Is it okay to wear white dress socks?
November 9, 2011 8:42 AM Subscribe
Is it okay to wear white dress socks?
I've come to work today wearing tan chinos, brown leather penny loafers and white dress socks. I saw a couple of pics of some preppy guys pulling it off. But after looking down at my desk I noticed the top line of the sock mid-calf with my leg exposed, and it seemed strikingly redolent of an anime school girl. Is this okay, or am I making a mistake?
I've come to work today wearing tan chinos, brown leather penny loafers and white dress socks. I saw a couple of pics of some preppy guys pulling it off. But after looking down at my desk I noticed the top line of the sock mid-calf with my leg exposed, and it seemed strikingly redolent of an anime school girl. Is this okay, or am I making a mistake?
oh dear lord. Are you a grown man? if yes - burn those socks.
If you think a white sock would work, sockless is better.
And with that outfit a white sock wouldn't work. White bucks or something like that is what comes to mind under the sockless rubric.
posted by JPD at 8:46 AM on November 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
If you think a white sock would work, sockless is better.
And with that outfit a white sock wouldn't work. White bucks or something like that is what comes to mind under the sockless rubric.
posted by JPD at 8:46 AM on November 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
Does it match? Yeah. Are white-color socks something a man who is not wearing sneakers should be wearing? No.
posted by griphus at 8:47 AM on November 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by griphus at 8:47 AM on November 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
Proper length chinos should show sock when seated if you are wearing loafers.
posted by JPD at 8:47 AM on November 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by JPD at 8:47 AM on November 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
No sock looks good with the trouser leg pulled up because you're sitting funny... they're meant to be appreciated in more natural settings. If your pant-leg is halfway up your calf, you're in "sock garter exposed!" territory.
Does it look good in your eyes sitting normally or striding about, nice and prep? It's performing its sockly duty.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:47 AM on November 9, 2011
Does it look good in your eyes sitting normally or striding about, nice and prep? It's performing its sockly duty.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:47 AM on November 9, 2011
For fancy.pants sock/pants, there are two schools of thought re: socks that I have heard. (1) They should match your pants, so that the view from pant to shoe is seamless. (2) They should match your shirt (fun flair). And certainly, for both, your shock should be up to your calf, so that you do not see skin/
posted by anya32 at 8:51 AM on November 9, 2011
posted by anya32 at 8:51 AM on November 9, 2011
sock. you don't want shock.
posted by anya32 at 8:51 AM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by anya32 at 8:51 AM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Is it clear that they're not athletic socks? If so, this sounds like a good look, if you are pulling off the preppy thing well. For example, here is the excellent Travis from Street Etiquette rocking the look hard.
posted by rossination at 8:52 AM on November 9, 2011
posted by rossination at 8:52 AM on November 9, 2011
Best answer: Wearing socks like this is sort of like trying to break a pile of bricks with your head, anything less than total commitment will ruin you. As you can see from the Street Etiquette post or this blog post on the classic Adler socks, it is a look, but not recommended for most civilians.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 8:56 AM on November 9, 2011 [11 favorites]
posted by villanelles at dawn at 8:56 AM on November 9, 2011 [11 favorites]
I could see it working in a preppy way if they're not athletic socks and your legs doesn't show. But in November, dude? No.
posted by mullacc at 9:00 AM on November 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by mullacc at 9:00 AM on November 9, 2011 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: "Why are your chinos hiked so high?"
I think my leg is only exposed when I cross my leg ankle-to-knee which I shouldn't be doing anyway. . .
"Wearing socks like this is sort of like trying to break a pile of bricks with your head, anything less than total commitment will ruin you. As you can see from the Street Etiquette post or this blog post on the classic Adler socks, it is a look, but not recommended for most civilians."
LOL, thanks. . .I buy that.
posted by Faust at 9:01 AM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think my leg is only exposed when I cross my leg ankle-to-knee which I shouldn't be doing anyway. . .
"Wearing socks like this is sort of like trying to break a pile of bricks with your head, anything less than total commitment will ruin you. As you can see from the Street Etiquette post or this blog post on the classic Adler socks, it is a look, but not recommended for most civilians."
LOL, thanks. . .I buy that.
posted by Faust at 9:01 AM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
(1) They should match your pants, so that the view from pant to shoe is seamless.
Ye gods, no. That is a deeply weird look with beige/tan/khaki pants. Match the shoes or don't match either (but go with both).
posted by Rock Steady at 9:01 AM on November 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
Ye gods, no. That is a deeply weird look with beige/tan/khaki pants. Match the shoes or don't match either (but go with both).
posted by Rock Steady at 9:01 AM on November 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
You can do it!
posted by rossination at 9:02 AM on November 9, 2011
posted by rossination at 9:02 AM on November 9, 2011
1. You need over-the-calf socks so that when your pants hike up your calf won't show. Also, over-the-calf socks are WAY more alluring, should you be partially clothed in a situation where you want to allure - they have a sort of retro, fetishy quality whereas mid-calves just look dorky Organization Man-ish.
2. Socks need not match your pants or your shirt, although they can. They should compliment the other colors you're wearing. So for example, I might wear a light blue shirt and grey wool pants and a pair of nubbly navy over the calf socks. You can get some quite good effects going with socks.
Also, your socks should compliment your shoes - loafers with interesting socks are particularly good.
As to the white dress socks, I am agnostic - I imagine that if the rest of your outfit is dapper enough, the white socks will work. But again, over the calf.
posted by Frowner at 9:03 AM on November 9, 2011
2. Socks need not match your pants or your shirt, although they can. They should compliment the other colors you're wearing. So for example, I might wear a light blue shirt and grey wool pants and a pair of nubbly navy over the calf socks. You can get some quite good effects going with socks.
Also, your socks should compliment your shoes - loafers with interesting socks are particularly good.
As to the white dress socks, I am agnostic - I imagine that if the rest of your outfit is dapper enough, the white socks will work. But again, over the calf.
posted by Frowner at 9:03 AM on November 9, 2011
This is one of many reasons why I don't wear khakis. You will look fine going sockless with boat shoes, but it seems like the real problem is that your pants hike up and people can end up seeing the top rim of your socks.
posted by deanc at 9:12 AM on November 9, 2011
posted by deanc at 9:12 AM on November 9, 2011
Match the shoes or don't match either (but go with both).
I'd only recommend matching the shoes if you're wearing dark pants and black shoes, and even then I'd probably go with navy. Matching brown socks and shoes is not a good look, in my opinion.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:14 AM on November 9, 2011
I'd only recommend matching the shoes if you're wearing dark pants and black shoes, and even then I'd probably go with navy. Matching brown socks and shoes is not a good look, in my opinion.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:14 AM on November 9, 2011
As far as I'm concerned, only three types of men's dress socks exist.
Over-the-calf beige, over-the-calf black, and over-the-calf charcoal.
posted by lydhre at 9:31 AM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Over-the-calf beige, over-the-calf black, and over-the-calf charcoal.
posted by lydhre at 9:31 AM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Are you Michael Jackson? If not, you can't pull it off.
posted by Memo at 10:01 AM on November 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Memo at 10:01 AM on November 9, 2011 [3 favorites]
Yeah, this only works if you are a catholic schoolgirl or Michael Jackson.
posted by elizardbits at 10:03 AM on November 9, 2011
posted by elizardbits at 10:03 AM on November 9, 2011
Gray socks are kind of like cordovan shoes: in my opinion, they can go equally well with black, navy or brown/beige clothing. So buy a metric crapton of them. And/or argyle. I LOVE argyle on guys.
Your socks should show, but not a lot. If your pants are hemmed with the correct break (straight and not baggy around the ankle and a little crease over the instep of your foot), your pants will pull up just high enough to show a few inches but not the tops of your socks.
Sit down next to some guy you think is wearing his pants at a nice length, then watch when he stands up and see how they fall around his feet. There are few things goofier than seeing multiple men next to each other and one guy has a decent hem while the other is working the nerd look.
posted by Madamina at 11:12 AM on November 9, 2011
Your socks should show, but not a lot. If your pants are hemmed with the correct break (straight and not baggy around the ankle and a little crease over the instep of your foot), your pants will pull up just high enough to show a few inches but not the tops of your socks.
Sit down next to some guy you think is wearing his pants at a nice length, then watch when he stands up and see how they fall around his feet. There are few things goofier than seeing multiple men next to each other and one guy has a decent hem while the other is working the nerd look.
posted by Madamina at 11:12 AM on November 9, 2011
David Letterman rocks the white socks with suits every night. You can do it, but you gotta commit to it. I'm going to start doing it because so many people have such a strong reaction against it.
posted by txmon at 11:45 AM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by txmon at 11:45 AM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Or you can wear the socks you want and not care what other people think.
posted by TheRedArmy at 12:25 PM on November 9, 2011
posted by TheRedArmy at 12:25 PM on November 9, 2011
Couldn't you just get higher socks?!
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 12:28 PM on November 9, 2011
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 12:28 PM on November 9, 2011
I'm a fashion newbie, but my understanding is you should absolutely match your socks to your pants or shirt or tie, though its kinda an advanced technique. If matching socks to shoes were the rule there'd be no place for most preppy dress socks (I don't know anyone with purple argyle shoes).
My guess is the socks may be too short (unlikely) the pants may be a weird cut the doesn't fit you well (hence they hike up unnaturally whenever you move/cross your legs). I have no idea why but for me (a tall guy) often different pants that all break in the same place near my heal, but may hike up differently when I move. For example the Jeans I'm wearing now only expose an inch of sock when I cross my legs ankle-knee, but there's a cheap pair or Target dress pants (that break at the same place) the go up to about mid calf when I cross my legs. I check this when I try on pants now.
Option three is your chinos may not actually match your socks, meaning the chino is too dark, making the white sock stand out more than you want.
Also, while we're on the subject, you can wear both black and brown. There I said it.
posted by midmarch snowman at 12:33 PM on November 9, 2011
My guess is the socks may be too short (unlikely) the pants may be a weird cut the doesn't fit you well (hence they hike up unnaturally whenever you move/cross your legs). I have no idea why but for me (a tall guy) often different pants that all break in the same place near my heal, but may hike up differently when I move. For example the Jeans I'm wearing now only expose an inch of sock when I cross my legs ankle-knee, but there's a cheap pair or Target dress pants (that break at the same place) the go up to about mid calf when I cross my legs. I check this when I try on pants now.
Option three is your chinos may not actually match your socks, meaning the chino is too dark, making the white sock stand out more than you want.
Also, while we're on the subject, you can wear both black and brown. There I said it.
posted by midmarch snowman at 12:33 PM on November 9, 2011
No way. White socks are like visual klaxons. They say WHITE SOCKS! WHITE SOCKS! WHITE SOCKS! There are some guys who never make it out of tube sock phase. You'll see them in black jeans, black vaguely athletic shoes last seen on an Applebee's waiter, and white tube socks. And it looks awful. Often they are the assistant manager of something on a smoke break or are looking at the bulletin board in the Engineering building in a dandruff-dusted Member's Only jacket or are a first generation third world immigrant. You want to say "No, buddy! No!" It sounds like you're trying to make it work on a higher level, a dress sock rather than a tube sock, but I think your tube-socked brethren have ruined it for you unless you're that guy known for rocking specific daring fashion looks. Here are some dated examples of people rocking it in an ostensibly workable way, and some contemporary mostly hipstery examples. But if you're a normal guy in plain office wear, I think it's just going to look bad because it's kind of conditioned into to the rest of us that it doesn't work. With that said, wear what you like. No, I can't do it - scratch that. Don't wear white socks.
posted by Askr at 4:55 PM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Askr at 4:55 PM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Keep in mind some of us rocking white socks do it because if we don't, we get really nasty breakouts on our feet which would not only make us unhappily uncomfortable, but much less desirable too.
posted by Samizdata at 5:27 PM on November 9, 2011
posted by Samizdata at 5:27 PM on November 9, 2011
Is the color somehow magical? Couldn't you get dark socks made of the same material as the white socks?
OP: Don't wear white dress socks. There is no such thing no matter what (insert fashion icon here) once wore. If you could pull off clothes like famous fashion icons you wouldn't be asking this question.
posted by Justinian at 6:43 PM on November 9, 2011
OP: Don't wear white dress socks. There is no such thing no matter what (insert fashion icon here) once wore. If you could pull off clothes like famous fashion icons you wouldn't be asking this question.
posted by Justinian at 6:43 PM on November 9, 2011
1- They make black athletic socks now.
2- No, you shouldn't wear white socks.
3- There are three schools of thought on socks. They should match the pants, they should match the shoes, or they should match/compliment your tie/pocketsquare combo. White socks really only work if you are wearing white. (Or gym shoes.)
posted by gjc at 7:39 AM on November 10, 2011
2- No, you shouldn't wear white socks.
3- There are three schools of thought on socks. They should match the pants, they should match the shoes, or they should match/compliment your tie/pocketsquare combo. White socks really only work if you are wearing white. (Or gym shoes.)
posted by gjc at 7:39 AM on November 10, 2011
Response by poster: Wow. There are a lot of interesting perspectives on this thread! Thanks a lot. I have decided I am not ready for white sock territory yet! ;)
posted by Faust at 8:41 AM on November 10, 2011
posted by Faust at 8:41 AM on November 10, 2011
Many people above list "fashion rules" as if violating them were some sort of huge mistake. They are wrong, but not entirely.
Here's the thing about rules in fashion. They are there for one of two reasons:
1) To help people who have not mastered fashion (because they are young, they have no eye for colors, they don't care to, etc.).
2) To help you make sure that you aren't making a mistake. Which is to say following the standard rules is simply playing it safe.
That said the point of fashion is to make you look good, and looking good means that you sometimes need to play fast and loose with the rules.
If you feel confident that it looks good (and you have good reason to think of yourself as fashionable), then wear whatever you like. If not, follow the rules.
posted by oddman at 4:12 PM on December 3, 2011
Here's the thing about rules in fashion. They are there for one of two reasons:
1) To help people who have not mastered fashion (because they are young, they have no eye for colors, they don't care to, etc.).
2) To help you make sure that you aren't making a mistake. Which is to say following the standard rules is simply playing it safe.
That said the point of fashion is to make you look good, and looking good means that you sometimes need to play fast and loose with the rules.
If you feel confident that it looks good (and you have good reason to think of yourself as fashionable), then wear whatever you like. If not, follow the rules.
posted by oddman at 4:12 PM on December 3, 2011
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posted by Think_Long at 8:46 AM on November 9, 2011 [1 favorite]