In cooler months I wear sweats and running shoes on the plane. New and clean, of course.
In the summer I wear summer clothes with sandals like Chacos. These sandals are 1000x stronger and more stable than the dress shoes all the buisness folks wear.
I am still getting out of there faster.
I can get outta there faster than all you high-heeled ladies!

Ah, heck... what about all the men that wear dress shoes and 'loafers' WITHOUT socks?

THAT'S freakin gross!!!!!!!

Yes, TXTravel - barefeet and dress shoes - another thing we can thank Don Johnson for bring us, along with the tee shirt/suit combo.

Where and when I grew up, loafers WITH socks was very uncool.

Are we getting back to shoes on/ shoes off when you enter a house? :-)

The dressed-up and wearing-loafers-without-socks look is indigenous to some parts of the US, and quite stupid.

For instance, in the so-called Main Line area of Philadelphia, you're likely to see men in jackets and ties, and with loafers and no socks. Likewise in some parts of Long Island -- the wealthier parts.

I don't get it, but it does exist.

Barefoot and loafers has been around a lot longer than Don Johnson. Decades longer.

Loafers and no socks is still big in Palm Beach.

I can't believe someone actually suggested -- without tongue in cheek -- that we wear closed-toed shoes in case we need to run away from terrorists. Now, what happens if a terrorist decides to bomb the tiki bar while I'm relaxing in my bikini and flip-flops? I'm so screwed!

P.S. Back to the socks and sandals thing -- if you don't want your sandals to rub your feet, the answer is not socks. The answer is SNEAKERS. See?

karameli, is it a bikini or a "modest two piece"?
Flip-flops or "thongs"?

This board is ruining me! :-O

If I'm at the tiki bar, it is a bikini. No modesty here! And they are definitely flip-flops -- thongs are underwear.

Though now that you mention it, I wonder whether thongs or briefs would be more optimal for running from a dangerous situation! ;)

Um, no - I can think of no reasonable excuse.

What if a terrorist bombs my office? I wear heels most days and I wouldn't be able to run away???

I'd rather wear socks and sandals than a pair of flourescent green crocs like many people wear - they are about the ugliest foot wear I have ever seen and they make your feet look twice as big as they really are!

That would be me. Also have a pair in a nice Canadian red!

Canadian red sounds nice ( I'm Canadian)
Maybe I just dont like them as I have
BIG feet - and it really would not be a good look no matter what color they are.

Do you think you could run in them while attempting to escape terrorists at the airport?

Most fellows in Italy..the cool or hot ones depending how you want to describe them..think that wearing socks with loafers are a terrible faishon statement unless they are wearing their business suits.

I know diabetics that wear socks with their sandals due to the instructions from their doctor.

Anyway if a person is clean and pleasant I have quit noticing or worrying about what anyone else is wearing. An exception is the people that have 90% of their skin showing..gross in most cases. Well actually I avert my eyes and don't look, lol.

Ok, here's my story of why I wore socks with sandals while on vacation.

We were in Florida, Disney World in Sept during a tropical storm. My sneakers got wet. My feet blistered, the only thing I could find to wear that didn't cause me to limp were...socks with my sandals. Really ugly black rubber sandals I had brought to wear when we went to the ocean.

Is it possible socks with sandals may not say just "tacky", but "my feet are killing me"?

Oh, and it rained buckets, everyone who was out in the park was drenched & dripping and I really doubt anyone thought I looked worse than anyone else who was squelching around in sneakers & socks :)

Ordinarily I don't wear socks with sandals, but I probably wouldn't notice if someone else was while they were shopping or sight-seeing.

And, that's when you buy a pair of Crocs - and your feet are in a cloud of pure Bliss! :-)

Three years later and I'm still not in style! About a month ago at a going away party for someone moving to Burlington VT a former Jr Miss runner-up was making jokes about getting a pair of Birkenstocks. There I was sitting there wearing Birkenstocks AND socks. Since the woman who was moving is a lawyer, Jr Miss runner-up told her that it was very important to select shoes that don't expose much feet. It has something to do with power. The more foot you expose, the more power you give away. I explained to her that was why I wore socks with my Birkenstocks.
Personally, I hate tie shoes of any kind and have never liked "running shoes". I wear a pair of inexpensive sneakers to exercise class. I tried on a friend's purple Crocs and thought my feet had grown three sizes. But they look cute on some people.
Obviously the Japanese socks link proves wearing socks with sandals is actually an ancient tradition, at least for proper Japanese.
Good grief, I wonder what Middle Eastern women wear with sandals under their burqas?

I'm with you starrs...
I have Crocs in 4 colors: Chocolate, Khaki, Black, Navy.
Rain or shine, I am comfy and my feet no longer cause me problems. THAT ALONE is enough to win me over.
Feet problems are a B**** and if they can be totally resolved by your choice of footwear, YAY!
I have the Endeavor (no-hole) Croc for winter, though I wore the Cayman (holes) style when it was 20 degrees outside with socks and my feet were as warm as a tennis shoe... if not a little warmer.
My husband was a die hard Croc hater... said no one (including me) should ever been seen in them unless you are in the garden.
For Fathers Day he WANTED a pair.
He says he will never wear them out of the yard. Yeah, right. Soon it will expand to the car wash... then Home Depot... then I'll catch him buying more colors!