PUT A SOCK IN IT
The humble sock has had a fashion makeover,
One of the loveliest things I brought back from a trip to Europe was a pair of thick nubbly socks that manage to look both entirely home spun and thoroughly modern, like home-knit wool dipped in technicolour oats. They were made in Japan, as some of the most interesting socks seem to be.
The fact that I won’t be hiding these little beauties under a pair of gumboots, but have instead wondered what footwear will show them off best, says something about the newly raised profile of socks.
Whether it’s slouchy chunky wool, a short pop of colour or knee-highs made of fine tulle, socks are on the menu, day and night. Which feels like a sea change after the fad for naked legs and ankles and those deeply uncool, seriously uncomfortable, thin little no-sock socks which inevitably slip off your heel and wind-up wadded somewhere near the toe of your shoe.
And who’d have thought that the style I grew up calling pop socks would become fashion news? Those sheer long socks that masquerade as tights and leave a mean mark across even the thinnest of calves, are available in the hosiery section of department stores everywhere. But look at the Givenchy runway, where sheer black calf-length socks were worn with ankle-strap heels, leaving bare knees peeking from beneath a slit skirt. Or Kristen Stewart who wore a pair with an evening dress, slashed to show them off, or Gwyneth Paltrow who deliberately flashed the tops of her ankle-length sheer socks (worn under velvet trousers and with heels) at the Giorgio Armani Privé show. It all looks surprisingly edgy, but more to the point it looks interesting.
“It’s dressing for yourself,” says an art director friend of mine who is a fan. “Wearing socks with heels is not about dressing for the approval of men.
They won’t get it. But not only does it look cute, it looks really, really cool.” It’s one of those neat opportunities for self-expression that can be strangely powerful, turning a bland outfit into something else altogether. Miuccia Prada might be the poster girl: She has worn socks and heels to ramp up her blend of below-the-knee skirts and cashmere forever.
What length socks go with which type of shoes? Know some of the rules of proportion (a matching sock and shoe will elongate the foot and ankle in a way that contrast colours will not; where the sock stops will highlight the breadth of that area – whether it’s thinner or thicker) and then play with them.
At Dolce & Gabbana, long opaque socks were layered over sheer black tights and put with black shorts and flat black shoes; the monochrome mix makes contrasts less stark, and so limbs appear longer.
At Miu Miu a wrinkled inch of grey sock was evident over short lace-up boots, worn with 50s-style full skirts and short padded bomber jackets: It looked fierce and sweet all at the same time.
I’m still all over the mix of Birkenstocks and any kind of thick or ribbed sock. But when it comes to socks and heels, I think the longer skirt has it. This is not, ‘I’m an adult dressing up as a schoolgirl’ territory. And this is where fine socks with a slight wrinkle about the ankle come in. I agree with my friend: Forget the idea of heels as sexy and instead inject some old-fashioned elegance to the mix. It changes things up. It looks quirkily vintage. And at a moment when we might be trying to find new, easy, cost-effective ways to re-style the things we already have, pulling on a pair of socks might be all the (small) difference you need.