BorderStyle: Spring Is Here! Cover Your Feet ’til You Get to a Beach

From Khelan Bhatia. Follow Khelan on Twitter @KhelanB or email him at khelan[AT]borderstan.com.

Happy March, Borderstanis! Is it me or is the weather outside absolutely gorgeous?! We’ve been blessed with a very, very mild winter (and an early spring) by the weather gods. Of course, as any fan of the Greek tragedies can tell you, what the gods give, the gods taketh away. Like the ability to sport all the cute outerwear I bought for winter. But it’s a fair trade… I suppose.

Seriously though, with the onset of warmer weather, there’s a disturbing trend I’ve noticed in our little ‘hood that normally doesn’t start till… oh, around Memorial Day, give or take a week. (No, I’m not referring to wearing white before the last weekend in May — I’m not that much of a traditionalist). I am, however, a little troubled by the cavalcade of flip-flops traipsing through our streets. Usually accompanied by a lack of finely pedicured toes.

I’m generally not a fan of flip-flops in the city, even in the summer (please, please, for the love of Gant, confine them to the beach), but I’ve kept my opinions to myself (shocking, I know). I shall be silent no more.

“Listen, ‘bro,’ sartorial laziness isn’t the same thing as effortlessly chic. You’ve got to put in some effort to look like you don’t give a damn … while still looking stylish.”

Solutions to Fashion Offenses

Longtime readers know that this space isn’t just my private soapbox to air crimes against fashion. I also offer solutions. This latest column is no different.

May I offer my rebuttal to the errant stampede of Havaianas and their lesser brethren:

The fine people over at Sperry Top-Sider have created the perfect shoe for the spring and summer, for town and country, for the sidewalk and the boardwalk. The style is completely oxford saddle shoe, but the feel is canvas and seersucker. And they’re so comfy and breezy that you can wear them sans-socks (my preferred way to wear shoes). It’s the footwear that works just as well with your shorts as it will with your summer-weight suit.

I’ve worn my pair just twice and they’ve already elicited about 20 different compliments.

You can buy them online at Zappos.com or check them out at Bloomingdales at Friendship Heights (a little outside the three corners of Borderstan, I realize, but well worth the trip).

That’s it for me this go-round, Borderstanis. See you next time!

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