SimplySoles Says…

...are flip flops in the White House a fashion faux pas?
July 22, 2005

Since we live and work in the nation’s capital, we may be privy to information of apparent national interest, but which may not creep into hometown papers. While everyone is probably aware of the ongoing debates about the deficit, the recent Supreme Court nomination, the future of Social Security etc., some of you may not have seen the number of articles in the news (I’m talking The Chicago Tribune, not Star magazine) that are addressing the topic of flip flops in the White House. It seems that the Northwestern women’s championship lacrosse team met with President Bush, and (gasp!) a few of them wore flip flops!

Some may argue that this, shall we say, lack of regard for diplomacy, might have been an outright attempt to express disdain for the current administration. But I don’t think so. I think there are very few people in this country who don’t have respect for our President, even if we may not agree with his policies or positions. Rather (with perhaps a slight misjudgment in the formalities of meeting the leader of the most powerful country in the free world) I think this was just a group of women being themselves…

For one: to put things in context, people should be aware that it’s currently 98 degrees in Washington, DC, with a humidity index of over 50%. If you walked from outside, directly into a Bikram Yoga classroom, you’d probably sigh at the sense of relief from cooler air. So it’s hot, and rationally-speaking, flip-flops were at least “weather” appropriate. (If this is any indication of the humidity levels here, much to my dismay, my feet are actually boycotting many of my favorite shoes by refusing to fit in them. This is a recent phenomenon, and one that I hope stops soon.)

Two: Most of the commentary seems to suggest that the proper female footwear attire for the White House is closed-toed shoes. But the other girls in the picture (or at least in the front row) were wearing open-toed sandals. But there were no comments directed towards those women, only to those wearing thongs. So does that suggest that the White House actually is capable of distinguishing various types of footwear: thongs from sandals, kitten heels from stilettos, wedges from mules??? If so, I’m impressed. (Reminder to self: send more catalogs to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.)

Three: I admit that I was a dancer/cheerleader and not a sports star (while dancing prepared me for many wedding receptions, it did nothing for my hand-eye coordination skills). So I readily admit I’m only speaking from observation here, but my impression is that Lacrosse players, while highly competitive, are fairly laid back. So to the defense of the offensive players (using my cheerleading skills here), they were probably wearing the best pair of flip-flops that they owned. Seriously.

Now you may ask, would I have worn flip-flops to the White House? Of course not. I would have wanted to make a positive impression and have everyone notice my shoes so they’d ask where I bought them (SimplySoles of course). So I’d probably have worn the Kais (I confess to owning both colors) or the Work (my new favorite flat). But do I think this debate deserves national attention…well, I'm still on the fence about that. After all, I’m never one to direct the conversation AWAY from shoes.

And should any of you be preparing for a visit to meet Mr. President, we will be more than glad to help you with your shoe selection. We’re here to help…unless of course you want blown-up images of your feet in national news publications, in which case, be sure to send us a copy.

With Warm Washington Regards,

Kassie

PS – The Summer Sale at SimplySoles will continue for only three more weeks. Afterwards, we’re making room in our warehouse for the fabulous fall merchandise that’s on its way.

And this just in...we hear that thanks to all the press their footwear has received, the ladies who wore the offending flip-flops are planning to auction them off and give the proceeds to a 10 year-old girl with a brain tumor. That's what champions do, turn lemons into lemonade...or in this case, fashion faux pas into fundraisers.