by James Gallichio
I know what you’re thinking.
“Uh oh, they’ve started putting puns in their titles.”
Damn straight. I apologise for nothing.
Socks have a dual role in this fast-paced, cut-throat modern world. For one, they keep your feet warm and protect you from blisters, bunions and other painful podiatry b-words. Moreover, they help accentuate your shoes. The small section of sock that occasionally peeks through between the cuff of your pants and the collar of your shoe can have a marked effect on the way your shoe looks.
Allow me to demonstrate.
Exhibit A: A warm, thick, wooly sock.
Exhibit B: A thin, dress sock.
Exhibit C: A thick, white sports sock.
Each of these three has their own uses. Let’s start with the warm, thick wool sock. These are great, as they keep your feet very warm in the cold, winter months, and have a nice padding that will protect your foot. However, due to the thickness of the sock, it doesn’t look good with slim dress shoes, as the sock overflows from the cuff of the shoe. This is not a good look – it makes your nice, sleek dress shoe seem frumpy, and screams that the wearer is not a man who pays attention to detail. Instead, wear these socks with boots.
Thin dress socks are the best socks for all occasions. Despite the fact that they do not provide the same insulation as thick wool socks, they still manage to keep the foot warm while looking great with just about any shoe. In the picture to the right, I’ve paired the socks with a slim dress shoe, and the well-fitting, continuous flow from sock to shoe looks significantly better than the bunched up wooly sock. They can also be work with sneakers.
White sports socks are a bit of a monster child. These are the kinds of socks that you keep for years – that your mum bought for you ten Christmases ago, that get passed on from sock drawer to sock drawer, almost like a family heirloom. As you can see, they don’t look good with dress shoes. In fact, they don’t really look great with any shoe. At best, they can be worn with sneakers (see: here), but even then should be reserved for the gym.
Finally, a special mention goes to boots. At Harrison Fjord, we love boots. They’re the most comfortable footwear, they hug and mould to your feet and – perhaps best of all – you can wear whatever sock you want with them. See the picture to the right? I’m wearing some godawful-but-incredibly-comfortable-and-warm green and yellow wooly socks. But you would never know – this is the mystery and wonder of the boot.
When you’re spending hundreds of dollars on a great pair of shoes, there’s absolutely no sense in ruining the way they look with a poor choice in socks. You don’t have to spend $50 on Hugo Boss socks (I personally buy mine from a $2 shop) but the wrong sock choice can really tarnish your look and make you look unrefined – and unless that’s a look you’re specifically going for, we strongly suggest you stick with the classics.
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