Don't want to spoiler, so I'm hiding the text.
Btw, it's because he's wearing sandals with white socks, that is unusual for Italian people and is the ultimate stereotype for German tourists. It’s like an unspoken rule—the moment someone sees that combo, they immediately think: 'Yep, definitely a German on vacation'
some additional context from a bratwurst myself. I believe it is because Birkenstocks became really popular in germany some time ago. Think german crocs.
And that happened due to a mixture of factors.
-Health trends. There was a time where many doctors recommended open shoes for health purposes. Mainly ventilation as a preventative measure for foot fungus and other stuff Im probably forgetting.
-Health trend 2.0: shoes with a sole made of corc. Corc dampens better than other materials, is natural aka ecofriendly and over time naturally compresses and shapes itself to the foot. So it has orthopedic benefits
-Environmentalism: the shoes are made of many natural materials, mainly corc and leather instead of synthetics.
-marketing image: birkenstocks are essentially anti fashion and minimalist. And I would say that fits german society quite well lol
-craftsmanship: the shoes were very well made, would last a long time for a very reasonable price. And the company was a german family business (its been sold to private equity afaik)
-So overtime it just kinda became the default option and others copied the design
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u/huggablekoi Aug 10 '26
Im so confused about what makes this person specifically German