Socks aren’t a summer thing- at least they are not a staple. But the existence of a definite category of summer socks seems to belie the conventional notion of their thermal utility. Not completely however. Those destined to be ‘dressed’ in shoes apparel of the feet have far wide ranging a functionality than what we commonly regard them in. And so does the span of their season that extends throughout the entire length of the year despite their overwhelming peeks from out of shoes asserting as quite a sight of fuzzy comfort during the weary winters.
The style quotient can be as quintessential a case for socks indeed, despite popular belief not even hovering around this arena of the fashionable. It would take indeed some stylistic sensibility for these humble pairs doomed to serve the human feet to assume as much popular pride as well. Of course the choice of material and fabric out of which they are made is another prime requirement in ensuring that socks manage to drop their bad rep acquired upon the warmer spectrum of their viewing. All in all therefore, socks can be more essential considerations of an outfit so much so that they can either break or make entire looks with a mere ‘lowly’ glance of them!
Beyond the wintry weaves
First things first, the criteria that absolutely validates wearing a pair of socks even in sweltering summer days would be their serving of purposes beyond body insulation. Most obvious within such scope of utility would be the surface level protection that they provide as being a piece of clothing first and foremost. Wearing a pair of socks could be your best bet to avoid sunburns and tan that take on a menacing attribute during the hot days. That there exists indeed specific quality SPF socks as well holds up further the reality of socks being as all year an element of your ensemble as any other.
Of course socks also afford the most realistic option in protecting the feet from the environmental elements of dust and pollution as well as against painful blisters and sores, not to forget the forever prevalent threat of infections. Each of these hazards being more pronounced in their potential during the hot, sunny days, it establishes even more effectively the need to wear socks as summertime staples.
One of the most essential ways socks have come to be indispensable aspects of clothing is through their sweat and moisture absorbing properties. It needs no clarification indeed that summer days invariably posits us as sweaty, smelly beings throughout the entirety of our body- from head to toe. Socks provide the perfect solution in staving off the undesirable drops of sweat from causing greater ‘harm’. They protect our feet by deconstructing such conditions of ample moisture that would be particularly favourable for fungus and bacteria and associated unpleasantness of odours to rule large. Socks therefore also help the skin to breathe easily while ensuring that our generally more expensive footwear do not fall prey to such havocs induced by the deadly combination of sweat and smell.
Socks for every season
Other somewhat rather long- drawn but legit still issues that socks can address might make for additional reasons substantiating their summer power. When faced with sudden fluctuations of temperature, whether on account of the vagaries of natural weather or the stark contrast between a human created ambient environment and the prevailing conditions outside, socks can be handy options particularly for those who experience certain health conditions. This takes us back to the usual regard that socks have always found seating in- as providing protection from the cold.
Now that we have been convinced enough about the versatility of socks beyond what we thought were only winter appropriate wear, it would make sense to make the next step- literally indeed- in a direction that points to the fashion- forward. This means not picking up just any random pair of them to serve your purpose but instead choosing them out carefully, thoughtfully like you would do for your pair of trousers or your dress or shirt- or even and specifically indeed, your accessories for that matter.
It makes for quite a trivia that socks can at once be a piece of clothing as well as an accessory that complements your outfit. Wearing a pair of socks and sporting them in style need not therefore be mutually exclusive desires of an unrealisable end. Instead, making one’s pick from the endless options that exist in cutesy, dramatic, beautiful, ordinary, cool, regular and whatever not terminology of fashion jargon in consideration of personal preferences in look as well as personality while not losing sight of the purposefulness to be achieved should strike as an exciting spree of fashionable pursuits one looks forward to further.
Socks in every style
One might be likely to dismiss concerns of color as something not really applicable to socks but the truth cannot be further away. Just as summer wear is typically conjured up in lighter shades of pastels and nudes, socks would do well too when their summertime sporting is curated along similarly hued lines. One however would do well in steering clear of all whites or all blues or navies and the like that essentially carry a certain principle best suited for sports in the first expanse of immaculateness and as formalwear otherwise. It’s always a fun pop of color that one can flash from their feet with pretty floral picks or elegant striped choices or cute character motifs printed or even embroidered upon socks for the fashion fever to take over.
The colors can be let to unmute indeed if your fashion flair seeks unfurling with the pair of socks as the primary consideration. Whether one opts for quirky prints over florals or sticks to stripes and patterns instead, the possibilities are at least as extensive as what can be availed through the other counts of clothing for style to maintain its appeal. Endowing upon socks a fashion identity that speaks the whole language of your being is quite a trend even, with statement socks and luxury makes ruling it large this particular turn of the season.
Socks on the sly
If showing off your socks does not sound too appealing a prospect in all considerations of the fashion-centric, then one can opt for low style socks or no show socks that can be as utilitarian even in their hiding. It also would help if one does not go the unnecessary extra mile in their shoes by pairing it up with some socks if their footwear is of the kind the typically specifies for the wearer to go sockless. Boat shoes for instance do not make for a very traditional case in slipping into a pair of socks beforehand and so would not sandals, as style pundits of the world would argue. But given how the latter regard in once sacrilegious stipulation has now completed eroded out that disrepute to assert as much trendy rather, the rules might be easier to bend and break now than ever before.
Socks and sandals- stylish, really!
And thus has emerged in greater numbers an entire count of population that do not give a second thought about slipping their feet into a pair of sandals even when they already have socks on. Fashion savvy in their own might and their undertaking therefore of such faux pas only overruling the prevailing perception of this controversial choice in style- or rather a lack of it thereof, all liberties taken in standardising the scandalous sock and sandal sporting is exactly the whiff of fresh air the human feet can finally breathe in.
Speaking of breathability, the special case in and for summer socks also necessitates their consideration in terms of material. Apart from the obvious choice of cotton, the options assert numerously as bamboo, linen and polyester or even wool makes, each of which however attends differently to the different ways in which you move about them. Which means that along with the material, it also would be aspects of fit and extent of length and the type of their use that would determine the best type of sock for you to comfortably amble along, no matter the extent of heat and grease at any time of your socking existence.
Words of caution
Choosing to wear socks in and for personal comfort and convenience then is the idea indeed irrespective of the time of the year and the turn of the season you sport them. But there can still be certain crucial considerations that need to be more conventionally followed so that those humble pair of socks do not become the reason for your falling from grace. Like smelly shoes, smelly socks also can be one of the most ‘disruptive’ agents of the environment, that which shames you and suffocates all others.
Maintaining hygiene perhaps is even more important in case of such items that cling on to the skin and are encased further in the shoes and sandals and all their associated components of sweat and smell. It is imperative one dons a fresh socks always, because rewearing an unwashed pair will do more harm than good. Apart from the evident upsetting of your image, they can also despair the health of your feet with all the bacteria and such definitely manifesting through every wear of them.
Despite everything therefore, socks can be your respite indeed if you know to work your way into them. For all your ambient human functioning then, if not for the aesthetics at all, it would pay to have also a drawer full of socks alongside a wardrobe full of clothes to boast of fashionably and finish off in style!
