Have you managed to coax your teenaged boy into sandals....or am I as ludicrous as he thinks I am?

[Elastoslax]

DS 15, is going to be spending a month in a hot climate doing a lot of travelling and walking. I suggested he get some decent sandals to alternate with his trainers and I've been laughed out of the house.

Even his Df ridiculed my suggestion. Teen DD and I are Birkenstock fans forever but I said any sandals. I wasn't trying to force him into Birkenstocks.

Is it just that sandals are uncool? DS will know no one but family where we are going, is not the most sociable anyway (so won't be looking to meet new people) so what is the problem and could it be that he just hasn't come across the right pair???

Mine used to love Toms, now it's sliders for the beach, pool. He's now one for sightseeing holidays so depending on the day it might be trainers.

Man here

Sandals, are you insane!! congratulations on bringing up a sensible boy though - no man should ever be seen in sandals unless he is doing some sort of roman / Ancient Greek re-enactment, and even then its suspect!!

One of mine will wear sandals, in fact they are his footwear of choice as soon as its warm enough.

The other won't wear any form of sandals, flipflop, sliders, crocs. The best I can do when it's hot is canvas shoes.

A teenage boy wearing a pair of sandals? Is he going be sitting around a campfire singing kumbayah and wearing a poncho too?

Sliders or converse. Sandals are never going to happen unless, they’re a “cool” teen or one that can pull it off or doesn’t care.

But not a teenager surely? 😳

16 yr old ds wore thick socks, skate shoes and baggy thick denim jeans for the entire time we were in Rome.
It was August

Well the sandal wearing one is 19, so technically an adult. But he's worn sandals every year. By choice.

You need to pick your battles. It's one not worth fighting.

I live in SEA, slides, crocs or trainers are worn by the kids. What's the obsession wit smelly feet? I wear addidas trainers daily, my feet never smell. His feet won't suddenly become toxic waste by wearing trainers.

Oh my goodness, I cannot imagine any teenager wearing these, especially if the whole family were wearing them at the same time. 😕

Teen boys around here live in slides (with big white socks - it’s a very specific look).

Some people aren't comfortable getting their toes out at any age. Let him wear his shoes, and he'll soon find out if he likes them. If not, he can always get a cheap pair of sandals over there. Just don't give him grief about it

Perhaps they want to make sure they never hear "sandal wearing" as an insult.
I remember a non-uniform day while I was at secondary school, on a very hot day in June: not a sandal to be seen. Everybody wore trainers, and the concession to hot weather was for some people to wear them without socks. (Invisible socks were not yet a thing.) Even when I was at university, it was still mostly trainers in summer. I didn't wear sandals until well into my thirties.

You are wasting your time. Not a chance in hell would he wear sandals. Even my dh at 39 wouldn't. Sliders on a beach holiday or trainers at night and when out and about.

Yes , this 😂 ‘sports mode’ 😂😂😂

DS aged 13 let me buy him geography-teacher type walking sandals, then refused to wear them 🙄. TBF when I actually looked around at other teen boys I saw that none of them wore anything other than trainers, crocs or sliders all summer. I genuinely hadn’t noticed 🤷‍♀️

Buy him some compeed to take and accept defeat.

Agree With above.

Neither of mine (one boy one girl older teens) would be seen dead in sandals, its trainers or crocs only. We went on holiday to Italy and Greece last August, miles of walking around dusty uneven heritage sites and cobbled streets in temps of 35°+, we all wore trainers the entire time and were fine. I normally live in Birkenstocks in summer but wore breathable trainers with mesh invisible socks for this holiday which were far better, sandals would have meant filthy, gritty, sweaty feet but they stayed fresh in the socks and trainers.

Mine has Yeezy sliders. Sliders seem to be more popular with teen boys than sandals

Quite the vision 😂!

Mine would probably still wear his Docs 😂. He'll wear flipflops on holiday but beyond that, the only other footwear on his feet would be Vans, that's his summer attire.

Are you insane?!
He would, like, DIE!!!

I'm in a hot country by the beach. My (nearly 14) DS wears pretty much the same shoes constantly - basically black leather trainers with socks - he won't wear anything else- never goes sockless even!
TRying to persuade him to wear canvas shoes such as converse or even teevas...

My teens will wear Reef sandals or Teva style sandals.