There is a well known photograph of a dancer mid spin at Wigan Casino, talc across the boards, and the first thing your eye lands on is the socks. White, pulled up and not remotely accidental. Socks have never been an afterthought in this scene, whatever the rest of British menswear decided somewhere around 1994.
We get asked about them constantly. Usually somebody wants to know if they can get away with none at all. Sometimes it is tartan. Occasionally a customer wants our blessing to wear white towelling with a tonic suit and we have to be the ones who say no.
The Sockless Question
Bare ankles work with loafers in July. That is roughly the size of it. A penny or a tassel loafer has a low vamp and a shallow throat, so the shoe already reads as summer footwear the second you pull the sock out of it. A pair of tassel loafers with a turned up trouser and nothing underneath looks considered instead of lazy, provided the hem sits high enough to break clean above the shoe.
Everywhere else it falls apart. A full brogue laces through five eyelets and puts a stiff leather facing hard against the ankle bone, and bare skin against that is a blister by two in the afternoon. Monkey boots are worse again, because the whole design is a snug ankle and an unlined heel counter that will take the skin off you in about a mile. People try it anyway and then email us about the blisters. It never ends the way they hoped.
Desert boots sit in the middle and confuse everybody. The crepe sole and the unlined suede make them feel like a sockless shoe, but crepe grips damp skin and squeaks, so a thin wool blend ankle sock in tan or oatmeal is the answer there.
What the Knit Is Actually Doing
If you want bare ankles without the damage, an invisible sock will do it, though most of what gets sold is knitted flat with a straight seam across the back and works itself down your heel by the second bus stop. Look for a moulded heel and a silicone grip that runs at least halfway round. Buy a pair and walk properly in them before you fill a drawer, because heel shape varies wildly between people.
Everything else in the sock drawer deserves more thought than it usually gets, and most of it comes down to the knit. Combed cotton is the workhorse, smoother and stronger than standard cotton because the short fibres have been combed out before spinning, and a ribbed knit holds its shape around the calf far longer than a flat one, since the rib has somewhere to go when it stretches.
- Around three to five percent elastane in the cuff, which is what stops a sock sliding down your leg over an evening
- A hand linked or flat toe seam, because a bulky seam sits right where a loafer presses on your toes
- A reinforced heel and toe, since that is where every sock you have ever owned went first
- Enough length that the leg is covered when you sit down, which is the only fit test that matters
Wool is the upgrade and it is badly undersold. Merino and lambswool regulate temperature in both directions, so one pair handles a February queue outside a venue and a July all dayer, and they will go days without smelling where cotton gives up after one wear. They cost more and they last longer, which is roughly the deal with everything worth owning in this scene.
The White Sock, Wigan and the Terraces
White socks earned their place from two directions at once. Skinheads around 1969 wore them with half mast Levi's and Sta Press because a band of white above the boot carries right across a terrace, and because it looked sharp set against ox blood leather. Northern Soul dancers wore them for a plainer reason. Thin white cotton spins better on a talc dusted floor, and a spin only reads as a spin if the crowd can see your ankles moving.
We still wear white with Sta Press and monkey boots, or with loafers and a single turn up. We would not put white anywhere near a tonic suit, and we know that is a minority position in certain company. Mohair tonic exists to throw light back at the room. A white sock at the hem drags every eye to the floor and undoes the lot.
One more thing about white. It has to be actually white. A sock that has gone grey through forty hot washes reads as neglect, not intent, and the whole effect depends on that flash being clean. Wash them separately or accept that they are a consumable.
What We Put with What
None of this is law. It is simply what we do, and it is the advice we give when somebody emails us before ordering.
| Footwear | Sock we pick | Sock we avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Penny and tassel loafers | Fine ribbed cotton ankle sock, or nothing in high summer | Thick towelling, or anything with a chunky welt |
| Brogues | Mid weight cotton crew in a trouser matching colour | Invisible socks, which slip inside a laced shoe |
| Monkey boots | White cotton crew, or tartan under a turn up | Sheer dress socks, which shred against the heel counter |
| Desert boots | Wool blend ankle sock in tan or oatmeal | Bright white, which fights a crepe sole |
| Beatle boots | Thin merino, over the calf | Ribbed sports socks that bunch under the gusset |
Tartan, Argyle and Knowing When to Stop
Argyle comes from the Argyll district and the Campbell tartan, cut on the bias and knitted flat, and Pringle of Scotland turned it into a golfing staple through the 1920s once the Duke of Windsor took to it. That is a longer heritage than most of what we sell. Tartan socks came into this scene through a different door, mainly via suedehead dress in the early seventies and then the tartan wave that arrived with the 1979 mod revival.
The rule we hold to is one pattern per outfit. If the socks are doing the talking then the shirt is plain and the trouser is plain. Tartan socks under turned up jeans with a black loafer works. Tartan socks with a gingham shirt and a checked jacket is three arguments happening at once.
Length, and Matching the Sock to the Trouser
Sit down and cross your legs. That is the entire test. If a strip of shin appears, the sock is too short for the trouser you have put it with. A standard ribbed crew lands about 15cm above the ankle bone. Over the calf socks solve it permanently and they are what we wear under a tonic suit with brogues.
The old tailoring principle still holds, which is that the sock matches the trouser rather than the shoe. It keeps the line of the leg running unbroken down into the shoe instead of chopping you off at the ankle with a stripe of contrast. Navy trouser, navy sock. The white sock is the exception, because a white sock is a deliberate interruption and always was.
Colour matching does not have to be exact, and chasing an exact match is a mug's game. A charcoal sock under a black trouser or a mid grey under navy works fine, because the eye reads tone before it reads hue. What kills it is a jump in value, like a pale sock under a dark leg.
Washing, Drying and Making Them Last
Socks die from heat rather than from wear. A tumble dryer cooks elastane, and the cuff goes slack after a dozen cycles, which is exactly why your favourite pair falls down your ankle while the ones you never wear still grip like new. Wash cotton at 30 degrees, turn the dark ones inside out, and dry them flat or over a rail.
Wool wants more care again. Merino and lambswool go in on a wool cycle with a non biological detergent, because the enzymes in biological powder eat keratin and keratin is what wool is made of. Never wring them out. And buy your socks in multiples of one style, so that when one dies the survivor still has a partner.
Darning is worth relearning if you own good wool socks. A hole at the ball of the foot takes ten minutes and a darning mushroom, and it will not be visible inside a shoe. We would not bother on a cotton three pack.
Socks And Shoes FAQ
Five sock questions that land in our inbox most weeks.
- Can you wear socks with loafers? Yes, and most of the year you should. A fine ribbed cotton ankle sock in a colour that picks up the trouser is the safe choice, and bare ankles are really a July and August option only.
- What socks did skinheads wear? White cotton crew socks, worn high enough to show a band of white between a half mast trouser and a boot. Tartan and argyle came in a little later with suedehead dress.
- Are invisible socks any good with brogues? Not really. A laced shoe grips the foot differently to a loafer and the liner works itself down the heel, so a proper ankle or crew sock is the better answer.
- How long should socks be with Sta Press trousers? Long enough that no shin shows when you sit down and cross your legs. A crew sock reaching about 15cm above the ankle bone does it for most people.
- Should socks match the shoes or the trousers? The trousers, almost always. Matching the trouser keeps the leg line unbroken, whereas matching the shoe leaves a band of contrast that shortens you.