We wear them because our feet hurt. We have to wear dress-up, pointy-toed shoes and pantyhose during the workweek, and when we aren’t on duty it’s nice to not be in pain. Flip-flops are the closest we can get to being barefoot. You try walking around on your toes for 40 or 50 hours a week and you’ll want to go barefoot, too.
I love to dress with some formality, but I’m sitting here typing this wearing a Ralph Lauren dress and the fantastically comfortable J. Crew thick-soled flip-flops my daughter bought me for my last birthday. My feet feel good for a change.
There may be some other shoes that are comfortable too—my Topsiders and Bass loafers, my Ariat paddock boots and Vogel field boots are fine, too. But none of them all the freedom of having my feet squish out in all directions as the flip-flops do. Bliss!
That's a good reason. I often wear large steel-toed boots w/ metatarsal guards on them (to protect my feet from the cattle) and the first thing I do when I get home is put on my Adidas slides and let "the dogs bark". :o)