I know, they are not very glamorous, but, when one’s feet get cold, one needs to wear socks. I know some of you wear a skirt in the middle of winter with bare legs, so I assume you go barefoot too, but, I think that’s daft. That’s assuming you are in fact cold and you do it because it looks good. Which I agree, it does. I love fashion and I would never go cold or too uncomfortable for it though.

Anyway, I was saying, comes Autumn comes the cold, hence socks. Not talking about tights yet as it really is rather early for them.

So, socks… well, there’s nothing terribly exciting, but you still have to get it right. There’s …

1 cotton/wool/cashmere/silk/viscose socks.  They can be casual or elegant, depending mainly on their thickness. If your shoe size is big enough, buy men’s ones, they tend to be better quality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 nylon socks. They can be opaque ( from 30 denier upwards), or they can be sheer, but remember, if you don’t get it right with the colour you will look really really “out of date”.

If you are going to wear flesh coloured socks, this is what I think: they need to be a little lighter than your skin, as fine as possible and always plain.

The only other colour I like is black, every day less though. Can’t think of any other colours I would use.

 

 

 

3 patterned socks one colour. They can be a little different without going over the top, unless of course you go for big patterns, don’t! The classic thin or wide rib ( wide is more stylish), the cable, etc. are always nice.

Depending on the pattern, the colour and the thickness, they can go with some quite elegant clothes, or more casual ones. Nice with both ballerinas or brogues, again depending on the thickness though.

4 patterned socks multi colours. I like the classics,

argyle,

fair isle  design,

melange, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the men’s ones have very nice patterns….

 

A little lurex is sometimes exciting..

Multicolour stripes are difficult, they can look ok or really horrible and out of contest . Argyle generally in the classic colours.

5 Fun socks.  Only for special occasions like Christmas and only with very close friends!!! Never, ever, wear Hello “S”Kitty, (as my sister calls the famous cat!), hearts or similar.

 

 

 

6 Protagonist socks. Very difficult to pull!! On the other hand, If you really know your style and you are an amazing woman, you can wear almost anything. I have found a site which has mainly coloured socks and have downloaded a few. They are quite different, look like they could be good quality and are reasonably priced. Have a look at the others as well!

http://www.happysocks.com

 

 

Patterned socks in general have to be either cotton or wool, no nylon. (apart from the lurex). I usually wear them with jeans, chinos, and thicker shoes. Can be cute with ankle boots too.

Plain socks obviously in the classic colours: black, navy, grey, dark brown. Careful with beige and off white, the risk is immense! Need to be beautiful and best worn with cashmere in the house. White is just ugly. I quite like burgundy, dark green. Don’t ever think about wearing pink unless you are aged less than 4. I very seldom like bright ones, I don’t think you ought to draw attention to your feet, why?! The shoes are the diva, not the socks, they can complement your footwear, not more. There’s always exceptions, especially in fashion!!

Length: I like knee-high socks, under and not above the knee of course. Unfortunately, most socks are shorter. Short ones are ok but, when you sit down and your trousers come up, I don’t think it looks wonderful to see the end of the sock followed by a bit of skin…. Please no frills at the top, they are not even for little girls, they are just ghastly.

Here comes the difficult part.

How to match them….

-never match socks with your top if the colour of the trousers is quite different. For example, if you had a white top and black trousers, wear black socks. Which seems kind of obvious in this case, but if you were to wear a grey top and a darker shade of grey trousers? I’d still wear a dark grey pair of socks. I prefer socks to matched the bottom half.

-You don’t need to be wearing the same colour of your socks anywhere else in the outfit. E.g. Beige top, dark brown trousers, red/burgundy socks, mid-brown brogues.

-casual with casual and elegant with elegant. No nylon socks with corduroy or jeans. No argyle with elegant black.

-the right sock for the right shoe, ballerinas look better with nylon socks, lace-ups with cotton or wool. Loafers with either, depending though on the shoes’ material and thickness of the shoes/sole.

-wear thick wintery looking or patterned socks with jeans or chinos.

-wear simple cotton/wool plain socks with patterned or “busy” (e.g. corduroy) trousers. Now, there are women who can manage the very complicated look of different patterns in the same outfit, but it isn’t easy, BEWARE of it!! It might end up in a huge disaster.

-if you are going to wear a pair of “unusual” socks, make sure your outfit is quite simple and you are cool enough to pull it off!  On the other hand, if the outfit is “busy”, you want to add very simple socks.

– socks should always be a finer material then your trousers.

And if you can bear to go bare at least wear something on your poor toes!

E.