The Armoury Lightbox

ethandesu:

Socks

I have been thinking about socks, and the wearing of them. Length, colour and material, how they complement, or contrast, and their place in a well coordinated wardrobe.

I will usually wear my socks in one of three ways - as an extension of the shoe in to the trouser, be it a brown sock with a brown shoe, black with black, or a subtle tonal difference such as charcoal socks with a black shoe. I find this works especially well with sober suits and textural differences, such as brown suede oxfords, brown nido a’pe socks and a junior navy suit. It seems to help balance a shoe with the dominant colour of matching trousers and jackets.

With an odd jacket, wearing a sock that carries the trouser through to the foot seems to balance better, giving more visual weight to lighter or less dominant colours. As above, with a rich navy coat and polo brown suede, the light grey can feel a little lost. With a complementing grey sock, the trouser feels more substantial, the leg longer.

Finally there is the sock that picks up a seperate element - the shirt or tie colour, the boutonniere or the pochette. Done badly, it is a bright red sock on a boring midnight suit, but done well it can tie together an outfit. A pale grey pinstripe, with blue shirt and navy grenadine, snuff suede shoes benefits from the unifying effect of a navy sock.

Then there is the Liverano rule - there is only one colour of sock, Navy.