if i say 2 someone 'oh wheres my slippers?' they are like 'huh? bedtime slippers?' haha. even though its winter here, i still wear my slippers. it feels nice to go barefoot in the rain. i go barefoot most of the time though! its either barefoot or slippers for me. but i dont care what people wear on their feet!

 

you never see rich or famous people wearing flip flops-they just go barefoot, because they can-really, nothing looks more low class than flip flops-they go along with wife beater t's and ball caps in my book.

 

Umm, pick up any copy of Vogue, People, US, or any of those variety magazines that show celebrities and their clothes...and you'll see that you're wrong about that. I think more celebrity women wear flip flops nowadays than other types of footwear. And the guys go for it too, though it's harder to find examples of male celebrities wearing flip flops (or maybe it isn't, but I wouldn't know because I'm not actively looking for that).

 

i wear em when i have to (school) cause my feet feel so strangled in shoes. otherwise its barefoot