![\"Image](\"https:\/\/assets.vogue.com\/photos\/6a15b58ab925bc9718a5677d\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/Addressed_FlipFlop.jpg\"\/)
<\/picture><\/span><\/div>\nCollage by Vogue<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n Is it really such filthy behavior to wear flip-flops in the city? Is it a sin to let my Lolita-chaste, buffed heels graze the festering pavement? Every time New York gets just a little bit hot, there\u2019s another annoying conversation about whether it\u2019s kosher or not to let our nubby little toes out in the open, whether they\u2019re splayed on a rubbery pair of Havaianas flip-flops or a leather \u201cthong\u201d sandal by The Row<\/a>.<\/p>\n Flip-flop critics say the act of open-toeing is sickening. No one wants to see a gangly, hunched phalanx wriggling like a bunch of circumcised hot dogs. Nor do they want to see a hirsute big toe thunking around. Ditto that enduring callous which even the green tea \u201cspecial\u201d spa package at the local pedi spot can\u2019t help. Over the past few years, \u201cshowing toe\u201d has become akin to freeing one\u2019s nipple or butt crack. (Someone page Freud). Going naked below the ankle has become lewd and lascivious sartorial behavior\u2014a phalangeal felony.<\/p>\n Yes, we can mock the prude naysayers who say they hate seeing feet, but the truth of the matter is there are a number of safety issues with wearing flip-flops. Just this morning, I chatted with a woman who told me her mother breaks a pinky toe every summer because the digit goes rogue, constantly slipping out from over the edge of her flip-flop. (Beauty is pain, and she keeps on wearing them.) I\u2019m guilty too. A couple of years ago, my Russian OBGYN shook her finger at my flip-flops and pointed to my pregnant belly, telling me that \u201cthozzze shoes\u201d were a big no-no and that I could trip in them.<\/p>\n