Hot Socks

In my younger years I would normally try to match everything that I was wearing to school that day or even to work.  I did not wish to stand out, but I also wanted to be noticed by my gender counterparts.  This indeed was a difficult task as I was often the new kid on the block I would endure much ridicule from the guys while catching the glares from their particular females and then they would proceed to make numerous threats.  While I can not recall the exact exchange it would generally include me and a great deal of pain to a few appendages which wish to remain nameless.  I actually cared, perhaps too much, about my appearance, however, my fashion sense or lack thereof was shaken to the core when I arrived at college to discover from one of my trusted professors that matching socks to my shirts was a phoenominal fashion faux pa and should be avoided at all costs.

     Today, my approach to mens hosiery is entirely different.  First, one must ask, "are socks needed in this ensemble?"  As you take a look around you may have noticed a growing trend regarding wardrobe south of the belt line.  Many suited gentlemen have traded in their daily wear of clothed feet for more comfortable shoes as four seasons pass they may occasionally be spotted wearing a pair of socks.  Office or no office, socks have become optional in many professions.  For those of you wear socks are a must, I might have a couple of suggestions...if you are interested.

     Dismiss the notion that you must match your socks...to your slacks, for that despicable and unoriginal rule is long gone like yesterday's laundry.  It's time to break free from that mold and get creative.  It will feel different at first, and perhaps a little weird.  Like Garth from "Wayne's World" once said, "It's like a new pair of underwear.  At first it's constrictive, but after a while, it becomes a part of you."  You may not have to go as loud as Billy Joel's "a bright orange pair of pants" but you no longer need feel as if the sock police will ticket you for clothing your hoofs outside the proverbial lines.  Blue suit today?  Grab your green socks.  Did you lay out your dark pinstripe?  Choose a sock to compliment rather than match your tie, scarf, or shirt.

     Designs, stripes, and argyles are typically a safe bet especially when you are just breaking out of the mold.  Find a pattern with which you are comfortable and confidant, or perhaps even more important, impresses the misses, and begin fanning off from there with style and then some into various colors and styles of that pattern.  Your local fine mens clothiers will carry a wide variety of hosiery for your perusal and approval.  Take a couple of snapshots of what you have hanging in your closet and laying in your dressers to give you an idea of what you have at home as you stand in front of a wall of beautiful cotton designed to compliment your feet.  Unless you are involved in the mafia or have been commissioned as an underboss by Don Corleone, you may want to steer clear of thin see-thru hosiery as these are very suit specific and neither compliment nor harmonize with a preppy attitude.

     Finally, life is too short for your daily wear to blend badly and blandly into the background of a hum-drum existence.  With the right smile, suit, and socks ... you won't have to speak up to be noticed, your fine togs will do that for you, but then again ... that's just my humble opinion.