What colour socks do you normally wear?

[Illuminati Primus]

Given the decent global representation on this board I thought I'd get a good answer to a question I've always wondered. There seems to be differing views depending on where you live on what colour socks you should wear the majority of the time. In the UK, for instance, guys wear black socks pretty much all the time, for work and with casual clothes too. However in the US white socks seems to be the standard with casual clothes (which n the UK just isn't done, the only possible exception being at the gym but even then guys usually wear black socks). My kiwi friends seem to match the black socks standard too.

So, Raffers, what colour are your socks usually?

[timbicile]

Black socks make my feet sweat.

[Lungfish]

Black. I only have black socks. I need to buy some more as the ones I have keep disappearing in the wash.

[SoylentPopTart]

White socks - American.

Usually guilty of white tennis shoes as well. Which would look pretty funny with black socks.

[Khampelf]

As an American child of the 80s, I feel fully entitled to wear white socks with black shoes.

If I wanted to wear black socks, I'd have to borrow them from the GF.

But I don't. Ever.

[mlerose]

I have socks of all different colors and patterns and lengths. I've got green socks with sushi on them and socks with monkeys and bananas, maroon socks that go up past my knee and teeny white socks that I wear with my gym shoes. Plus, plenty of black/brown/white/navy/other neutrals. No consistency here.

[Mbossa]

Any colour you like, as long as it's black.

[Panacea]

I've got ladies' dress socks for wearing while I'm working. Black, blue, brown, cream - different colors and patterns. I also go sockless at times during the warmer months, when wearing ladies' dress sandals.

Casual socks - I love fat white athletic socks. I wear them with my tennis shoes, or with my boat shoes. I also wear them to bed in the winter time. I don't have any casual socks that aren't white.

[SmartAleq]

I have Smartwool socks in a range of colors, and cotton socks in a range of colors and some white knee high cotton athletic socks. Socks are part of my fashion statement, since being an Oregonian I'm known to wear socks with sandals.

[Hockey Monkey]

I try to wear socks that are the same color as my pants. If they socks have a design on them, then I match the background color to the pants. I typically wear black or grey slacks with an occasional khaki tossed in for variety.

[MarkF]

I must say I'm puzzled first at the idea that there was a standard and then gobsmacked that it appears to be true judging on the replies above. I almost harumphed at the idea that blokes wore black / white only. Y'learn summat new everyday.

I myself wear all sorts of colours. I just treated myself to some socks with Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday etc on them. I will have enormous fun at some point deliberately having different days on different feet. It's a full life.

Also, in the summer I never wear socks.

[AuntiePam]

Female, US, black, although I have a drawer full of socks in various colors.

I switched to black after we got the puppy. Socks are her favorite snack. She snatches them from the laundry basket, and when I take laundry out of the washing machine, she sits and waits for a sock to fall on the floor. Having them all in one color means no more unmatched socks.

I might switch to white for summer though.

[Veb]

Female, US, varies.

Mostly dark neutrals but always coordinate with whatever slacks I'm wearing. They run high to black since I wear black and charcoal a lot. I have some cream and navy blue that are worn mostly with khakis and jeans. White socks are reserved to be worn with casual slacks and loafers if I put a white collared shirt under a sweater. No white shirt, no white socks. That is because I'm a dork.

[Jeff]

Black is for formal only. White is for working out. Light gray most of the rest of the time.

[hroark2112]

I wear white socks 90% of the time. If I'm in khaki's or dress slacks, it's normally black or grey socks. When I'm playing hockey, I'm in grey & black compression socks, so that factors in about 10-12 hours a week.

[Elyanna]

I have lots of colors, but mostly black, brown, and tan.

[stormie]

I am shocked, simply shocked, at the admissions of felonious sock wearing by raffers.

Let me explain. Men get to wear black sox with everything but sandals, hiking boots, and running shoes. Sandals do not go with any sox. Hiking boots and running shoes always go with white gym-type sox. Some slip-ons are worn with no sox, but pennyloafers are worn with black or brown sox. The avant-garde man wears navy sox with black shoes and a navy suit, or brown sox with brown shoes and brown or beige pants, but this is quite tricky to get right.

Remember - it's the law.

Myself, my feet generally go commando. Unless it is cold. At work I wear hose.

[RedFury]

Depends on the rest of the outfit. I usually coordinate my socks to go with my pants/rest of clothes. So, any color really -- with navy, black and charcoal being dominant as most of my slacks are in those shades.

Wear tennis shoes a lot as well -- actually the driving kind Adidas & Puma make, and again, depending on the pants I'll go with either white, gray or black sweat socks.

[SmartAleq]

Allow me to explain to you non-PNW heathens that around here wool socks with Birkenstocks or hiking sandals is not only acceptable but is pretty much unavoidable if you want to hike in summer. You need the wool socks early in the hike to keep the dew and mud off, then you remove the socks later in the hike when it's hot and you need to keep your feeties cool. This goes along with the PNW-only rule that it's pretty much okay for a guy to wear shorts all year round if he wants to. Lots of people do that up here. So there, nyeah!

[stormie]

Noooo, not the Birkenstocks and white sox*! AAAGGggghhhhh.



(*unless you can code using only ones and zeros.)

[Random Precision]

I generally wear blue jeans with brown shoes at work, so all of my socks are brownish/tannish/greenish - earth tones. I no longer own any white socks and I only have a pair or two of black ones for the rare occasion I need to wear black shoes.

As a child of the 60's and 70's, I feel that white socks with black shoes is almost as big an affront to nature as black socks with white shoes.

[Stealth Potato]

I don't have any socks that aren't black. Formal, casual, or exercise, it's black socks all the way. I used to wear white socks sometimes, but then I realized two things:

1. All my shoes, even my casual and outdoor/exercise shoes, are either brown or black.
2. Most of the time my socks are invisible anyway.

So I standardized. This has the advantage that, should I find myself in an emergency situation demanding business attire when all my dress socks are in the wash, I can substitute a pair of my casual socks with little chance of anyone noticing.

[Dallas Jones]

I like my socks, like I like my women. Thin, black, and made out of nylon.

[Uthrecht]

Originally Posted by SmartAleq

wool socks with Birkenstocks or hiking sandals

I had no idea you were a German tourist.


If I'm wearing shorts, I'll wear white socks with my shoes (usually sneakers or hiking boots). Otherwise, whether I'm wearing slacks or jeans, I'll wear white, black, other color or patterned socks. If slacks, I'll generally try and match the socks to the slacks in some manner.

[Zombies!]

Black socks, black socks.

Also, communal socks. There are no "My socks" and "Arac's Socks" there are only "Socks". Who gets which socks is a matter of who gets to the dryer first and finds two that are vaguely the same style and condition (e.g. Elastic all in place, no holes). Since I'm up to go to work earlier than he is, I win.

[severe delays]

I'm not only stunned that anyone would voluntarily wear white socks* I'm appalled that any of you are willing to admit it!!!

I wear only stripey socks in varying hues unless I'm at work. I regularly update my collection and throw out the holier ones. You will all note that my birthday is the 2nd of December and I like socks.


*Those who are dressing up as schoolgirls and are wearing kneehigh white socks are given a pass, naturally.

[Harry]

I wear whatever color socks most closely matches my shoes/trousers. I do not ever go sans chaussettes.

[Taur]

Mostly white: White ankle-high golf socks; white, shin-high athletic socks; and some grey, shin-high, 100% wool socks for heavy boots. My preferred state of existence is entirely without them.

[Carolia]

I usually wear white socks, since I only wear socks with my white tennis shoes or my boots if I'm visiting someplace cold, and they're completely hidden in my boots. I do have some cute silver ones for when I had to wear cheap white tennis shoes after my foot surgery, but still needed to dress up (I even wore them to a wedding), but that's the exception. Most of the time, though, I wear sandals, since I live in Miami and my foot's healed.

[The Superhero]

I wear white socks with athletic shoes/hiking boots. I wear black socks with black shoes and boots. I wear brown or tan socks with brown shoes, depending on the color of my pants (or, if you prefer, the colour of my trousers).

Wearing socks with sandals is a crime against all that is good and right in the world, whether you're hiking in the mountains or strolling around the great cities of Europe or sitting around doing bong hits and listening to Bob Marley. It should not be done.

[BJMoose]

The problem with a large collection of black dress socks is that, unless they are all identical, they're a bitch to match up. I think that's why I developed a fondness for argyles.

(Don't dress up much these days, so my common socks are all gray cotton. Identical gray cotton.)

[dogbutler]

Black mostly, but the Red/Black/Gray striped socks on days when the Canes play.

[Roo]

Originally Posted by severe delays

I'm not only stunned that anyone would voluntarily wear white socks* I'm appalled that any of you are willing to admit it!!!

I was thinking the same thing about people who wear black socks. I'm aghast!


*OK, not really, but I really am surprised at the continental divide here.

[Salambo]

Originally Posted by mlerose

I have socks of all different colors and patterns and lengths. I've got green socks with sushi on them and socks with monkeys and bananas, maroon socks that go up past my knee and teeny white socks that I wear with my gym shoes. Plus, plenty of black/brown/white/navy/other neutrals. No consistency here.

* high five*

I also have monkey socks and will occasionally declare a random day as Monkey Sock Day. Everyone who wears monkey socks get monkey cake.

I too have many colors, patterns, and occasionally a solid will slip in there, but they are few and far between and usually baby blue or brown. I got stripes, argyle, plaid, polka dots, cats, whales, puppies, penguins, flowers, and all sorts of stuff.

What's the point of socks if they can't be fun?

[Harry]

Appropriate attire is just that, and nothing more. If it is appropriate for you to be representing your company, your community leaders, or your Barrio Gang, you should always dress accordingly. It helps the spectators keep score. If you are dressing to represent only yourself, don't be surprised if potential customers don't want to do business with you. Whether right or wrong, they may form the opinion you don't care about satisfying a customer's needs.

There may always be a job for the man who knows how, but he will most likely always be working for the man who knows why. Clothes will identify the delineation. To do otherwise shows a blatent disregard for your surroundings and circumstances, not the independence you were striving for.

What was the question again? I think I fell into my soap box there for a minute.

[Stealth Potato]

Originally Posted by severe delays

*Those who are dressing up as schoolgirls and are wearing kneehigh white socks are given a pass, naturally.

Even if they're men? Please answer fast.

[Defenestrator]

Other- I don't wear socks. These are my shoes. (However, if I were to wear normal shoes, I would wear white socks probably. I'm an American after all!)

[Radical Edward]

At home and around town I wear black socks that are supposedly made of bamboo. To work I wear black compression stockings with knee-high men's work socks under my boots. They are usually grey and white.

[scareyfaerie]

Black socks, never any other colour. What if I got in an accident and got carted off to the horsepistol? Oh, the shame of not having the socks to match the rest of my skimpies...

[Marlitharn]

Many moons ago when The Boy was a young'un, I got into the habit of buying myself wildly colorful and above all GIRLY socks for myself, because he never managed to get his socks into the laundry and would come steal my white ones. The pink ones with the kittycats on them, however, he wouldn't touch.

Nowadays I knit my own socks. (That last pair is my daughter's.)

Since I'm usually wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans, I feel wild socks are perfectly acceptable.

[Lo-Slung Denim]

I wear brightly coloured socks most days. White socks for sports, and black socks for job interviews and funerals.

My favourite socks are rainbow-coloured.

[severe delays]

Originally Posted by Stealth Potato

Even if they're men? Please answer fast.

Yes of course.

Sorry for the time delay, I was up late. Hope nothing disastrous happened as a result.

[Dragonlady]

White ankle socks on summer, longer black ones in winter. All socks in each color are identical. I but about a dozen pair of each color and toss all the old ones to shoeshine rags. I can only ever have ONE unmatched sock!

[Dudley]

I have three main type/color of socks: black ankle, white ankle, grey calf. Unless I'm wearing a suit, I wear any variants of these with shorts, pants, sneakers and shoes. I am a fashion disaster, I know this.

[Xploder]

I think I've only worn socks about a dozen times since the mid 80's. My feet used to sweat to much inside my boots so I stopped wearing them. Even up in the mountains of Germany in the dead of winter it was no problem. If I HAVE to wear some, wedding, funeral, whatever, then it's black to go with my one pair of dress shoes that I bought back in the 70's.

I'm cheap when it comes to buying clothing items for me.

[Tripler]

Olive drab/Sage Green or black.

My wife got me the really comfy black ones, too. . .

Tripler
New word: 'wickability'.

[Lucifer]

I only wear white socks with sneakers, and only wear sneakers when I'm in the gym. Otherwise, I usually wear socks that match the color of the pants I'm wearing. More or less.

[The Canvas Lamb]

I generally wear black sock because I mostly wear black shoes but I have one pair each of gray, golden-tan, dark gray socks and when I get really wild, I wear my aqua pair.

[Carolia]

I forgot--I do have a large collection of multicolored, printed, character, cutesy socks. I used to teach preschool parent & me classes where we had to wear socks, no shoes, because of the mats. I still wear them to do Wii Fit and around the house a bit if it's a cold day, which isn't often.

[TheChileanBlob]

I wear white ankle socks, except in the winter I'll wear my husband's thick white gym socks, and in the summer it's sandals or bare feet, no socks. I have a few pairs of cute striped, polka dot, or pink socks, but I rarely wear them cuz I usually can't find the mates. I have a HUGE box in my closet of single socks, which I add to every time I wash. Every so often I'll haul it out and have a sock-matching party. There are some socks in there that have been lonely and looking for five years, but I don't have the heart to throw them out.