sandals/flip-flops

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Did anyone else here with AS not wear flip-flops growing up? My best friend wore them all the time, but I never could stand the feeling of something between my toes like that. I didn't wear my last pair until last year, I made myself wear them and after a few weeks they finally began to grow on me. And then my Pit Bull chewed them up, so that was the end of them. But all my life I avoided them for the same reason I avoided tags on clothing, seams on socks, etc. I just never knew until last year why this was, and I at least feel better at least knowing why.

I wore them all the time, until I twisted my ankle while jogging in them.

Flip-flops have to be the most irritating piece of footwear ever. I hate having anything between my toes and a giant, rough lump of plastic/fabric rubbing against the insides of my toes is not my idea of comfort.
And, yay, finally someone who had the same issue with me about socks. It used to take me about half an hour every morning before school to get my socks on so they were even remotely tolerable. It would take quite a battle to force me to wear those things. Why do they have to put the seams in such an uncomfortable place? That's what I've never understood.

what do you mean "when growing up?"

in Oz we call them "thongs."

i wear thongs every day to this day. i have them on now. pink ones.

that is all i wear in summer. (i have a spare pare of sandals in case i cannot go somewhere with my favourite footwear.)

I know exactly what you mean, Sbcmetroguy. I got some when I was a kid, to use while walking from a changing room to a pool (and that was a whole 'nother sensory issue, there - I couldna walk anywhere barefoot). I never expected them to hurt between my toes, since other people didn't appear to think anything of it while they wore them. I currently wear sandals all the time but they're always the sport kind, never the thong kind.

When growing up = as a child.

In the USA, "thongs" are specific pieces of underwear. I've heard that elsewhere what we call flip-flops are called thongs, though.

I guess my question should have been specifically directed at those who hate clothing tags and such, who are more affected by things like that. Someone not affected by things like that I wouldn't expect to be bothered by flip-flops, but I would expect it of someone who is bothered by tags, seams, etc. But that's the thing about humans, everyone is different in so many ways. I'm just having odd thoughts lately, over-analyzing everything and seeing how it relates to my having AS.

Hey Tim_Tex ... good to see you around, but I thought you left! lol

Anyway after I initially tortured myself with them, I got used to wearing them until my dog destroyed them. I haven't worn any in a couple months now, so I wonder if it would bother me trying to wear them now if I got a new pair.

I was (and still am not) able to wear flip-flops. They would always fall off my feet for some reason and the only way I could keep them on was by painfully scrunching up my toes as I walked.

Also having my big toe separated from my other toes by a piece of plastic is very disconcerting for me.

Does that mean that they wrap around your toes rather than go between them? I've seen some like that but never tried them. My wife bought me my thong-type sandals, not knowing what type of issues I always had with them. I almost lost my mind on her when she gave them to me. I know they were a gift, but I was expected to wear them ... and since they usually hurt like hell, I just couldn't do it. So the first few days or weeks were literally like torture.

You know, this is an interesting thought as well (your second paragraph). You see, I like for my toes to touch because I like to flick my big toe over the next toe all the time, and with something between them, it hurts badly when I flick my toes. But the toe flicking is a habit I do subconsciously, so it's going to happen whether I like it or not.

I think the name "thong" for the underwear came from the footwear, because I heard flip-flops called thongs before the underwear had been devised. Both of them involve wedging something where it was never meant to be. I wouldn't know which hurts more to wear though.


Sbcmetroguy,
Amongst other aspects of them (heel strap, etc), sport-sandals usually have a strap that crosses over the top of the foot (you could wear socks with them). Here are mine:

Ha ha! I just posted something about flip flops on the "Random Truth" thread. I just cut and pasted so I don't have to do it all over:

"I pretty much wear only flip flops or boots.

I'm wearing flip flops outside! Spring is here! Better not put away all my boots yet - they say we might have more winter coming. A can't remember what Beauregard said.

In the meantime, it feels soooooooooooo good wearing flip flops again outside! (wear them all year inside)

I don't know - maybe I have an aversion to socks showing - it looks weird on me. And the whole sensory thing, of course.

Oh and the OCD doesn't stop there - I only buy Reef sandals, flat, with the skinny straps. Hey - they're cheaper than Manolos!"

I actually do something similar to that!

Okay, a thong is a thin piece of leather, a strap. So that could apply to strappy sandals or underwear.
In USA, people also refer to thong sandals, but flip flops are more specifically foam-soled ones.

I usually went barefoot as a kid, even in the snow, with sandals as a second resort if I couldn't get away with bare feet.

When I was growing up in southern California, some of the terms I heard for flip-flops were thongs, beach walkers, and zories. I wear them quite a bit during the summer, but I have to admit that when I sometimes hear other people walking in them, the noise coming from their flip-flops can drive me up the wall.

a relatively new habit i got is keeping a pair of flip flops on the floor, right beneath me, right now. i dont like wearing them, but i like putting my feet on them, when i sit by the computer.

I started wearing them a lot a year or two ago. I always had trouble with them before because I'm pigeon-toed. But I've finally mastered them and I've worn them often since. The same goes for ballet flats. It took about two weeks straight of walking in them for my feet to get used to them. I think I'll always have trouble with heels though.