
After an entire month in hiding since the release of his damning tapes, Mel Gibson was recently caught leaving his house in Malibu in a pair of sandals. TMZ reports that Mel wasn’t heading down to the beach or on his way to water the lawn —he was hoofing it to the local church.
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President Obama is a notorious sandal-wearer, having made headlines when he went shirtless on a trip to Hawaii in 2008. Though style experts say sandals are appropriate for men on the beach, Obama took it a step further, wearing the same leather slip-ons on a recent tour of a D.C. museum.
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Socks with sandals may be one thing, but with a suit and tie they’re quite another. Jake Gyllenhaal wore black socks with Nike slip-ons and a navy suit on a recent set.
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Usher stayed cool in a pair of Birkenstocks and cargo shorts on a boat trip.
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Leonardo DiCaprio looked casual in a pair of leather Birkenstocks, cargo shorts, and an untucked polo shirt as he ran errands in Los Angeles.
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The former Idol contestant took things a step further when he stepped out in a pair of suede slip-ons.
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We might be able to give Michael Phelps a free pass on mandals since they’re practically required by the pool. “Sandals are made for Michael Phelps,” says Bradley Carbone, the Lifestyle Editor of Complex Magazine. “He’s the archetype of the sandal-wearer.” Here, Phelps pushes the boundary of poolside decorum, wearing a pair on the red carpet.
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Twenty-two-year-old Zac Efron wore a pair of Rainbow flip flops with cargo shorts to a Madrid photocall of Hairspray in 2007. As Bradley Carbone of Complex Magazine puts it, sandals on men are a “juvenile thing” that are passable within the parameters of “frat boy style”—which Efron seems to be channeling here.
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Customs has never been this easy: Kellan Lutz flew through an airport in a pair of canvas Rainbow sandals, which he paired with light-weight khakis.
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At an event for the Make a Wish Foundation, True Blood’s Stephen Moyer pushed the boundaries of red-carpet style in a pair of triple-strap Birkenstocks and cargo shorts, with fiancé Anna Paquin.
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Happier times, indeed: in 2009, Spencer Pratt led his wife Heidi Montag through an airport in a pair of $325 Gucci thong sandals.
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Matthew McConaughey seems to have emerged from the womb in mandals. Matt Halfhill, founder of the blog NiceKicks.com, puts it simply enough: If you're considering wearing mandals, "There needs to be sand beneath your feet, or your name needs to be Matthew McConaughey."
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Men’s sandals dominated the runways during men’s 2011 spring/ summer collections. In Milan last month, Salvatore Ferragamo showed several pairs of simple sandals with short-shorts, while Dolce and Gabbana featured leather and rope slip-ons with shorts, slouchy pants, bedroom robes, and even Speedos.
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