Women are putting tacks in their flip-flops to mimic celeb-fave brand — but critics warn money-saving trend is ‘dangerous'

New York Post

19-05-2025

These shoes are really tack-y.
It's safe to say this fashion fad is starting to stick. DIY fashionistas are setting off alarm bells by putting tacks in their flip-flops to imitate a viral celebrity couture trend, as seen in viral TikTok videos online.
The spiked sandal hack was inspired by a collaboration between Spanish fashion firm Gimaguas and Brazilian footwear brand Havaianas, in which the latter's eponymous flip-flops were studded and sent to Kylie Jenner and various celebrities, the Daily Mail reported.
The Barcelona-based label describes the footwear on their site as 'transforming our most treasured Havaianas styles using pieces from their archive, to complete our Summer Essentials.'
3 Fashion influencer Izzi Poopi creates this hot couture using thumb tacks and old Havaianas sandals.
TikTok/izzipoopi
Despite oodles of enticing pictures online, the enhanced Havaianas are not 'available for purchase.'
But that didn't stop sartorially-minded MacGyvers from replicating the star-studded phenomenon using tacks, flip-flops and a little ingenuity.
In one DIY tutorial with nearly 650,000 views, content creator Izzi Poopi demonstrates how she takes an old pair of Havaianas, which retail for $30, and sticks two rows of push pins around the edges like the footwear equivalent of a studded belt.
'These are so cool! I'm obsessed,' gushed the metallic makeover artist, who then took her newly-spangled shoes for a test run, presumably to see if they felt uncomfortable.
She said they surprisingly didn't hurt at all, but warned viewers that leaving the beach cleats out in the sun for 'several hours' could result in the wearer 'f–king' burning their feet.
3 Some skeptics warned that the hot metal could burn the wearer's feet.
sorapop – stock.adobe.com
Another viral clip shows pin-fluencer @sofiagonzalezsv recreating the fad on the dirt-cheap by studding a pair of $4.99 flip-flops from Old Navy.
Many impressed viewers lauded the sandal acupuncturists for getting their kicks, with one commenter writing, 'I love it, I think I will do the same thing with mine.'
3 Some fashionistas only studded the outer rim so the foot wouldn't contact the metal.
TikTok/sofiagonzalezsv
'I did the same!' gushed another fad-shionista. 'I am loving this trend!! On my white ones, I mixed gold and silver thumb-tacks.'
'They should have just went ahead and released them, now they gotta sue the whole country,' quipped a third.
Some skeptics deemed the hack pin-headed, as the metal could burn, pinch or come loose and give the wearer an inadvertent piercing.
'I would be so stressed for one to pop out and poke ouchhhhhh,' fretted one worrywart, while another commented, 'Looks dangerous and gorgeous.'
'I would recommend to glue the pins,' advised a third TikTok Samaritan.
'Does it look like the flip-flop is poked through if you remove them?' inquired one, to which Poopi replied, 'Yeah.'
'The metal after sitting in the sun is gonna BURN,' cautioned one, reiterating Izzi Poopi's warning about the 'hot' couture.
In order to prevent an accidental sole-scorching, some footcover artists have taken to only studding the periphery and the edge of the flip-flop so that the trotter is not in direct contact with the metal.