Socks with sandals - yay or nay? - YouLookFab Forum

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Socks with sandals - yay or nay?

approprio

(website)

Veteran

I’ve been wearing colouful socks with these Suicoke trekking sandals pretty much since I bought them a couple of summers ago. This season I tried the same with a pair of gorgeous but maddening Trippens, which are blissfully comfortable until a predictable moment in the afternoon when they are not. Wearing them with socks makes perfect sense and I wonder why I never thought of it before. It’s like having a new pair of shoes.

Something I would have sneered at as a youngster is starting to feel like second nature. Apparently, Fashion agrees.

How about you? Are you wearing socks and sandals? Or will you be giving this trend a miss?

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31 replies

Latest reply was from Joy

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I don' wear the look myself, since I hardly ever wear sandals. I wear the dainty variety when I do - see finds - and those I like without socks.

(I DID wear the combination as a child in the '70s, as I think most of us did).

100% YAY for others! Socks and sandals work especially well when the straps are broad, to my eye. Like your sandals, Liz. Socks will look super cute with those, and I am soooooo pro the added comfort!

My nephew and his girlfriend wear pool slides and Birkies with socks ALL the time (they are 22). Usually white socks. And they look fab

https://youlookfab.com/2020/10.....ay-or-nay/

Bella-Vita Ira Strappy Sandal

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Bella-Vita Holden Sandal

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Runcarla

Veteran

I just came back from a trip to our Nations Capital, and socks, particularly white sockets, were very common paired with Birkenstocks.

unfrumped

Veteran

I can’t really stay up to faults with what sandals and what socks yo make it fashion of ironic or whatever. but I have significant bunion- related toe problems, which need a break from “ real” shoes, which I have to wear when working in the yard until I get a real fix for that, so I wear loose socks and adjustable pool/ sport sandals in the house a lot.

rachylou

Veteran

Yes, I have also taken to it. It’s acquired a cool it didn’t have at first, like Members Only jackets. Also, gosh one’s feet get dirty and a/c is sooo cold these days…

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Not for me. It’s hot and humid in my part of the world and if I’m wearing sandals I have no need or desire for socks. I like showing my summer pedicure too. I wear sneakers with thin no-show socks in summer but socks as fashion statement don’t really work for my style. But if it speaks to you, I say have at it — I’m sure your fashion-forward spin will make it work!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Well Approprio I couldn’t do it! Have had to vote Nay due to memories of my father in “walk shorts” with long socks in the 70s, when sandals with socks (which I don’t think Dad wore) were similar levels of uncool to that. The brain is forever scarred.
But you do whatever you need!

JAileen

Veteran

Only hand knit socks with Birkenstocks.

approprio

(website)

Veteran

Angie, right! I agree, the look works best with chunky straps and lug soles. Thanks for the link to the thread, which I missed first time around. It is clearly a controversial issue, so I wonder has anyone changed their mind since then?

Runcarla, I’m seeing a couple of microtrends around here, corresponding roughly to style tribes, albeit with a fair amount of overlap. One being the Teva style with colored socks, the other a slider with sports socks. Not seeing so many Birkenstocks worn this way, perhaps because it was always the ‘definitive’ look, to be worn with a hand knit sock, as JAileen correctly points out. So unfrumped, you’re inadvertently on trend! I always love it when that happens.

Rachylou, it’s taken long enough! I feel like I’ve been waiting for it to catch on for ages. Finally and at last, we can all do the sensible thing. I don’t look like a mad person and my feet are happy.

Janet: oh, I remember the summer pedi… haven’t had one in ages! I suspect this trend is driven as much by practicality as anything, which is how I came around to it. That, and the influence of a new generation, unscathed by the recollection of 70’s dads. JenniNZ, for what it’s worth, Mr Edge is also skeptical. I think he may be dealing with a similar trauma…

Sal

Veteran

My sons do it with pool slides like Angie's nephew.

I would do it with the right sandals and sparkly short socks. I don't have the right components at the moment. I do like coloured opaque hosiery with heeled sandals too.

I am a yes. Comfort and fun - why not!!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

LOL yes, the summer pedi is a must for me! It helps that I actually *like* how my feet look so I like showing them in sandals. Unlike how I feel about other parts of my body that get exposed in summer. I got my first pedi of the season just a couple of days ago, when I heard temps were going to be in the 90s already. It hit 90 just a little while ago but a storm is now blowing in so we’re out on the covered deck enjoying the cooling temps! We opened the pool today so summer is officially here, even though the calendar doesn’t say so yet.

I can understand that socks with sandals suit other people’s climate and style better. To you who enjoy it, I say rock on!

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Anonymous

For most of the reasons mentioned above, this would be a hard no for me, even if I were offered Chanel sandals and cashmere socks. I'm just not feeling it. Maybe if I were young and hip, but that ship has sailed, my friend!

Sloper

Veteran

Yay all the way. The more fun the better.

The Cat

Veteran

I wear Birks with socks, but only at home.

LJP

Veteran

I love the look and the idea . I’ll do it with Birks in cool fall temps but I haven’t yet done it with a dressier outfit . The newish Miu Miu campaign with the grey thin cashmere sock and kitten heel sling back is a look I love and would be inclined to try if I still had a work/ social lifestyle for which something like that made sense .

Bijou

Veteran

It’s a yay from me. DH and I happily wear socks with our Birks for added warmth and comfort which is mainly around the house or when popping to the beach for an early morning swim in Autumn or Winter. We call the look Birk’n’socks!

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

My daugthers definitely do, and I do with my Birks in winter around the house. And I would out and about under the right mood and circumstances. Most of all, related to comfortable shoes that suddenly aren't.

Brooklyn

Veteran

I’m not personally into it because I do a lot of walking in dirty places (dog parks) and socks get so dirty in an open shoe. But I think it’s a fun look.

Sloper

Veteran

coming back to add that socks with fisherman sandals are such a great look!

DonnaF

Veteran

I run so cold (Raynaud’s in feet) that I almost never wear sandals or even oxfords without socks. I have been meaning to wear colored tights with my chunky sandals but will also have to try socks as well.

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

Absolutely yes. Athletic socks with pool slides to get to yoga class, or just around the house. But in that case I’m wearing sweatpants or leggings.

I tried thin decorative socks with oxfords and bare legs recently and felt like a ridiculous imposter, so…..

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lyn67

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I don't have a problem with this pairing-just doens't make sense for me and my pretty conventional looks. I LOVE sandals for their airy feel and showing up my dark nail polish, in summer!:-)
Then, I never thought it makes sense like you said "It’s like having a new pair of shoes"....food for thought... but I would like to see your outfits wearing socks to sandals- you certainly have the edgy eccentric and nonconformist style to look and feel fab!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Partly for Jessikams… maybe we get so used to something not being “us” that we have trouble considering it could become “us”? So for me, my dislike of wearing socks with sandals from seeing it in my teens is so strong that I still notice anything similar in any fashion shoot. It has been quite common in the fashion magazines I have read for maybe a decade that there are bare legs and fancy socks with shoes. And I can never ever relate to it. Even although they’re not sandals!

Anonymous

I do it only in colder weather to stretch out my sandal season, so I can hike in my Birks as long as possible! Or if I'm camping and it's colder at night.
I wouldn't do it as a fashion statement though, and it's way too hot for socks here most of the year anyway!

RobinF

Veteran

Hmm, interesting. I know my daughter and her outdoorsy friends do all the time but I always thought not for me. Not out of the question though, especially with cute socks.

Bonnie

Veteran

I wear socks with my Oofoos slides all year round. This is my at home and my gardening look. Maybe I'll try it with my Ecco sport sandals.

ODODOS OOahh Sport Slide Sandal

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ECCO Sport ECCO Sport

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Style Fan

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I rarely wear socks, so it is a no for me. My feet have multiple problems, so fashion does not enter my footwear decisions. I like the look of socks with Birks and always did.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I had a teenage aversion to it, like Jenni's, that is difficult to dislodge, but I have become accustomed to it and even like it when the sandals have wide straps. It doesn't look great on me, though (too much horizontal cutting in the wrong place) and when I wear sandals I want my feet out there for reasons similar to Janet's (climate) Brooklyn's (practicalilty) -- but I do wear no show socks with sneakers, and I LOVE Jessikams' oxfords and socks and bare legs look, so there you go!

A lot of my 20 something students wear it with Birks.

I say wear and enjoy!! You will make it look cool.

April

Veteran

Brooklyn hipster LMA wears his Birks w/socks more or less year round.

Lana

(website)

Veteran

I don’t do it although I’ve been tempted to wear some fun colored socks with some D’orsay oxfords I have because I can’t think of many ways to wear them.

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