S&D socks, anyone?

[TrailofTears]

With what are people wearing there multi-colored socks? I'm hoping there will be more of a discussion about what is fashionable (maybe the wrong word) and what is taboo? I mean, almost everyone on here seems to promote the same basic shoes (black and white sneaks) with a pair of raw denim, but what socks are you wearing with what?

White sneaks?
Black sneaks?
Brown leather?
Boots?
Other?

Why is it that hardly anyone has any advice or examples to offer on this subject? In the meantime, thank you to those of you who have replied.

 

[CharlieAngel]

They're f'ing socks. Seriously, if I can see your socks, chances are you're doing it wrong.

I match my socks to my shoes, although others match to the pants.

With my black or black based shoes (most), I wear black athletic socks because I'm a heathen and pretty much only wear Chuck Taylors, Jack Purcells, and other sneakers. With my khaki/tan chucks, I wear my khaki socks. With my brown shoes, I wear my brown socks. I only wear jeans, with the exception of my brown Levi's 514 cords.

While I admire the snappy dress guys, I have no desire to ever wear a suit and rarely do I find the desire to wear "proper footwear". I have a pair of "dressy" chelseas, and I wear my black socks with those, as well. One of the things that influences my decision is the fact that I walk between 6-10 miles a day and am one of the few guys not afraid to boogie on the dance floor (I'm not talking salsa, swing, or whatever, but Electro, EBM, etc.. Not good for proper shoes, but great for stompy boots and sneakers). I dress to sweat.

 

[TrailofTears]

Originally Posted by CharlieAngel

They're f'ing socks. Seriously, if I can see your socks, chances are you're doing it wrong.

I match my socks to my shoes, although others match to the pants.

With my black or black based shoes (most), I wear black athletic socks because I'm a heathen and pretty much only wear Chuck Taylors, Jack Purcells, and other sneakers. With my khaki/tan chucks, I wear my khaki socks. With my brown shoes, I wear my brown socks. I only wear jeans, with the exception of my brown Levi's 514 cords.

While I admire the snappy dress guys, I have no desire to ever wear a suit and rarely do I find the desire to wear "proper footwear". I have a pair of "dressy" chelseas, and I wear my black socks with those, as well. One of the things that influences my decision is the fact that I walk between 6-10 miles a day and am one of the few guys not afraid to boogie on the dance floor (I'm not talking salsa, swing, or whatever, but Electro, EBM, etc.. Not good for proper shoes, but great for stompy boots and sneakers). I dress to sweat.

While they are just "f'ing socks", they make up a portion of an outfit and deserve attention. I'm here on a style forum asking for style suggestions and I don't think it is out of place or out of order. Furthermore, I don't think that if you see someone's socks, they're doing it wrong. Not everyone rocks jeans with enough stacking to cover your socks if you are sitting or have your legs crossed.

While I can appreciate your simplicity in this regard (as well as your taste for gold toes), there are plenty of people who wear more than just black, white, and brown socks, and I'm hoping to learn a little about what is the best way to do it, if such a thing exists. And while I envy your ability to never have to wear a suit (oh how I envy that), I don't think that is the case for many people on SF. Regardless, I am asking in the S&D forum because I want to know about casual wear and socks. People around here flip out about the littlest details in an outfit (riri zippers, pocket squares, red tab vs. stitching on japanese denim, etc.) and socks are, IMO, no less important.

On that note, thank you for your responses. It is appreciated.

 

[Johnny Amiga]

It's not exactly science. Colourful socks just look good with most clothes, I don't know if there's any particular "way" of wearing them, any more than with any other item of clothing.

 

[Stazy]

Wear brightly colored socks with darker fits. /thread.

Although you can't see them, I'm wearing some lime colored socks. They match my shirt and the rest of my fit is dark. This sort of combination works well imo.

 

[blank]

Uniqlo -- tons of patterns and they are very comfortable. Got red snowflakes on today. I've also adopted their boxer briefs, and those are really nice too.

 

[JO3B]

They're f'ing socks. Seriously, if I can see your socks, chances are you're doing it wrong.

i'm not.

 

[CharlieAngel]

Originally Posted by TrailofTears

While they are just "f'ing socks", they make up a portion of an outfit and deserve attention. I'm here on a style forum asking for style suggestions and I don't think it is out of place or out of order. Furthermore, I don't think that if you see someone's socks, they're doing it wrong. Not everyone rocks jeans with enough stacking to cover your socks if you are sitting or have your legs crossed.

Please don't get me wrong, I wasn't deriding you or your question. In my personal experience, it's almost like asking what color underwear you should wear and the answer is, usually, why am I looking at your underwear? I'm sure there's others, but I've just never been one to try and express my individuality with my socks. My only rules are "Will my socks attract attention if they are seen? If so, do they at least match my shoes (or pants)?" In some cases, this may be desirable, I suppose, but I rarely find this to be the case from a personal standpoint. I'm sure there are others here that are vehemently the opposite, similar to their disdain for sneakers.

As with you, I'm curious to see what the more educated folks have to say on the matter.

 

[CharlieAngel]

I put a little thought in on the busride home (not gonna walk 6 miles in the rain, eh?)...

If I were going to match up socks, I'd definitely have to make it a sort of game. Like, if I'm wearing selvedge, maybe match the socks to the selvedge. Or as another poster above mentioned, match it to something else in your outfit. A shirt, or maybe even the liner in your coat. I'd definitely want to play it off something, even if using complimentary colors rather than a straight color match.

Have fun, go nuts, post pics in the WAYWTT and see what the experts have to say..

:: Sigh :: I couldn't leave my dogs out today and they pooped on the floor. Ugh. Great Mastiff's leave so much poop.

 

[TrailofTears]

Originally Posted by CharlieAngel

I put a little thought in on the busride home (not gonna walk 6 miles in the rain, eh?)...

If I were going to match up socks, I'd definitely have to make it a sort of game. Like, if I'm wearing selvedge, maybe match the socks to the selvedge. Or as another poster above mentioned, match it to something else in your outfit. A shirt, or maybe even the liner in your coat. I'd definitely want to play it off something, even if using complimentary colors rather than a straight color match.

Have fun, go nuts, post pics in the WAYWTT and see what the experts have to say..

:: Sigh :: I couldn't leave my dogs out today and they pooped on the floor. Ugh. Great Mastiff's leave so much poop.

Such a great post on so many levels. Thank you, and thank your dogs for me.

 

[AlanC]

Good question, for me at least, raised above about what to wear with Purcells. I have some navy Bob Cousys, and I'm never sure exactly what to wear with them. Somehow white athletic socks don't quite cut it.

 

[bluemagic]

Originally Posted by blank

Uniqlo -- tons of patterns and they are very comfortable. Got red snowflakes on today. I've also adopted their boxer briefs, and those are really nice too.

+1000. The quality to price ratio of Uniqlo socks is unbelievable. It's the best item they have.

 

[Nuff said]

Originally Posted by Stazy

Wear brightly colored socks with darker fits.

+1

With monochromatic fits and dark blue denim you can wear loud socks very easily:
For example if you are wearing a gray tee, dark indigo jeans and low profile white sneakers then wearing solid bright red socks can bring it up a notch.
With monochromatic stuff you can pretty much go nuts wearing bright solid colour socks in various hues as well as fancy striped socks like those of Paul Smith.

If you are wearing a single coloured or multicoloured shirt/sweater however you need to be careful. You need to be wary of your socks clashing with the colours in your other items of clothing. The safest thing to do in this case is to match your socks to your jeans or trousers. You can never go wrong with this approach no matter what you are wearing (matching socks to shoes is rarely a good idea - white ankle socks with white sneakers being a notable exception). Another approach would be to match solid colour socks with one of the less dominant colours in your shirt/sweater - matching the solid colour of your socks to the tips of a polo shirt for instance. Check out WAYWT posts by the likes of Get Smart, Singular and Phat Guido for good examples of how to wear socks with streetwear

Matching multicoloured socks with multicoloured fits is definitely harder to carry off but can be done. The MC WAYWT has examples.