Wearing sandals in summertime New York City is like falling in love with the bad girl from a country music song: It feels so right, but it's oh so wrong. The stifling heat makes open footwear feel fantastic, but the amount of disgusting crud you can step into between Columbus Circle and Canarsie will make you wish you had "coverage."

Now you can have it both ways with the Nat-2 shoe, designed by Germany's K&T. The only thing between your feet and open-air freedom are a zipper, and you can buy interchangeable tops in case you don't like the metallic-spray-paint look in the photo above. Pop the tops in your bag, put some Brenda Lee on the iPod and go.

via reuben miller