Havaianas are by no means new, but when did everybody in the fashion universe (editors, stylists, retailers from junior to contemporary, L-train hipster hotties, sample-sale whores et al) decide they were the only flip-flop worth buying, stocking or hawking? Even fancy-pants Diane T on Court Street, where I can't recall seeing much under $300, is showing them by the bucketful in the window (in silver & fuchsia, with the scanty silver selection looking in dangerously high demand).
I don't hate them -- I'm partial to the classic sporty versions with the tiny Brazilian flag -- but if there's anything that kills the je ne sais quoi of style it's a general consensus. This puts me in mind of white Converse, black nail polish & Rayban Wayfarers. Yes, they're all fabulous, but they looked a thousand times hotter on the first person you saw trying it than they did on the ten billionth. And with only one flip-flop-maker getting any real fashion credibility, it's like we're only getting one side of the story.
If you know of a hot flip-flop edging in on the Havaianas monopoly, put it in the comments...
