These are the Solomei Ad MCCCXCI picks worth your time, chosen on construction rather than on how often they appear online. A strap across the widest part of the foot is what stops slipping, not a tighter buckle. A moulded footbed takes about a week to break in and then lasts years. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is strap placement, footbed and heel height. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: lspace.com's TKEES Aqua Sandals - Tan at $55, and Faherty's Faherty X REEF Ojai Slim Flip Flop - Dark Brown at $85. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. A strap across the widest part of the foot is what stops slipping, not a tighter buckle. A moulded footbed takes about a week to break in and then lasts years. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

A flat sandal reads dressier with a longer hem. From the second group, retrofete.com's Perla Sandal ($498) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller, and it is there for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 pieces here from 13 brands, $45 to $800, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. ALDO Shoes's Chicsneaker at $45 is the low-risk way in, and Norma Kamali's R13 HIGH MOTO BOOTS at $800 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. Read as a set, they get you close to Solomei Ad MCCCXCI without any single purchase being compulsory. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: if you would not buy it at full price, you do not want it on sale.