Surprise Find @ Target- Fun, comfy, mid-calf socks (almost OTC). Crazy Cheap!

As many of you know, I'm almost as fanatic about my sock collection as I am about my sport shirt collection (400+ pairs of socks....700+ shirts). All of my socks are patterned...aka "fun" (To the best of my recolection I do not own even a single pair of solid black or solid navy socks). Most of the socks that I've acquired over the years have been of the $35+ variety...Pantherella, Paul Smith, Duchamp, Versace (made by Bresciani)...to name a few...with Missoni as my run away, all-tme favorite brand of socks (over 150 pairs). Since joining the SF a couple of years ago I've added a couple of favorite, "go-to" brands of socks to my collection.....V.K. Nagrani (over 70 pairs at last count...I had already started to buy them before joining here) and Robert Talbott (about 2 dozen pairs). But then a few days ago I discovered another group of socks to add to my short list of favorites. And to my very great surprise, I found these socks at Target of all places! One night last week I stopped by one of the nearby Targets to pick-up a few essentials (Ibuprofen, Sudafed, etc). When I was done with my shopping it was about 10:45 pm...almost closing time....and too late to go anywhere else (this particular Target is one of a few in the Baltimore area that now stays open until 11:00pm). So just for the hell of it, with the time remaining, I decided to stroll over to the mens dept and have a look around. Although Target's mens department is obviously going after a much younger demographic, I'm still quite young at heart (or so I think), and I enjoy poking around the store from time-to-time, if only to see what they're showing lately. And this night my curiosity paid off...bigtime. Right there in front of me was an entire endcap that had been totally filled with rows and rows of fun, colorful socks! After I got over the shock of seeing mens socks with such color and patterns at a Target, I moved in for a closer look. The colors were indeed great...and the patterns were lively, without being overdone. These were socks after my own heart! I was dubious at first...especially because of the price...only $2.50/pair! And that's the regular price, not a sale price! For just 2 1/2 bucks I figured "what the hell...I'll try a couple of pairs." Three days later, after both pairs of socks had been worn and washed* and then re-examined,.....I couldn't wait to get back to the store for more! *Note- My socks, underwear, and T-shirts are always washed in cold water, gentle cycle...and then line-dried! I've got socks and underwear that are over 15 years old and still "in service." Always remember...when it comes to your nice things...the dryer is your enemy! The socks are very comfortable. Although not quite as long as my Nagrani's (most of which are OTC's), like the Nagrani's, when you put them on you'll find that these socks are deceptively longer than they appear (FYI-I wear size 9 shoes (US) and I'm 5'8"). These socks are not as thick as Nagrani's, and they don't have as much opacity, but at that price I wasn't expecting them to go "toe-to-toe" with $35+ socks (sorry...couldn't resist). Nevertheless they are still thick enough to provide the sort of comfort I expect and prefer from my socks. I'm certain that much of the comfort is due to the amount of polyester and spandex that have been added to the 64% cotton content. Although it helps make the socks feel good on the feet, this will also, more-than-likely cut down on the life expectancy of the socks. But again, at $2.50 a pair...who gives a ****!!! (I made a point of buying duplicates of my favorite patterns). While these are not going to replace any of my "better" socks... they are certainly going to be a fun, new addition to my collection. Can't wait to pair them up with my sport shirts! Dennis Check 'em out... Gotta love the dragnfly and the fish patterns. The skull and crossbones may be a bit passe'...but it still works for socks (BTW- That one pair is grey and lavender) In case anyone's wondering about the boots... They are by Gordon Rush....I picked them up last year at the Rack. Although they are not exactly the finest in my (sizeable) boot collection.....much like the new, Target socks...these boots are extremely comfortable...and they were crazy cheap!

Veddy veddy nice!

Sock Appreciation! Who knew?

Thanks for the info. I'll go to Target tomorrow and grab myself a bunch! I love "fun" socks myke

These are nice. I like going to stores and finding stuff like this.

Nice! That's my kind of price.

Wow those are pretty sweet, I am going scoop a couple pairs.

Do they have anything else rather than 65% cotton?

For me the cheap price was a bonus. If I had seen these at Neiman Marcus for ten times the price, I'm sure that I still would have jumped on them. Although I doubt that I would have bought 20 pairs (I only showed about 15 pairs in those pics...the 5 pairs I didn't show were either already worn, or duplicates). I have paid much more for socks that are not nearly as nice as these.*

FYI- If you're thinking of buying some of these socks I strongly advise that you get to your nearby Target store ASAP. Apparently I wasn't the only customer to realize that these were a terrific buy. Target just put these out last Tuesday and when I stopped in earlier today there were only a handful of patterns left...and they were low on those. So I decided to check out another store...and I found a similar situation. However...when I went to a third store (we have quite a few in the area...all relatively close-bye), they had a better selection. I guess it depends on when the stoe put them out (all of the stores had the socks displayed the same way... on endcaps).

Good luck...

D-

*Socks by Duchamp is the example that always comes to mind. Their socks look great, but they're not at all comfortable. Pretty much every pair I bought had a tendency to droop down around my ankles within hours of putting them on.... And they laundered terribly! Unacceptable...especially for $35/pair. I bought 9 pairs, every pattern they had. And in the end I returned every pair...worn once...to Nordstrom, for a full refund!

Nordstrom recently brought in a few pairs by Remo Tulliani. Even more beautiful than the Duchamps...and at the same price point. They look like they could have come out of the same factory as the Duchamps...but the Tulliani's launder nicely and offer a much better fit (It's a shame that they're ankle socks, and not mid-calf or OTC's....I would have bought up all they had).

Do they have anything else rather than 65% cotton?

Click to expand...

That's all they have...of this group (they carry other socks...but nothing that I found interesting). Trust me...When I purchased those first couple of pairs, the fabric content was my main concern.

But I've now worn several pair...I even wore one pair to bed (it was a rather chilly night)...and I can say with confidence that they feel like they "breathe" just fine. The little bit of spandex is apparent...but if I hadn't known about the poly content I probably would have assumed that these were mostly cotton. Fabric technology has come a very long way since the old days, when I wouldn't have been caught dead in anything but all natural fabrics.

You say they're almost OTC... are they long enough to say up through a day of wear or do they fall down?

If they were 100% OTC I'd be all over them. But I'm not sure about "almost OTC"...

Right now I'm wearing the pair that I had on when I shot that "self-portrait" photo. It's now about 1:45 am and I've had these on since I got dressed Sunday morning, around 10:30am. As you can see in the photo, these are actually sitting right near the top of my calf (that's why I offered my measurements). If they were a "regulation" OTC the top of the socks would probably sit just slightly under the inside of my knee.

I truly dislike socks that won't stay up. At the end of the day, if a new pair of socks slips even as much as a 1/4"...chances are I'll never wear them again. That's one of the reasons why I'm so enthusiastic about these.

D-

I went to the local Target today when I woke up and snagged quite a few: Thanks for the info! I would never have thought to check out Target for cool fun socks! I'm going to the store by my job later tonight and see if there are any other patterns/designs I missed. I really like those skull and crossbones myke

Is this a Target brand?

Originally Posted by Philip1978

Click to expand...

Is this a Target brand?
Yes. And unlike most Target stuff, they may actually last through one wash.

Originally Posted by Philip1978

Click to expand...

Is this a Target brand?

Merona is the Target house brand, yes.