As essential to a summer wardrobe as a swimsuit or sun hat, sandals will take you from your 100-degree commute to your 10,000-step vacation — but a good pair can be surprisingly hard to find. Often, the ones that look chicest leave blisters, while the most comfortable ones leave something to be desired in the style department. But good news: As the Strategist’s resident style writer, I’m rather obsessive (and opinionated) about what makes for a great sandal — and I’ve tracked many down here. You’ll find some Marni-esque Sorels and the Tevas an Olsen twin owns, along with plenty of pairs recommended by those with admirable taste, including my fellow Strategist staffers, a Vogue Hong Kong writer, and a Wall Street Journal art editor. Their recommendations range from the “Jesus sandals” found at Hawaiian convenience stores to slides with an Hermès Oran look. (And if you’re looking for more summer shoes to shop, check out our guides to the best espadrilles and flip-flops.)
Best slide sandals
Birkenstock’s Arizonas have been everywhere for the past few years — and they were still the most-mentioned sandal when I reached out to stylish people for this story. “It really does feel like you’re in a cool club when you wear them. I see people in my neighborhood wearing Arizonas, and I’m like, Oh, you’re probably a decent human being. They carry that essence,” says brand consultant Hannah Baxter, who adds that the “goes-with-everything shoe” never makes her feel like she’s trying too hard. “They’re just so comfortable,” says Coming Soon co-founder Fabiana Faria. “I love how your foot imprints on to them, making it more yours.”
If you want Birkenstocks that are a little less obvious, take note from Pia Velasco, a content specialist at Meta (and a self-professed “big Birkenstock person”), who counts the EVA Arizonas as her favorite. “I spend as much time as I can by the water, and these are just really easy to wash the sand, dirt, and mud off,” Velasco says. The pair she got four years ago is still going strong: “They were as comfortable the first time I wore them as they are now.”
If you’re looking for something a little more dressed up, Bathen co-founder Hannah Zisman goes for the big-buckle version, which she’s worn to a wedding in Maine, the Hamptons, and Whistler. “I never thought I’d be a Birkenstock girl, but the gold buckles and shiny leather finally swayed me,” she says.
These sandals are what Zisman takes on tropical vacations — they’ve seen Tulum and Palm Springs already, with Maui next on the list. “They’re like elevated Tevas but still comfortable,” she says. The bandanna print is surprisingly versatile and adds some punch to the colorful linen dresses and matching short sets Zisman packs for her trips.
A recent addition to Catbird founder Rony Vardi’s closet is this pair of J.Crew slides called the Colbie (seen here in the double-buckle version — a crisscross slingback and braided lace-up have the same name). She wore the sandals for the transition time between spring and summer, and while she says they’re not as comfortable as Birkenstocks, “the cute-to-comfortable ratio is favorable.” The thinner straps on the sandals give them the look of a more expensive minimalist sandal — Vardi says these could easily be mistaken for “a cool Japanese brand” instead of preppy J.Crew.
The Restfeels from Lululemon have what writer Alexis Cheung describes as a “cloudlike puffiness” that resembles many a Yeezy dupe. She likes that the slides toe the line between sensible and fashionable and have a super-comfortable foam-lined strap and rubber traction. The pair comes in a number of colors, including this strawberry milkshake. (Cheung went for a chocolate color that’s since sold out.)
Originally from Hawaii, Cheung grew up wearing “Jesus sandals,” or Jandals as they’re properly called. “They’re great for beach days, because they’re waterproof, and for traveling, because they flatten into nothing,” she says. And while they don’t have a ton of arch support, Cheung says her feet have never hurt even “after pounding the pavement” in them. Also appealing: the low price (if you’re in Hawaii, you can find them at ABC convenience stores). “If they break down, you don’t feel bad about rebuying,” Cheung explains. “But I have friends whose pairs are ancient.”
Hannah Selinger, a James Beard Award–nominated journalist, has been buying shoes from Tory Burch since 2005. The Bubble sandals are a recent get, bought at an end-of-season sale in December (and the sandals are currently on sale now too). Selinger says they remind her of her jellies from the ’90s — and I see them fitting right in with this summer’s jelly mania, too (more on that below). “They’re my alternative to a filp-flop: sturdier, fancier, hold up well to the sand, and obviously you can wash them off,” Selinger says.
After seeing stylists she trusted wearing Emme Parsons, Emilia Petrarca, author of the newsletter Shop Rat, ended up getting herself sandals from the line. The silhouettes are “beautifully minimalist,” with touches like toe rings to make them interesting, according to Petrarca. The Bari is an updated version of the brand’s best-selling Susan, with corded lines of leather that cross the foot. “They’re a good happy medium between fancy and casual,” Petrarca says. The “snazzy sandals,” as she calls them, can be dressed up or down depending on the day. Just take note: The sandals are “not blisterproof. Not really meant for walking long distances,” she cautions. “But they feel worth it.”
Strategist senior editor Hilary Reid was first turned on to Margaux’s leather sandals when she tried its Flat style five years ago and has been wearing them every summer since (more on that below). More recently, she was sent the brand’s MX sandal, and so far she is impressed. The slides were comfortable to wear straight out of the box with no break-in time required and didn’t leave any blisters after the first few wears. Notably, they have a surprisingly cushy footbed and somewhat of an Hermès Oran air to them (without looking like a blatant knockoff.)
Because her Ganni buckled ballerinas (you know the ones) survived a week in the hilly city of Lisbon, Tarin Thomas, founder Kylie Nakao, couldn’t not get them in sandal form. “They feel like a sandal I can actually trek around the city in,” she explains. There’s enough of an edge to them with all that silver hardware.
Best flat sandals
There’s a big debate on the Strategist team about Tevas versus Chacos — with Strategist writer Lauren Ro repping Team Tevas. Ro got her first pair when she was 10 years old and calls the brand’s Original Universal sandals, which were created back in 1984 by a Grand Canyon river guide, her “super-reliable ‘adventure’ sandals” to this day. They’re “extremely crunchy-looking to me in the best way,” she says. The straps are easy to put on and keep the sandals securely on her feet during jaunts. She notes that the footbed is on the longer side, so you might want to size down.
No less than four Strategist staffers own a pair of these strappy Tevas, but it was Strategist senior editor Simone Kitchens who first wrote an ode to the sandals after seeing them on Mary-Kate Olsen and then on Samantha Adler’s mid-coast Maine packing list. Though she owns every rubbery summery sandal out there — including Birkenstock, Chaco, Plasticana, Crocs — Kitchens says these are her preferred pair for handling everything from sudden downpours to hopping out of muddy waters. “There’s something almost delicate about the skinny straps, something vaguely Emme Parsons–ish, but they’re just as sturdy as my Hurricanes, and, honestly, way more comfortable,” Kitchens says. It’ll be the second summer in a row now that she wears the “strappy, weirdly sexy little Tevas.”
Even more minimal than the Teva Voya Infinity is the Xero Genesis. “They don’t look like anything I already have,” says stylist Lilli Millhiser, who first heard about the sandals from editor Becky Malinsky’s newsletter. Millhiser likens them to the Rivieres by Miu Miu for a knotted cord that goes around the foot. The barely there sandals are supposed to make you feel almost barefoot. “The sole is very thin, so city walkers: beware,” she warns.
On the other side of the great sandal debate: Chacos. “Each summer for the last couple of decades, I have worn a different pair of comfortable sandals almost exclusively until they’re worn into the ground,” says Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo. This year, Corsillo has been having a “Chacos summer.” She says, “I wear my Chacos pretty much everywhere, especially if I am going to possibly encounter a playground sprinkler.” They were the only shoes she packed for a week in Southampton: “Chaco straps are thinner and sort of shinier, so I feel like they can pass for dressy,” she says — and the placement of the straps makes them especially foot flattering, not to mention easy to slip on and off.
It’s become an annual tradition for cookbook author Odette Williams to replace her pair of these simple, thin-strapped sandals each summer with exactly the same pair — she wears them that much. The design, with a strap around the ankles and another across the toes, endears them to her, as they’re “great day-to-night shoes.” And though the brand’s site notes that these sandals start out stiff, Williams assures that they take a day to break in, max.
As mentioned above, Reid has been wearing these sandals for the past five summers and will be wearing them this summer, too. They’ve held up remarkably well for such a strappy pair; she told me she’s worn them to walk all over the city, in addition to wearing them on trips to Jamaica and Italy. “They look right in just about every setting,” she says, adding that the padded footbed prevents her from having “dreaded hot heels” on longer jaunts, and the ankle strap makes them feel secure without looking clunky.
As seen in our Secret Strategist newsletter: the Granada sandals, which Mohawk General Store co-founder Bo Yeong describes as flattering in a way that’s “sexy but low-key.”
Another Secret Strategist find, recommended by Doing Well founder Daphne Javitch: These thong sandals, which have the tiniest heel (but I’d still call them a flat) and that Javitch told us she relies on every summer because “they’re simply perfect.” Plus, they’re flat enough to slip into a carry-on bag.
Compared to the Tory Burch Bubble slides, this one — called the Miller — is more of an all-purpose sandal, according to Selinger. “I bring them with me when I need something I can walk around in,” she says. “If I’m going to be in Europe and I need an all-day sandal with cushioning, but I don’t want a sneaker because it’s going to be hot, that’s my pick.”
Best flip-flop sandals
The Kinto from A.Emery is square toed, thicker strapped, and has a slim silhouette. The sandals — which come in colors like seaweed, walnut, and black (buttermilk and eggshell have since sold out) — are “considerably comfortable,” according to Joanna Fu, New York correspondent for Vogue Hong Kong, who adds that these are “as dressed up as flip-flops can be.” Her recommendation convinced me to get a pair (which I included in the June installment of our Strategist Haul series). They’re almost forgettable — and I mean that in the most complimentary way. They remind me of vintage Jil Sander, and they truly go with everything, from sheer beach pants to cutoffs. (A fun tidbit: I’m almost sure I caught Magasin’s Laura Reilly in a pair on Instagram, too.) A. Emery also makes the Morgan, which I’d say is like the suede version of the Kinto.
[Editor’s note: Some sizes are sold out, but you can sign up to know when your size is back.]
This pair of minimal leather sandals from TKees has lasted Ruby Buddemeyer, the director of copy and concept at Starface, three summers in a row. They were everything she wanted in a sandal: low-profile, not loud, and easy to throw on. And while the sandals have a thin silhouette, there’s some cushioning in the sole — and, importantly, no break-in time. “I hate breaking in shoes; I’ve tried Birkenstocks a handful of times and can’t handle the break-in,” says Buddemeyer. “These were comfortable right away.”
“I just think jelly everything is going to be everywhere this summer,” predicts The Love List newsletter editor Jess Graves, tracing the trend back to The Row’s Fashion Week show in September where the buzzy Mara jelly flat was introduced. In recent “big-time internet drama,” word spread that The Row jelly flats broke easily, including the pair Graves bought. She suggests Ancient Greek Sandals jellies instead — its Iro is a dupe for the Mara, and the Saionara is similar to a flip-flop The Row also makes (for a fraction of the cost). The Saionaras feature see-through jelly straps on a hand-stitched leather sole. “They feel like a grown-up Old Navy flip-flop,” Graves says.
It’s an odd year when I don’t buy at least one pair of shoes from Tory Burch. They’re always high-quality for a relatively affordable price, and if you’re patient, you can probably get what you’re eyeing on sale. These are the fanciest flip-flops I own now. (I found them while rounding up the best sandal deals at the end of June.) They draw attention away from unpedicured feet, and I really like the roundness of the medallion, which reminds me of something you’d see on the sandals of ancient Egyptian queens.
You can often catch Catbird’s chief creative officer, Leigh Plessner, about town in a pair of Havaianas’ flip-flops. Plessner takes them out of town, too — at the beach, she wears these with nightgowns or a housecoat over a swimsuit when the sun’s out, and silk dresses after sunset. The logo — a flag of Brazil — is a little “silly and wink-y” when paired with her more formal outfits, she says.
Best fisherman sandals
The Boomer combines the fisherman with the flat-form for a sandal that’s “buoyed by a protective sole,” says Strategist writer Kitty Guo. The chunkiness of the Boomers — which have a wedge of EVA foam on a lugged outsole — makes her feet feel more protected from the “glass, gum, and general street grime” on city sidewalks. These have become her most-worn sandals. “It’s been a year, and the tread up near the front of the shoe has worn down a bit from scuffing, but otherwise these are in good shape,” Guo says.
Petrarca swears by Hereu’s Pescas, which are “the sturdiest, most comfortable sandals” she has. The shoes take her far and are what Petrarca wears while walking around on trips. “I’m sure I saw other people wearing them, but what sealed the deal for me was how soft the leather was,” she explains. “You can just tell they’re super well made.” These can be styled in endless ways, too — including with socks. “They’re a little ‘dorkier,’ I would say, but that’s what I like about them,” she says. “They’re thicker and chunkier, but I think they can be girlie.”
For a nontraditional take on the fisherman sandal, Loeffler Randall makes one with cream-and-blue crocheted raffia. Reid was “immediately struck” by them in the brand’s Soho store and saw them as a charmingly maximalist antidote to the solid linen dresses and pants she likes to wear when it’s hot out. “In that sense, it made sense to splurge on something that may not be ‘classic’ but can easily make my basics feel less boring,” she says. She even took them on a vacation to Greece not too long ago, where, she notes, they were a very comfortable and surprisingly versatile travel shoe. Just be sure to go up half a size, as the sandals run small.
Best platform sandals
You might never guess these wedges are from Crocs — a big selling point for Strategist junior writer Bella Druckman, who was searching for a pair that could stand up to the city streets while still looking put-together. The shoes are especially easy to clean: “Even if they get dirty, they won’t stay that way for long,” Druckman says. The platform on them also gives her a few inches without making them difficult to walk in the slightest.
(I also heard about Crocs Cleos while reporting this story. Filmmaker-illustrator-ceramicist Madelynn De La Rosa calls them her “going for errands” and “around the block” sandals. These are almost sold out, but you could try your luck on the secondhand market — including listings on eBay.)
Strategist senior editor Winnie Yang has logged miles with these Keens while hiking, restaurant-hopping in the Hamptons, and traversing concrete and cobblestoned streets across cities. The secure straps and gripped soles made them supportive and comfortable right from the beginning. “They’re easy to get on and off, and they have a little height to them, which gives my feet (or maybe just my mind) that critical distance from grimy sidewalks and subway floors,” Yang says. The sandals also don’t call attention to themselves — a fact she appreciates, as she’s not one to get a pedicure.
Reid’s recent hunt for “good walking sandals that aren’t hideous” turned up this Vince pair with a chunky-but-still-sleek silhouette that a friend of hers even compared to Lemaire. Though the soles are “pretty heavy,” the sandals feel exceptionally sturdy and have a heel-soothing cushioned sole. “I’ve yet to wear them for a 10K jaunt, but I feel sure they’re up to the task,” Reid says. She suggests going down half a size.
Best heeled sandals
Novelist Diksha Basu, who doesn’t want to be “prancing around in stilettos” and thinks her ankles look odd in clogs, found a new everyday heel in these Sorel sandals. The design is “over the top in the best way; they look a little bit Marni, a little bit Suzanne Rae for Teva,” according to Basu. She sports them at her kids’ soccer practice and while riding her bike. “True to Sorel’s reputation, they’re remarkably comfortable. I’m loath to give up the bliss of bare feet, but these feel like the next best thing,” she says.
Dr. Scholl’s sandals had a moment recently when Sarah Jessica Parker wore them while filming And Just Like That … (we even wondered if they might be the shoe of summer). But the slides far outdate the buzz — in fact, they’ve been around since 1959. “They were originally coined the ‘exercise’ sandal for a reason. The design of the shoe really puts your calves to work,” says Shelby Ying Hyde, a writer who has contributed to the Cut, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar, and who notes her legs got a workout in these when she took them on a trip to Miami for Swim Week and brought them poolside in Los Cabos. Her first pair is white like Parker’s, while her second is black (“It’s one of the only colors I wear these days, so it seemed like an obvious choice,” she says), and a third might be coming in red.
In the weeks since getting these kitten-heel slingbacks, Wall Street Journal art editor Alexandra Citrin-Safadi has worn them “pretty much every chance” she can. “It’s been a few years since I found a strappy sandal that’s this flexible (stylistically) and not vintage (RIP to when you could get gently used Manolos for under $100 on the RealReal),” she tells me. These are among the cheapest here, under $150. Citrin-Safadi is “pleasantly surprised by the quality,” especially since another pair of Vagabonds she owned broke while she was walking down Calyer Street a decade ago. “Happy to report that it appears Vagabond must have improved since then,” she says.
As our friends at the Cut say, Suzanne Rae’s shoes wouldn’t look out of place among the macaron-colored boxes in that montage in Marie Antoinette. I fell for these sandals because of the rhinestone buckle, which looks like something you’d see in a painting of Louis XIV, and splurged on them happily — after owning four other pairs from the brand, I knew they would last me for years and get me tons of compliments. Mine are in the cream moire, though you can get them in a green velvet.
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