The problem with doing that was that you had to buy 2 pairs of Havaianas which made it more expensive, so now Havaianas have brougn out their own range there is no need to do this.

Next year there are going to be;

Black, grey and green
White, pink and green
Yellow, blue and pink

They really are great looking Havaianas and I’m sure I’ll be adding some more to my collection.

I’m hoping to get myself a new pair of Slim Havaianas for next year and hopefully I’ll get to wear them more than I have done this year. Stupid English weather.

Another trend in fashion came into being in the 1990’s, when countries in Eastern Europe, previously part of the Soviet Union, released surplus stock of unwanted army stock.  This army look became fashionable for ‘civies’ to wear and was accessible to all.

Unisex fashion became popular in the 1970’s when both men and women wore huge platform soles. Elton John, the musician, was a role model for this fashion.  Boots and even sandals were give platform soles and high heels.  Wooden-soled, Japanese style shoes, and rubber soled flip flops such as Havaianas Flip Flops are a popular unisex fashion choice in footwear today.

In the 1940’s shoes and garments were produced under the Utility scheme for war-time economic purposes. For instance, the women’s fashion in shoes was mainly practical, casual slip-on wear, such as flat shoes.  Heels were restricted to 5 cm (2 inches) and often made of recycled material treated to look like snake skin.

By the 1990’s, boots had re-gained popularity in women’s fashion, especially if they were crocodile boots with a metallic finish and had thin, tiny heels.  The fabrics used would stretch round the leg perfectly, to fit like a glove.  This was also the time when trainers ceased to be for sports and became fashion items, such as platform trainers.  Patterns of animal fur, both real or fake, always remained fashionable.

2000 has been the year of the Havaiana flip flop, there are new styles every year which has increased their popularity.

Youth cultures of the 1950’s helped move fashion from the reserve of the top designers displaying on the catwalks in Paris to the streets of our cities.  The American influence of rock ‘n roll was notable on fashion, and shoe designers were freed from the austere war-time restrictions and experimented with bright, multi-coloured designs and fabrics for their strapless shoes, known as mules.

‘Winke-picker’ toes and high stiletto heels were the fashion in footwear but detrimental to the wearers’ feet by forcing the weight onto the front of the foot, squashing toes together and causing bunions.   Furthermore, soft linoleum floors were ruined by stilettos, necessitating the decision to bar them from public buildings. Havaianas are safe to wear anywhere so it’s good to get yourself a pair.

It was only the wealthy classes, such as courtiers, who could dress to show how fashionable they were and therefore paraded in respendent clothes decorated with ruffs, feathers, lace and frills, along with pointed shoes, all of which were highly impractical.

At this time the royal family had the biggest influence on fashion, so new hairstyles down to shoes were copied by courtiers who in turn were copied by the wealthy throughout the land.  Some changes in fashion did eventually filter through to poorer people, but of course, by the time ordinary people started wearing them, they were out of fashion.  The opposite happened with Havaiana flip flops with them originally starting as a shoe for poor people to becoming a high fashion item.

At the time of the Classical period in Ancient Greece, the typical footwear was a sandal, a type of footwear with an open top and straps or thongs fastened to the sole.  Low-quality, crude sandals with thin soles were adopted by Greek males as a political statement to show opposition to democracy. This was called the Spartan fashion and meant simplicity of dress, similar to the cheap, basic flip flop of today. Slaves wore the same sandal as everyone else, so class status was not reflected in footwear.

If we consider the simple flip flop worn today by men, women and children, some are fancier than others with gilded straps or decorative discs or flowers attached to the central thong, and all are subject to cheap imitations of mass production.  However, it is possible to differentiate between the flip flop of a higher quality rubber, made for extreme comfort, and the crude, thin-soled reproductions such as Havianas.

In the late 1930’s to mid-1950’s, the platform sandal was worn on the beach with the idea that the platform would sink into the sand, keeping the feet dry and sand-free.  However, by 1954, the rubber flip flop took pride of place on the beach.  They were, and still are, a more practical solution to the problem of sand, and adequately protect the sole of the foot but with the least amount of coverage on the top of the foot.

The fashion industry caught on to the fabulous potential of the simple flip flop, and in 2003, the US design team Sigerson Morrison created a flip flop with a kitten heel and the initial 300 pairs sold from the New York store within 3 hours.  However, Havaianas flip flops remain a popular choice of flip flop today.

Previously, we had relegated the flip flop to the beach shops in seaside towns.  But gradually flip flops began to be decorated by beads and sequins, such as Havaianas.  However, some exotic, outlandish artistic specimens were designed by others, culminating in the Carmen Miranda style called Fruit Flops.  Large bunches of decorative grapes were attached to the straps.

The exotic experiments of the 1970’s simmered down and we now have the beautiful, colourful and attractive style of flip flop today.  In 2002, the actress Sarah Michelle Gellar wore white Havaianas to her wedding.  This shows the versatility and range of flip flop that it is possible to purchase today.

Heels have the desired effect of making you look taller, and because they are the prerogative of women, feel more feminine.  Stilettos go well with jeans, skirts or dresses.  Strappy platform shoes can be bought in metallic colours.  The gold shoes tend to suit a person who has warm colouring and who instinctively prefers clothes with a yellow, golden undertone.  Silver shoes are perfect for those with a cool colouring and who look best in clothes of a blue undertone.  Wedges with cork heels are a better choice for day-time wear than stilettos.  For those who like wedge shoes then advantage should be taken of the popular espadrille style with a raffia heel.

Flat shoes can nowadays be bought in a multitude of finishes such as patent, metallic or even fake snake skin.