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Socks With Sandals: Are They Ever Okay?
Betty or Veronica? Jordan or LeBron? Is a hot dog a sandwich? Is the Dave Matthews Band good? These are some of the great debates of modern life. There is one more burning question discussed from the halls of power to the local pub: “Is it ever ok to wear socks with sandals?” For many years, this has generally been considered a fashion faux pas. Wearing these two types of footwear in combination was usually seen as a sign that you were out of touch with the world of style and trends or that you had just flat given up on any attempt at style. However, there have been recent signs indicating that wearing socks and sandals together might either be coming into style or, at least, that it is not as frowned upon as it once was. So, should you go to your sock drawer, pull out your best pair of argyle socks and then slip on your Tevas or your Birkenstocks? The answer is a little complicated. Before we reach a verdict on the burning issue of whether socks and sandals are now OK, we will dig into the history of socks and sandals and make the case both for and against this bold fashion choice. The History of Socks and Sandals The history of wearing socks and sandals together is not as negative as you might think. People have been wearing socks and sandals together since ancient Egyptian and Roman times. In modern times, it is not only acceptable but encouraged in places such as India and China. In these places, where sandals are more acceptable in professional settings, the socks and sandals combination is actually encouraged. In Germany and a few other spots in Central and Eastern Europe, it is popular to wear these two footwear items in conjunction. Overall, outside of North America and some parts of Western Europe, no one would look twice at someone wearing socks and sandals. In some situations, it might cause offense if someone is not combining the two. In places where socks and sandals are despised, no one is entirely sure who initially decided against this look or why. What we do know is that sometime in the mid 20th century it was decided by Western fashion culture that this look was a big “no-no”. Socks and sandals became a punchline. In popular culture, this look became shorthand for foreign tourists, dads who were decidedly uncool, and old folks who no longer gave a ----. This idea remained in place in our collective consciousness for a good half a century until attitudes started to change in the 2010s. In 2020, you can now at least make a case for both sides of this polarizing issue. The Case Against Socks with Sandals First, we will layout the traditional case for why you should never wear socks with sandals. We will discuss a few reasons here but if you talk about this issue with a true socks and sandals hater, you would be given many, many more. It looks weird One reason to not wear socks and sandals is simple and straightforward. It just looks weird. From a fashion perspective, sandals are designed to look good on your bare feet. When you wear socks it throws off the whole aesthetic. The “weirdness factor” of socks and sandals works on a sliding scale of how outlandish are your socks. White socks and sandals look a little weird and black socks and sandals look a little weirder than that. Once you start getting into purple socks or green socks, it starts to get really weird. For those who either accidentally or on purpose want to crank the weird factor up to 11, patterned or striped socks will do just that. It kind of defeats the purpose If you just love covering your feet by wearing comfortable socks – which is totally understandable – there is really no reason to not wear shoes on top of them. On the flip side, most people believe that the whole point of sandals is to air your puppies out! It defeats the purpose of both socks and sandals to wear them together. Especially on the sandal side, you are going against everything sandals stand for when you wear socks with them. A sandal’s whole purpose in life is to not constrict and inhibit your feet. Sandals give your feet air and keep them cool on a hot day. They also serve to show off good looking or well-pedicured feet. Socks and sandals negate all these benefits of sandals. People hate it Maybe the biggest reason to not wear socks and sandals is that it inspires very strong feelings in many people. To put it more bluntly, many people absolutely hate this look. They think it looks “stupid”, “rube-ish”, or “juvenile”. The people who hate this look are usually not shy about sharing their opinions, so you wear this look at your own risk. If you can’t handle the heat, you don’t want to wear socks with sandals. In 2015, the subreddit r/AskWomen asked the question, what's the worst fashion mistake a guy could make? There were many responses including statements such as black belts with brown shoes, double denim (aka the Canadian Tuxedo), shirts with dragons, and UGG boots. None of these mortal fashion sins were deemed the worst though. The runaway winner? You guessed it, socks with sandals. The Case for Socks and Sandals All the above being said, there is now a growing case many are making for socks and sandals more acceptable. Some people even advocate that it is more than just acceptable. In 2020, people will tell you it is actually fashionable to rock this polarizing look. Here is the case in favor of socks and sandals. Celebs are starting to rock it Like most fashion trends, celebrities are usually the first to embrace these new fads. Lately, there have been several famous people photographed wearing this once despised look. In 2014, Adidas realized that many professional athletes like to wear socks with their Adidas sandals. Because of this, they started the #socknslides campaign This campaign captured photos of athletes rocking this look including most of the NFL’s New York Giants. There are a few celebrities who have not only embraced the trend but made it a part of their signature look. The two most prominent of these are David Beckham and Justin Bieber. Beckham, who is now more of a model and professional celebrity, comes from the pro athlete world so this is not that unexpected. Bieber is a little more surprising but he does have a well-known love of pro sports and athletes. So, it is not all that crazy that he is often photographed out with his wife wearing socks and sandals, too. Confidence and intentionality Fashion often reflects who you are and how you feel. Making a bold sartorial choice shows that you are a confident person who is willing to challenge convention for something you like or think looks good. Wearing socks and sandals is a bold choice. This look takes some real confidence and intentionality to pull off. If you walk the streets with this look with 100% confidence, it will make other people stand up and take notice. Even the biggest socks and sandals haters will at least have to offer begrudging respect to those who make this statement with authority. Basically … try it at your own risk To sum up the case for socks and sandals the best thing to say is, “why not?”. This is the whole point of fashion. Rules were meant to be broken and if you think that socks and sandals feel comfortable or look cool, fashion convention be damned! Just remember, flaunting convention can also garner backlash and you should only do this if you are strong enough and bold enough to truly pull it off. Of course, where you do it is important, too. After a workout or at a hip summer party, you can take a fashion risk and try out this trend. However, it is definitely not mainstream enough yet to give socks as a groomsmen gift for a beach wedding where sandals will be worn. So Just Tell Me, Should I Wear Socks with Sandals? There it is. The history of socks and sandals as well as the case for and against. What you really want to know though is, should you do it? Is it advisable to take the leap and go full socks and sandals in this day and age? Well, we are here not only to give you the information but to also render a verdict. Basically, for 99 percent of the population, this is still going to be a hard ‘no’. You are better off wearing socks as they were intended, with real shoes, and sandals as they were intended, with bare feet. This is the safer way to go but it is by no means uninspiring. You can always find great, fashionable sandals to wear with bare feet and cool, stylish socks to perfectly compliment any outfit with shoes. This has been the fashionable path decade after decade and it will never go out of style. For the 1% of guys who truly believe they can pull this off, though, go for it! If you have the model-like good looks and confidence of Beckham and “The Biebs” and you want to make a statement that will turn heads, wearing socks and sandals is a very good way to do it. They say that fortune favors the bold and, even in 2020, there is no bolder look than the once dreaded socks and sandals get up. Conclusion Some of life’s great debates have definitive answers – Veronica, Michael Jordan, a hot dog is absolutely NOT a sandwich, and Dave Matthews is frickin’ awesome – while there are others that have a little more gray area. The socks and sandals debate falls into the latter category. Sure, for years this was a major fashion faux pas but no one really knows why. On the other hand, while it is definitely more socially acceptable now, the socks and sandals look is still something frowned upon by most and pulled off successfully by a very small few. If you do decide to take a shot at wearing these two things together, here are a few last pieces of advice. Make sure you have great looking socks. No holes or saggy pairs! Only use this combination with sandals that are not thong-style sandals. Otherwise, this can be very uncomfortable. And finally, always check the forecast first. The last thing you want to do is get caught in a rainstorm wearing socks and sandals because as we all know, there is nothing worse than wet socks!
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Learn moreA Brief History of the Invention of Socks
Socks! When did people start wearing them? A long time ago, it turns out. History shows that what we may jokingly call “foot bags” have been around a lot longer than the internet, television, radio, the automobile and a whole lot of other things we take for granted these days. In a few minutes, you will learn a lot more about the history of socks than you ever imagined possible. And we’ll do our best to keep it interesting, as buried somewhere in here is a history lesson and we all know how much fun history can be. Even about socks. The Earliest Attempts at “Socks” People were attempting sock-like foot coverings made from plant matter as early as the Stone Ages. About the year 5000 BC, cavemen were wearing what we now call socks but they would not be recognized as anything other than something to protect the feet and to keep them warm. We only know this thanks to cave paintings that show some kind of clothing worn on feet.Of course, they didn’t order their socks from trendy online boutiques! They had to get down and dirty and make their own from natural resources. Because there are no specimens left from that era, scientists and archeologists have speculated that the sock-like clothing worn “back in the day” was more organic in composition. That means they were very likely made from animal skins, pelts and plant life tied around the ankle for support. It is not known what kind of shelf life these items had. They would have kept the feet drier and safer--less prone to cuts and infections--but at the same time, will have delivered their own share of problems such as encouraging mites, slipping and holding onto wetness. It’s now recognized and widely accepted that a damp or wet fabric against the skin encourages and stimulates bacterial and fungal growth, so nowadays, soggy socks are a big health concern, and many superior socks include synthetic materials such as polyamide--as seen in this fine black pair--to help wick moisture from the feet. While polyamide has low breathability, combined with natural cotton, it’s the perfect mix that also allows great stretch and cling--thus, high quality modern socks stay up on their own, unlike those raggedy first attempts tied with plant sinews. It was a few thousand years later when socks were first mentioned by the Greeks. Poet Hesiod wrote about something called “piloi” in the poem “Works and Days” in the 8th Century BC. Piloi was a type of foot covering made from matted animal hair and was worn under sandals. That sounds horrendously unsanitary and itchy compared to today’s super-soft and sumptuous socks, and almost certainly these did not come in luscious lemon yellow and polka-dotted pinks!The Romans took the ancient Greek “piloi” concept a step further with a rather extreme makeover somewhat later. It was around the 2nd Century AD when the Romans were habitually wrapping their feet in strips of leather or woven fabric. They soon started sewing different pieces of fabric together, fashioning the first actual fitted socks, although they still would have needed some form of tie to keep them in place, unlike the modern sock that has a clingy cuff. Modern socks may include Spandex, a very fine and extremely versatile super-stretch elastic. The better the quality of sock, the more likely you are to find some element of Spandex in its manufacture.Special occasion socks as suggested here--with bespoke labeling--would typically comprise something like a 5% Spandex alongside natural cotton and synthetic polyamide, a suitable blend for a more upmarket sock. The unique blend of these on-trend socks delivers the freshness of soft cotton alongside great temperature control, moisture wicking and fine esthetics--a far cry from their scratchy beginnings.The ancient civilizations had nothing like this modern-day manufacturing capability, of course; the Romans’ attempts at socks were known at the time as “udones”, and they were the first sock-like item to resemble what we wear nowadays. Woolen socks also date back to the Romans. The Egyptians Get It Right You’ve got to hand it to the Egyptians. In our history of socks, they come out looking like winners. It was back in 300 – 500 AD when the first actual knit socks were being made in Ancient Egypt. The design was unique in that each sock had split toes--like a pig’s trotter!--which permitted them to be worn with sandals. The technique used to create these socks was called naalbinding. The socks shown in the above-linked image show how sophisticated the Ancient Egyptians were at weaving techniques and dyeing. The fine shape of the upper foot is also evident, with the bridge of the foot well accommodated in this design. Breeches, Garters, and Other Fashions It was in the Middle Ages when the history of socks hit warp (and weft!) speed. It was during this time when trousers were extended and socks became a vital accessory, sported by everyone. Clothing was beginning to differentiate people by their social status, far more than nowadays where anyone can get away with wearing an awesome pair of Argyles or some sassy, grassy, green-striped socks. Socks of the Middle Ages were made of brightly-colored cloth that fit tightly over the lower part of the leg. Garters were required to hold them in place as elastic hadn’t been invented yet. When breeches started to get shorter, socks got longer--simply to counter the cold. Although not yet a fashion accessory, it was in the Middle Ages that dyes really became de rigeur, so socks were starting to be brighter as a matter of course. It was at about the year 1000 when knit and woven socks became accepted as luxury items and being developed as such in Europe. As an example, socks were a status symbol for nobility throughout Europe as they were quite expensive to purchase. These were worn high and more like leggings in appearance. “Feet” were not added to them until the 12th century. Due to the price and limited access to socks, the European working class started knitting their own version of these clothing items. In the 15th century, French and Italian aristocrats were becoming the leaders with fine hand-knit silk stockings. Men discovered that these tight-fitting garments that resemble today’s leggings permitted ease of movement and emphasized shapely legs. And yes, men were the primary wearers. It wasn’t long before British aristocrats jumped on board and adopted knitted silk stockings. By the year 1490, breeches and hand-knitted hosiery were made into a single garment which we now know as tights. No one was ashamed to show off their tights-clad legs in public; they were more of an outerwear item than nowadays. At this time in our history of socks, they were made of colorful silk, velvet, and wool and each leg was a different color! Perhaps this partially explains why we love our special-edition patterned socks--which interweave different-colored threads harmoniously--so much. The heritage of the Argyle sock also harks back to Scottish tartans, not only designed to keep the wearer warm but also to speak volumes about a man’s ancestry. A new tartan sock could be created to mix threads marking the marriage of one family with another, or the conquering of territoryBy the 16th Century, hosiery was regulated. Technological Innovation: A Game-Changer Laws in the 1500s were in place to ensure that no one wore the wrong kind of socks in London, England--yes, they really had the sock police! In those days, you couldn’t get away with wearing bright orange or sunflower yellow socks or a nifty pair of spotty dots! You’d invariably have been locked up--for real! In 1589, an English clergyman named William Lee helped push the history of socks much further down the evolutionary line. That was when the first knitting machine was invented. The patent wasn’t immediately granted as Queen Elizabeth I had issues with the product. According to history books, Lee’s machine made wool stockings that were uncomfortable for Her Royal Highness. She also didn’t like the idea that the machine could potentially take jobs away from those who had been hand-knitting stockings before Lee had created the machine. So she nixed it--but financial support came to Lee from a very different source and location. It was King Henry IV of France who saw what kind of opportunity Lee’s machine presented and the inventor moved to France to open a factory to produce stockings. The knitting loom led to more factories across Europe and saw socks made of wool for the working class and socks made of colored silk for noblemen. You could say the product was now spreading like wildfire, and this marked the beginning of (rudimentary) automated sock manufacturing that would quickly lead to the enormous variety of patterns and colors we have today. Sock fashion continued to evolve over the next few years. Not only were lengths changing – from mid-calf to knee and eventually up to mid-thigh – but more colors were coming into fashion. Rather than having the tops of the stocking embroidered, decorations, stripes and all kinds of new looks became the norm. Then in the 17th-century, cotton was used for socks. The abundance of this natural material allowed every style of sock and every shade, from the naturals like white, black and beige, through bright colors and deep reds and burgundies. Enter the Industrial Revolution. This was when progress of all kinds took a major leap. The production of socks was now happening with ease thanks to circular looms. Many hand-knit workers were replaced by machinery that could churn out socks at a much faster rate than the workers could. It also brought wider access to socks of all kinds. At this time in the history of socks, trousers once again got longer and socks got shorter--and what had formerly been known as a stocking was now being called a sock. But the evolution of this garment did not stop there. In 1938, the invention of nylon introduced a whole new element to many clothing items. A nylon-cotton blend was what the new socks of the day were made out of. These material blends pushed the manufacturing of these products further into the future. The addition of elastane, or elastic, ended up changing the future of socks once again to where they could be comfortably worn without the need of garters. It also meant that with the right blend of materials, different-sized feet could fit standard-sized socks straight from the factory, as with this pair that fits sizes 8 - 13. Socks in The Modern Era Socks of today are not all that different from those of a hundred years ago or so. Well, aside from comfort and style. Socks come in so many different styles and colors that you can easily find the right match for any outfit or occasion. Some styles have even come back as trendy throwbacks from decades ago. An example of this is that the Argyles popular in the 1920s that are again fashionable. Here is a short review of the many different styles of socks available today. No-Show Socks These are thin and also called a sockette or loafer sock. It is a short sock that fits snugly on your foot but reaches up only to just below the edge of the shoes. The idea is to create a clean look but without you having to wear your loafers barefoot. Ankle-Length Socks Also known as low-rise socks, these socks will cover your feet but will reach up just to your ankles. The hemline should hit the middle of the ankle bone and these socks are designed to be worn with Oxfords and sometimes sneakers. Quarter-Length Socks These socks are somewhat longer than ankle-length socks. They will cover your feet and reach up to just below your calf. Quarter-length socks are a good, comfortable choice to wear with business suits and for any type of formal event or activity. Crew-Length Socks These are thick and ribbed at the cuff. They will cover your feet and have a height that is between six and eight inches. Crew length socks will keep your feet warm and can be worn with various shoes, but are particularly comfortable when worn with hiking boots for outdoor activities. Mid-Calf Socks These socks cover your feet and will reach to just a few inches below the knee. They are also known as tall socks or trouser socks and come in many patterns for both men and women. Designed to keep your feet warm, these socks can be worn with various types of shoes. Calf-Length/Knee-High Socks Calf length socks cover your feet and reach up to just below the knee. They are the choice of sports enthusiasts as the length can protect the lower leg from any harm. Women wear these socks usually in the cooler months underneath winter or fur boots that are tall and cover the ankle and calf.These also make the perfect smart groomsmen’s socks when a kilt is worn, or for formal wear, and these are often available in great boxes and with bespoke labeling if you buy from an upmarket retailer. Thigh-High Socks These are another type of sock that is mostly aimed at the female market. Women choose thigh-high socks as they have seductive undertones while also being super warm for winter--ideal for long boots. They are typically worn with skirts and dresses. Conclusion The history of socks is quite an interesting one, isn’t it? Who knew that something created by wearing animal skins or pelts and plant life would end up filling our sock drawers at home? Thanks to the invention of the knitting machine, nylon and elastic, socks have evolved into a comfortable everyday piece of clothing we don’t normally think about until we need a matching pair to go with our outfit. And when you think about it, it is rather cool how socks came into being after becoming stockings and leggings over time. Thankfully, socks are no longer considered something that only the rich can afford. If you need a pair, you can find them just about anywhere including online! Talk about progress and the march of time...
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