Socks appeal
AS UNDERWEAR, socks get little attention. If there is a new underwear fashion show (as there have been before) either with male or female models, much of the attention is likely to focus on the upper parts of the body, above the knee. Socks as footwear may be disregarded altogether.
Socks need to make a comeback to save the hosiery business. Are they becoming passé? Do even old people wear socks when they go to the mall? Not always. Many are willing to expose their yellowing toenails wearing slippers. They haven’t gotten barefoot yet, unless riding horizontally inside an ambulance.
Are socks as underwear on the wane? One observes a spreading number of mavericks who affect the bare look and dare to cross their legs, whether with one tibia resting on the opposite knee in the figure “4” or ankles together in repose forming a lazy “X.” These cavalier types hitch up the pant cuffs to show hairy shins openly displaying a contempt for socks, and those who bother to wear them. (Move to the next table if this bothers you.)
What we now know as socks derive from medieval hosiery or tights. This form of clothing covers everything tightly from the waist down to the toes and was considered proper attire for males. In contemporary attire, tights on males are only worn by male ballet dancers like the late Rudolf Nureyev on stage. Female ballerinas wear tights with a tutu at the waist.
There is also a theatrical version of male tights. The clingy second skin is used by Tybalt and Mercutio (feuding as Montagues and Capulets) in the street brawl scene in Romeo and Juliet. The costume stretches from the foot to the waist and upwards to the shoulders in straps. The all too elastic leotard can highlight too prominently certain body parts associated with bigger-than-life statues of males adorning city fountains. The fig leaf, sometimes attached much later, is a case of artistic freedom surrendering to modesty.
The medieval hosiery beloved by knights and court jesters (these have little bells attached to the toes) travels to the 21st century in the truncated version that we have today. How did tights end up in two parts — the briefs or boxer shorts just below the waist, and then a gap of many centimeters… to the ankle and feet clad in what are now our modern socks? What happened to the middle? Well, that’s another story.
Fashion consultants seldom get asked about this foot and ankle garment made of cotton, wool, or silk. But it’s good to be prepared.
Should the color of socks match pants or shirt? This is a matter of preference. The conservative dresser tends to match socks with pants and shoes, maybe even having a drawer full of black or dark blue socks, whatever the hues of pants or shirts.
What about loud-colored socks that shriek for attention? (Magenta is a sign of nonchalance.) Certainly, there are socks bought on their own without needing to match anything. Seasonal socks for Christmas can have Santa or white snowflakes against a red background. There are Valentine socks too with little hearts.
Can you wear socks with sandals? Monks and friars go sockless when sandaled. Open footwear is designed to show naked feet. (The spirit of poverty declares that beggars don’t wear socks, or flip-flops for that matter.) A sockless option seldom works sartorially for males. But we are all for naked feet for women below 35 who have regular pedicures. Female fashion and foot fetishes are matters we leave to more expert hands.
Who really lies awake at night wondering what socks to wear for tomorrow? Ties may cause such anxieties, but not socks. (Ties too are vanishing — that’s another topic.) Socks are low maintenance as they can be worn even if they have holes in them, preferably at the tips. But what about when dressing up to go to a traditional Japanese restaurant in Kyoto that serves pickled cucumbers? Think about it. You are going to be asked to remove your shoes.
Maybe, socks have dropped out of the radar of the fashion police. Can socks have other uses? When a loathsome bully is conducting a legislative inquiry, one is tempted to ask him to “put a sock in it.” It is one use for this footwear that gives it… socks appeal.
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
