how thick are your dress socks?

[T900]

Just wondering because thick socks can actually increase your shoe size by half a size. I am thinking should I buy shoes to fit thin socks or thick socks.

 

[JayJay]

I wear the same size in both dress and casual shoes, even though my dress socks are thin and my casual socks are thickish.

 

[Percy Trimmer]

I think this a very interesting question and not one that seems to have been much discussed, although, as ever, Bengal-Stripe has some valuable comments in the thread 'Sock-fit . . .' below.

Not being able to afford bepoke shoes, I have to accept the much discussed sizing vagaries of the manufacturers. I usually take a UK9.5 but with, for example, C and J on the 337 Last I (sometimes) need a 9, and with the narrower EGs a 10. And then my left foot is a half (or maybe a quarter) size smaller than my right.

Anyway, one shoe is often slipping a bit of action is called for. The insole seems the obvious move but experience shows a thicker sock is better at achieving the extra half (or quarter) size. One solution is to wear an extra thin sock inside the displayed hose. With EG on the 202 Last I have found it is simply more comfortable to buy a size 10 and wear thicker socks (it suits the style better anyway). As B-S says the thing to do is just wear the relevant socks when you are trying on the shoes.

All this seems pretty obvious, but it took me a while to learn that I needed socks of different thicknesses for the various clogs in my collection.

 

[Percy Trimmer]

Incidentally, tongue pads, another useful way of improving the fit of slipping shoes, and apparently readily avavilable in the US, are - so far as I can see - unknown and unavailable in this country (the UK).

 

[kabert]

I try to buy boots and cordovan shoes that are slightly larger to ensure they can fit well with the medium-thick OTC socks I like to wear in the colder months. A few years ago, I foolishly bought a pair of EG Halifax boots that fit great with thin summer socks but can't be worn without pain with wool winter socks (such as Dore Dore argyles), even though I'd never wear the boots in the warmer months of the year.

 

[presence]

Thicker socks are always more comfortable. Always!

 

[Holdfast]

Originally Posted by Percy Trimmer

Incidentally, tongue pads, another useful way of improving the fit of slipping shoes, and apparently readily avavilable in the US, are - so far as I can see - unknown and unavailable in this country (the UK).

Strange, isn't it? I've also found insoles and heel pads, but never tongue pads.

Like bengal stripe, I have a selection of different thickness socks to deal with very minor fit variations between lasts.

 

[adambparker]

Originally Posted by Holdfast

Like bengal stripe, I have a selection of different thickness socks to deal with very minor fit variations between lasts.

+1

I also have a bunch of thick socks for kicking around the house in the colder months. No slippers for me.

 

[a tailor]

i like gold toe sox. wool/nylon mix, wear em all year around.

 

[fritzl]

Originally Posted by Holdfast

Strange, isn't it? I've also found insoles and heel pads, but never tongue pads.

IMO, insoles are most effective. At least for people with a high instep, like me.

Never understood the concept of heel pads, anyway.

+1 on the variations of thickness. Either your shoes are bespoke or not, period.

 

[Tarmac]

Yes insoles are better, no matter how cheap they are.

Personally I think men should wear thicker dress socks. They are far more comfortable. But comfort be damned, thin is the tradition, and that's what I normally wear too.

 

[adambparker]

I am also totally in favor of thicker dress socks. Not that I have any vested interest in the matter...

 

[Musketer]

Thinner socks are more comfortable.

 

[Golf_Nerd]

Originally Posted by Musketer

Thinner socks are more comfortable.

+1

 

[MetroStyles]

Thinner socks are better for me as my feet tend to get hot easily. Allows for more breathing.