The Good Life - January/February 2014

To help you not sabotage your image or
credibility like the guy at the meeting, follow these
simple rules when selecting which kind of sock to
wear with your ensembles.
Wear dress socks with dress shoes.
Don’t try to wear athletic socks with dress
shoes even if the socks are black. Athletic socks
are thicker than dress socks and don’t match the
refined style of dress shoes. If you try wearing
gym socks with a pair of dress shoes, they’ll bunch
out over the shoe and look goofy. Stick to dress
socks. The thin material feels nice on your foot
and looks sharp.
With jeans there’s a little more wiggle room.
Preferably, you should have dark socks even with
denim, but you can get away with wearing gym
socks with jeans.
Sock color should match your pants,
not your shoes.
This is a rule that many people are confused
about. I’ve heard numerous arguments about
whether you should match socks with shoes or
socks with pants. You should always match socks
with pants because when you sit down and your
socks are exposed, you want a solid line of color
from your pants to your shoes. Socks that don’t
match your pant color create a jarring break in your
outfit. So black socks go with black pants and brown
socks go with brown pants. Absolutely and under
no condition should you ever wear white socks with
dark pants unless you want to look like Steve Erkle
or 1980′s Michael Jackson.
No socks with sandals or shorts.
The goofiest thing is to see people who wear
socks with sandals. Society’s ability to take you
seriously will be reduced to zero if you do this.
Sandals were designed to be worn with bare
feet, so please, do not wear socks with sandals.
Socks with shorts should be avoided as well.
Wearing socks with shorts visually makes your
legs look shorter. If you need to wear socks while
wearing shorts, invest in some ankle socks that
aren’t visible when you wear you sneakers.
Novelty socks are for elementary
school teachers.
No man should own a pair of orange novelty
socks that say “Boo!” on them and are adorned with
little bats. The only excuse you have for wearing
these is if you’re an elementary school teacher
named Mrs. Heart. Keep you sock collection simple
and classic and you’ll never go wrong.
By: Brett and Kate McKay | artofmanliness.com
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