After years of people joking about “the dogs being out,” hiding their toes in sneakers or defaulting to Birkenstocks with socks, the most exposed shoe imaginable is back in style. Flip-flop brands like Havaianas, Rainbow Sandals and Reef are becoming some of the most seen and worn styles as warmer weather returns.
Post-COVID-19, fashion embraced comfort, but flip-flops never fully recovered their place in public. During lockdown, casual clothing became the norm. Sweatpants replaced jeans, slippers replaced sneakers and comfort outweighed appearance. Flip-flops fit naturally into that culture of staying home and dressing for ease rather than style.
As people returned to public life, there was a noticeable shift away from anything related to quarantine.
Casual summer shoes have circulated over the past six or seven years. Checkered Vans were popular before COVID, along with Crocs and Birkenstocks. Most of the time, everyone wore socks. These are all comfortable shoes that keep feet mostly covered. Flip-flops, on the other hand, suddenly felt too casual and strangely exposed.
Social media made the stigma around feet worse. TikTok popularized jokes like “feet pics” and “put the dogs away,” making feet a joke online. As these jokes spread, wearing sandals and showing toes became something many people felt self-conscious about. In a culture shaped by constant online attention, even normal summer footwear started to feel embarrassing.
For many students, the fear was less about the shoes themselves and more about the attention. Open-toed shoes suddenly felt too exposed. What used to be a normal summer shoe became overthought and uncomfortable.
Junior Langston Thompson addressed Gen-Z’s perception of toes being strange. He said, “I don’t understand why. I think it’s just a thing. I mean, they are basically like fingers, so I think it’s just a perception of whatever society wants to feel.”
Others dislike flip-flops for more practical reasons. Some students say the sandal can be uncomfortable because the Y-strap rubs between toes and offers little support. Ninth-grader Carter Amos prefers sneakers to flops. “It doesn’t feel like I can run in them,” he said.
Still, students have noticed flip-flops becoming common. Sophomore Addy Peterson said she thinks flip-flops have become more popular through TikTok, though she typically only wears them during the summer.
Now, the discomfort around feet has started to fade. “With social media, people made feet seem weird for a while,” junior Isla Collins said. “I used to think wearing flip-flops to school looked embarrassing, but then I started seeing older students wearing them and it made me want to wear my black Havaianas.”
Social media has helped push the trend forward. TikTok outfit videos featuring “frat flops” or casual jeans-and-flip-flop combinations have become increasingly popular this spring, especially as summer approaches. The same platforms that once turned feet into a joke are now reframing flip-flops as stylish again. Online trends move fast and flip-flops have gone from being mocked as lazy or embarrassing to being marketed as effortlessly cool. As temperatures rise and summer fashion returns, the once awkward sandal seems to be finding its place back in fashion.
