What Is It with Me and the Weird Socks Thing?

This post is a little bit a satire on the weird socks thing we all experience once in a while. Read about how it affects me for a good laugh. Maybe you see yourself in one or the other situation.

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post.

The Weird Socks Thing Started when I Was a Toddler

Ever since I can remember there is this weird socks thing. When I was a toddler, I spent hours watching the laundry turning around in the washing machine. I recall them coming forward, going back, vanishing and showing up in the bullseye of the washing machine.

When I was in a children’s home after my brother was born, the older kids had made a theater play. The kids who played old people had stuffed cotton balls in their socks to imitate bunions. This fascinated me so much that at my next visit at my grandparents’ place, I put my shoes on right after finishing my lunch. I knew we would go for a walk after lunch, and I wanted to see my grandparents change their footwear (without them noticing). Why? I wanted to see how real bunions look like. Weird, in both the socks and stockings, they looked the same. Well, stockings have come a long way since then.

Patterned vs. Solid Socks to Remember Which Socks Belong to Whom

When we were kids, my sis had patterned or structured socks while mine had the solid colors.  However, as a kid, it never occurred to me why. One day, my mom had bought socks for my Dad and my brother. When I saw them I mentioned that the patterned pair is a great find for my brother. She then said that she only buys patterned socks for my Dad, and solid colors for my brother to be able to distinguish their socks in the laundry. I had never thought about the logistics of handling this footgear! At that time, I thought pattern were for kids and young people. And woman, the pattern weren’t even so wild and fun patterns on Novelty socks.

Fashionable Socks

Yes, I hear you on the socks. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I had to wear knee-high socks in summer with my skirts and dresses instead of tights. Otherwise, they went only with pants. When I was a teenager, I ditched them after long arguments. Or should I better say after the battle of a 12 years old girl who started developing personal style? I found the socks-plus-skirt thing so awful and Old Lady.

I never wanted to wear that combination again!

Let’s Research the Weird Socks Thing

The Single Sock Phenomenon

Why is it that there is always a single sock in the washer? You wear them as a pair, throw them in the laundry basket together – as a pair. Somewhere on the way between the basket and the sock-drawer one gets lost. It may or may not show up – eventually. But if not, where did it go?

The Weird Socks Thing of Teenagers in the 2010s

When you are a regular reader you may have read that my husband and I like to take dance lessons from instructors who visit Fairbanks for the Summer Arts Festival or to coach the Lathrop High School ballroom dance team. We took several classes with these high school kids.

They used to wear unmatched pairs. One day, one of them wore a complete pair. It drove me nuts! Why with a sudden did this kid wear a matching pair? So weird that the kid wore them as they were supposed to be worn, at least in my mind. I couldn’t hold my mouth shut and asked in the dressing room. The answer?

“Oh, that happened by accident. I just pull two each morning out of the drawer and pull them on.”

The advantage of unmatched socks? They save on socks to spend their allowance on other things. When one is ripped they toss it. When wearing only matching ones they would have to toss both.

Are unmatched socks the new slow fashion?

Uni-Sex, Men’s and Women’s Socks

Ok, the sizing differs. But why is there a distinction? Why do females have to pay more for socks than males? The knitting products look the same, right? I mean except those with the toe enhancement that is visible to everyone and is in a color that often fails to match the color of the socks. Especially “pretty” when worn in sandals! (Wo)Men, yuck!

Otherwise, shopping for men’s socks instead is a great solution to save. You just have to figure out what men’s size corresponds to your size.

Tip: Use a shoe-size chart or shoe measuring device.

Weird Holiday Stuffers

Now to another weird member of the species: The holiday stuffers. During the holiday season, you see them everywhere. They are never part of a Christmas outfit! These socks that nobody can wear supposedly are to be hung above the fire place. The idea is that Santa Claus would slide down the chimney and would fill them with gifts. OK, that’s the plan, but have you ever paid attention to the chimneys of American houses? They have the size of a stove pipe! Ever wondered how the old man makes it thru that? Is that why he never ever can fill them and you have to do it?

Isn’t it weird that despite the plan fails to work, and the fact should be known by now, they sell them like hot cakes? I am sure they do! No store owner would give real estate to items that won’t sell, right? Is the plan to replace the chimney with a bigger one one day in a blue Moon?

Maybe thigh-high socks give extra coverage and also some extra insulation, but when used as holiday stuffers more space for gifts. LOL.

Leandra Medine Changed my Opinion on Socks with Skirts

LOL, I have to admit that in the 2010s, I liked how Leandra Medine wore her white socks with lace ruffletop with cute red playful Mary Jane. But this look wouldn’t work on me. My style is not romantic style at all! LOL.

If you had told my 20 years old me that one day I would wear socks in sandals on purpose, I would have said “not over my dead body.”

Never say never.

Can Women over 40 Wear Normcore Socks?

I love socks that have terrycloth inside and needed new ones in black. The only pair I was able to find in Fairbanks was one with the brands logo as knitted-in décor. There is this saying in town

If you don’t get it at Fred Meyers, you won’t get it anywhere in Fairbanks.

Therefore, I crunched my teeth and just bought them despite I was looking for just plain black socks with terrycloth inside. On the other side, once there is something nice in a store, Fairbanksans buy it in all colors.

At home, when putting them in the sock box, I still was grumbling that I now would always have this white flash when I cross my legs when wearing them with pants. Then I thought make it the statement and came up with this normcore* outfit.This socks-in-sandals combo works because on the first view, it looks like a booty. What works with booties also works with this “fake booties.” To not look like a flash-back from the 1990s, keep everything simple and classic.

Did you know that you can find coupon codes on my gift guide page?

Photos of me: G. Kramm

© 2013-2022 Nicole Mölders | All rights reserved