Havaianas

(better known to most Americans as the standard flip flop)
Flip flop: reminds how many of us of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, right? "I blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top..."

Well to Brazilians, it is not the flip flop that holds popular trivial attention. Instead, it is the Havaiana!! I realized yesterday late in the night that for the last three weeks I have had nothing on my feet except havaianas...for the entire 20 days...with the exception of about 3 or 4 hours Monday night when we went for Sushi in celebration of my birthday and I dressed up and wore heels. However, my friend Mara still wore havaianas to the restaurant with her very cute, strapless sundress.

It made me wonder: What is proper havaiana etiquette?

#1: the beach--kind of a no brainer, I know, but I feel it needs to be mentioned that indeed Havaianas suit the beach well. They slip off easily once you reach the sand, or you can keep them on comfortably while walking through the sand on the days that the sun is scorching hot sand and the sand is unbearably hot to walk on with bare feet, and they allow for the remaining remnants of sand to dry and fall off on the walk after the beach at the end of the day without having to go barefoot on the boardwalk.

#2: around the house--in MN, especially in the winter, it is common for visitors to bring along their "house shoes" during a visit. People hanging out at home, watching TV can often be found wearing their "house shoes". Many times homeowners have extra "guest" pairs of "house shoes". The purpose of the "house shoe" I believe is warmth more than comfort during those colder months. In Brazil, it is the havaiana that replaces the traditional "house shoe". Some have a specific pair of havaianas they ONLY wear in their house. I always have havaianas on at home, but it is not always the same pair. They keep my feet clean. Once I forgot to change my shoes when leaving for work and ended up wearing my havaianas all day at school, thankfully, they matched my outfit!

#3: riding a bike--I can hear my mother's voice in my head every time I see a biker passing on their bike, wearing havaianas "Put on tennis shoes! You can't ride a bike in flip flops." As much as I don't like to contradict my mother, it is possible to safely ride a bike in havaianas, and I see it several times a day.

#4: running errands--if one were to sit at a sidewalk, boteca and observe the passersby, keeping tallies of how many people are wearing havaianas vs. how many are not, the results are phenomenal. People seemingly grocery shopping, wearing havaianas, people seemingly heading to the dry cleaners, wearing havaianas, people seemingly heading to the bakery for breakfast, wearing havaianas. It's amazing! I started thinking, Wow, this is bigger than Nike. I want to meet the person responsible for inventing havaianas. He/she is brilliant.

#5: work--the pool guy (of course I know) but also, the water delivery guy, the guys who clean the streets, the venders at market, the flower vender, the retail employees, the cashiers at the bakery. As a matter of fact, the only on the job situations that didn't involve havaianas to date are our doormen and the policia militar--they don't wear havaianas, they wear boots and drink beer (this is a topic worthy of its own posting and will come at a later date).

#6: fashion statement for every ocassion--this is my favorite, as just last week Joe said, "Oh, hon, you need a pair of brown havaianas to go with that dress." It is a must to have white havaianas for New Year's Eve in Rio as well. It is true, not only are they extremely comfortable and durable and did I mention under $5 (US dollars) a pair, they come in EVERY color you could imagine, and recently, they're adding patterns. Buzios has an entire store, about the size of a typical Dominos take out restaurant in the states, of ONLY havaianas, floor to ceiling, wall to wall, men's, women's, children's..havaianas havaianas havaianas! Remember earlier, I mentioned Mara wearing havaianas with her cute, strapless sundress to dinner the other night with havaianas. Her havaianas were the same rose color of her dress--matchy matchy! And it is an absolute fashion MUST that at the very least your havaianas match your bikini. I have two bikinis (well, I really have 5, but only 2 of them are the Brazilian style, which could possibly be another post topic--The Brazilian Bikini, anyway). I have one bikini that is mostly blue and of course I have a matching pair of blue havaianas for when I wear that suit, and I have another that is mostly green, so I have a matching pair of green havaianas for when I wear that suit.

#7: Havaiana style: since the onset of the havaiana craze, the people at havaiana have adapted the traditional flip flop style to include additional styles; including but not limited to, havaiana heels, havaianas with slingbacks, havaianas with a little Brazilian flag on the strap, and havaianas that wrap around your foot (see purple havaianas shown). I wake each day wondering what new style these creative imaginations will come up with next.

It amazes and impresses me when something hits the market that becomes such a commonly used item. We could probably go back through the last 100 years and find a number of such things; the television, the cassette tape then the compact disc, the microwave, the vcr then the dvd, the computer desktop and laptop...the list is infinite. Just as in the United States it is nearly impossible to find a home without at least one television set in 2007, I dare say it is nearly impossible to find a home in Brasil without at least one pair of havaianas!!

I've attached their webpage here if you're interested in seeing more havaiana styles and if you're looking for locating havaianas in your hometown, google havaianas. You'll be amazed what you find. But, could the lyrics to Margaritaville be slightly altered to: I blew out my havaiana, I stepped on a Fanta. I guess we may never know.

http://www.havaianas.com.br/