@MotherOfDragons --one of my boys can manage to produce the sounds you describe while wearing VV flip flops, Rainbow flip flops…you get the idea. Am grateful that he never wore these black Adidas rubber slides that the swimmers all wore. I can only imagine the noise.
I live in VV or Eliza B flip flops for as many months as I can get away with wearing them. While I have ‘dressier’ leather Capri sandals, I default to VV or Eliza B when I plan to walk miles.
Chiming in as a guy (I think the OP asked about her son), who has no real opinion about things like whether flip flops stop being flip flops if they are expensive enough, I don’t understand the problem with khakis and a polo/open collar shirt. That has been my go to “not sure what the heck I am supposed to wear and the wife is not helping” uniform for years, as it has been for I think every other UMC guy on the planet. Lightweight khakis are not appreciably more uncomfortable than dress shorts in hot weather, and they are worn year round by sartorial confused males across this great land.
Some people on the thread felt forcing a kid into those clothes would deny their authenticity. For a kid who has his own strong sartorial preferences, I can see that; for a kid who truly doesn’t care about clothes as long as they cover the naughty bits, I don’t see that.