By Lauren Bishop
Enquirer staff writer

Among the most difficult questions men will grapple with: Should I pop the question? Should I take that job in Topeka? And of course, Should I wear sandals?

Men bought $232 million worth of sports sandals in 2003, up nearly 5 percent from 2002, according to the Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD Group, a market research firm.

Big sellers this summer are thongs and soccer-style slides, says Mike Levison, vice president of marketing for Columbus-based DSW Shoe Warehouse.

If you need any more convincing, consider that no less an expert than Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Carson Kressley is a fan of the flip-flop.

"I once sported a $3.50 pair with a couture suit. On CNN, no less," he said.

Rob Thornton of Walnut Hills, a 25-year-old account executive at an Internet security company, says you can't pull him out of his $10 Gap flip-flops that he wears after work, on the golf course or with a nice pair of pants.

"I wear them more than any other shoe I have in the summertime," he says. "It's like classy casual."

John Darr, a 25-year-old Hyde Park resident, is with Thornton on both the love of flip-flops and the no-sock rule.

"Wearing sandals with white socks is as ridiculous as a man wearing water wings at the beach," he says.

But there's nothing worse than a man who doesn't take care of his feet and still shows them off to the public, says Nori Shortt, 29, of East Walnut Hills.

But there are some who remain staunchly anti-sandal. Doris Marks Callis of Clifton says she thinks the idea of men in sandals is "horrifying" because most men won't submit to pedicures.

"One of the items on my 'perfect husband list' when I was single was no men who wear open-toe sandals," says the 42-year-old, "and my husband passed this and every other qualification."