What is it about summer that occasions the shameless abandonment of propriety and taste? The "tube top," the plastic "jelly" shoe, and the "Daisy Duke" jean short all owe their existence to our seasonal lack of discrimination. Only in the summer do grown and usually well-dressed women don such juvenile and unflattering styles; only in the summer do professional and otherwise passably attired men dress as though preparing to clean out the garage. If you have left your home in the past few months, you have no doubt witnessed some of the season's more common missteps: exposed bra straps; bare, bulging midriffs and bad sandals. And you may have asked yourself why was the first warm days of the year like a Halloween costume party-a chance for people to wear whatever (or however little) they desire. After many such alarming sightings, the worst summer fashion faux pa has to be exposed toes!

For both sexes, but especially for men, the dog days of summer present the conundrum of summer footwear. Few styles garner more vitriol, in conversation and in print, than sandals for men, sometimes called man sandals, or "mandals." The animosity has multifarious roots. It's not just that we are sexist in our dislike of hairy unpedicured toes and pasty feet. It's also that sandals seem vaguely European and effete-the girly man is an archetype American culture has yet to embrace-and that sandals, when worn by men who are anything but effeminate, convey an air of affectation. (Hey ladies, I'm a sensitive, sandal-loving man who writes lyrics and grows his own herbs.)The lone permissible type is the soccer sandal; its athletic associations render it properly masculine and its David Beckham affiliation elevates it to sexy. It might be best to avoid the sandal trap altogether and choose an inoffensive pair of sneakers. But if you are a man who chooses to wear sandals, be aware that the person staring at the ground may actually be glaring at your feet. And leave your socks at home, particularly if they are the same dark ones you wear to the office-a place, by the way, where sandals should never be worn.

With regard to women in open-toed shoes, a few simple rules are sufficient. A pedicure is, as Daphne Merkin wrote in Elle, "a necessary luxury." Wearing stockings with them is like putting on underwear over your pants.

As for flip-flops, the sandal's plastic cousin, these are office-appropriate only if your co-workers don't mind that you sound like a metronome as you walk. Also, don't wear them to a restaurant! Who wants to look at your hideous feet while dining? It's not pretty, even an outdoor cafe.

Finally, with barely an inch between the wearer's feet and filthy city or suburban streets, flip-flops can be a health hazard. A friend gave them up after an audacious rat scuttled over his exposed foot. So save the flip-flops for the beach.