Fashion Faux Pas

I wore sandals sans socks all through Europe and never got fined by the fashion police. Frankly, I think socks with sandals looks pretty dorky!

They'll know you're a tourist on vacation, and for the most part won't care or even notice what you wear, unless it's a particularly egregious offense, like wearing a "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey" T shirt.

While flip flops may be a fashion faux pas, toes au naturel is not a problem :)

Why do you call yourself a "Californio" when you live in La Pine Oregon? To answer the question, while a FreNchman may not wear sandals at home in Paris, you are free to do whatever you want. No one will care.

If you wear socks with your sandals, they will just think you are German. Sandals are great, but honestly, flip-flops are just not made for hours of tramping through a city. For one, your feet will probably hurt since you won't have any support, and they will be filthy. If it rains, they will also be very slippery. Not the ideal shoe for sight-seeing. As to whether or not the French really care about your footware? um, am going to guess no. They probably won't even glance at your feet, nor will they care, but if per chance they do, it won't really matter.

Flip Flops aren't very popular here at all (for all the reasons Jo mentions). Sandals are. When the weather gets warm, you'll see lots of French toes hanging out and catching a breeze. (And really, no one cares what's on your feet)

Jo and Dina are right on the money. I almost never see flip flops here except at the pool/beach. I made the mistake of wearing some the other day and ended up in an impromptu parade through downtown Stuttgart (after Germany secured its place in the Eurocup 2012) and was shocked by how filthy my feet were when I got home. Just nasty. But regular walking sandals without socks are totally OK and worn by everyone when it's warm. Except middle aged Germans who cling to their black socks and birkenstocks.

Speaking of fashion faux pas-This weekend in the Art Institute of Chicago, I saw three French speaking men. Sure, they could have been Canadian, but since they wore scarves in 90+ heat, I assume they were actually real Frenchmen. And each one of them were wearing...a fanny pack! I was so appalled! Maybe they thought they had to wear them to fit in and look American?

AHA!! The old wearing-of-a-scarf ploy to avoid detection! Plus the wearing-of-a-fannypack to cause confusion and to upset the locals. Deucedly clever, some of these foreigners.

scott, I have family in France,, and no, they do not consider exposed toes offensive, in fact I think they would find the thought or rumor that they would to be rather odd...
The flip flops will be fine for hotel room floors( which are as a rule rather ewww) and beach visits, but , as cited by others, for city walking , they would not serve well at all! Its nothing to do with fashion, but simple practicalities and comfort.

If you're in Paris, things are a bit dressier. I wouldn't wear flip flops, but not b/c of exposed toes. A nicer sandal (sans socks, please!) would be fine. Flip flops are just too much like beachwear for France (I've not been to a French beach, but I assume flip flops are fine there!). Also, I'd guess flip flops aren't comfortable for miles and miles of walking. . Really, just wear what you want. I personally try to dress a tad nicer for European city travel, I feel I fit in better, but I'm sure I still look like a tourist. If I'm in France I have people speaking Italian to me. In Italy, Spanish. In England, French. So I look like a tourist from elsewhere in Europe, I suppose. .
My pet peeves for European travel clothes are US Sports t-shirts and/or white sneakers. But that's just me. Yes, European teens wear tennis shoes, but they are different ones, often "youth trendy" and not often seen on adults outside of exercise activities. Of course, I hate these in the US, Canada, and the moon... The advice I gave my husband and my father and brother for clothes for general walking around touring days was decent jeans/slacks that fit nicely, solid or striped shirts or polos that fit, and leather walking shoes, like Clarks or something. Comfy, casual, but look better than frayed shorts, flip flops and a college football tshirt!

Socks with Birkenstocks...you could also be from The Pacific Northwest...

As someone who lives in Hawaii most of the year, I wear sandals there every day. I, along with lots of other residents, wear socks with our sandals. Maybe that is why I wear socks with my sandals when visiting Seattle IF it isn't raining.

Who cares if people wear socks with their sandals or waist bags?
It takes a lot more than someone's footwear or tote to "appall" me. I'm more likely to be appalled by someone's exposed crack or undershorts because the pants are clinging (barely) to his groin.

Scott, it all depends on what color you plan on painting your toenails.

You referred to your "European summer", implying you will be there for more than just a week or two. Flip flops are real trouble for your feet if worn for that period of time. You need a shoe (or sandal) with more support and cushioning while you're pounding the pavement. By the second or third day, you will have foot and shin pain. If you are walking on cobblestones, you risk a twisted or sprained ankle. Also, coming down steep stairs, flip flops can flop around or slide so you end up taking a fall. I'd go for a good pair of sandals with sand colored socks. The socks will keep the sandals from rubbing blisters on your feet. And no, it doesn't look dorky. Go to the Graffiti Wall and read "Best Walking Shoes" for tips on all types of footwear including sandals for a trip.

I also vote against flip flops!
The one time I wore them in France, the bottoms of my feet turned black. It was disgusting. I couldn't wait to wash them! I also vouch for the lack of support. My feet killed me at the end of the day. It was a horrible idea. I lived and learned!

James, you said you wouldn't tell on me! I am appalled. The white tennis shoe thing is the hugest myth perpetuated on all travel forums. There may have been a time about 50 years ago when this might have been true, but not today. The entire world wears Puma, Addidas, Nike, and Converse. Everyone wears jeans too, though possibly a different cut, as well as shirts with sports logos on them. Want to really fit in, wear your Ed Hardy, Hollister, or Abercrombie & Fitch shirt. You will be very trendy.

So I know we're getting off-topic here, but Jo is absolutely correct about the trendy shirts here now. I represented the USA at an international fair the other day and the other woman there and I were constantly making comments to the students about their "American" T-shirts and all the English they had on them. Only we were having to do all the conversing in French.

During my recent stay in Quarto D'Altino in the Venetto I spotted a mens clothing store window featuring logos that read "Frankie's Garage".

On the white tennis shoe thing...I had a debate about this just before my last trip (a week each in London and Paris) and so I was unusually footwear-attentive on that trip. I honestly saw very few pairs of white nike-type tennis shoes. There were some white, low profile trendy sneakers worn by young European guys, but these are very different than your basic running shoe. I actually just went through my pictures to find any crowd-scene photos with feet visible, and I maintain that the ratio of white tennis shoes to other shoes was extremely low. I traveled with two small children (1 and 4 at the time), so a lot of my pictures are close to the ground and include random bystander's feet :) And yes, I am a bit of a geek. Part of me wants to spreadsheet it to get an exact ratio but that would be overkill! Do with this what you will. Some people won't care, and that's fine. Others prefer to dress to blend in a bit more, so I'm sharing my experience in two big cities last fall, I don't remember well enough to say for sure about other cities.

I also strongly urge you to reconsider the wearing of flip flops. If you are going to a coastal town and will be at a beach, then by all means. But if you are touring villages, towns, and cities, then please wear something more protective. Walking around with flip flops will turn your feet black (it's really disgusting) and they do not provide much protection and your feet will start hurting by the second day. I have no fashion objections, just practical footwear ones. The only other place besides the beach where they make sense is in the hotel room and shower. I'm sure you can find some casual California sneakers to wear.

Whatever you wear, rest assured that you will see other tourists who look worse. For footwear, know that you will do ten times the amount of walking that you normally do, flip flops wouldn't be my choice for that.

How I would love to be able to wear nifty sandals all over the place! However...most feet that are well over a half-century old have problems, and require 'safe' shoes (most of the time). So...I wear well-engineered sneakers, hang the color, and am able to walk on various surfaces, for most of a day, and live to tell about it. Sandals with socks?? Maybe the wearer is diabetic and has to be careful about the sandals in the first place. Maybe they have conjoined toes (I have a niece with this) and don't want people to see them. Maybe all sorts of reasons unknown to the rest of us. And, in the long run, what difference does it really make? Europeans have an uncanny way of spotting us Americans at 20 paces anyway, no matter what we wear. Big, hairy deal.
Well, hairy unless you shave your toes...

...or as I heard it called birks'n'socks :)