Fun fact! Did you know that there are an average of 125,000 sweat glands at the bottom of each of our feet. You may now be thinking, ‘How is that relevant? I don’t really care!’. Well, you know who cares? Blisters!
If you repeatedly wear your shoes without a preventing layer, your feet get moist easily and are prone to blisters and injuries.
If only….
If only there was some kind of invention to prevent that, to protect our feet from germs and blisters, protect our shoes from stains, reduce stress on our feet, and manage this moisture.
YOUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED! Like literally. You already have these heroes at the bottom of your wardrobe, or in a separate holder. You might have even lost some of them when you were doing your laundry earlier.
You now know very well what we’re talking about. SOCKS!
IDENTIFYING SOCKS TYPES IS YOUR FIRST STEP TOWARDS THE CURE!
Now that we’ve refreshed how important socks are in your promise to yourself to maintain healthy and happy feet, let’s get that out of the way and start getting to the bottom of this.
Socks and shoes make or break an outfit. If you’re wearing your favorite pair of loafers and decide to add in thick wool socks that go up to your calf, you’re not going to get the classy vibe you’re going for. If you wear your ankle-length socks with a pair of hard football shoes:
..OUCH..
We all know what happens next. You’ll go on for a couple of days before you can wear any closed in shoes. Did you even know that there are specific types of socks for each sport? For example, if you are up for football, it’s a must to choose socks that can minimize moisture and friction.
GOOD NEWS IS, there are different types of socks; short, long, cotton, silk, wool, plain and patterned, to make sure your feet are relaxed and that you’re looking fabulous in the process. Your smart choice of socks will, accordingly, depend on your judgment of which pair to wear, and when. Lucky for you, you stopped by this article to know just that!
We’ll now delve into different types of socks along with their images. Are you ready to meet the heroes of this story?
DIFFERENT SOCKS LENGTHS
1- The Hidden Soldier
2- The Sneaky
3- The Anklet Shield
4- The Show-off
5- The Calf Lover
6- The Legsock
DIFFERENT SOCKS FABRICS
1- Acrylic
2- Cotton
3- Polyester
4- Lycra
5- Olefin
6- Wool
DIFFERENT SOCKS STYLES
1- Tabi socks
2- Glove socks
3- Half-toe socks
4- Toeless socks
5- Tube socks
6- Bobbysocks
7- Spats
DIFFERENT SOCKS ROLES:
1- Compression socks
2- Diabetic socks
3- Slipper socks
4- Leg warmers
5- Grip socks
6- Waterproof socks
7- Tab socks
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOCKS LENGTHS
1- The Hidden Soldier
We know them as no-show or liner socks. These socks are lifesavers. If your choice of shoes looks better when it’s shoe-to-skin, such as ballerinas, boat shoes, moccasins or loafers, you will definitely want to wear these hidden socks. They can vary in their length; some can cover half of your front foot and are usually worn with loafers, while others are very thin and cover only toes and heel and are often worn with ballerinas. They’re convenient
It’s convenient for both men and women.
2- The Sneaky
Yes, you read right. These are known as ankle socks and they sneak up just right above your shoe line. They are not invisible yet they don’t cover your ankle. These are perfect for low-cut and casual shoes or sneakers. They are known to look cooler when worn with shorts compared to long socks. (Or if you’re a girl and want to protect your feet and flaunt your anklet at the same time! Just saying)
3- The Anklet Shield
Bad news, girls! Your anklet will not be glitzy if you wear these because their hemline covers your whole ankle and right below your calf but you get guaranteed full-on protection from back feet blisters, YAY!
We’re not forgetting the guys though! You’ll usually feel flexible to wear these quarter length socks with both formal and informal shoes.
4- The Show-off:
These babies go up to your mid-calf and are currently trending in patterns. They are long enough to show off the pattern and short enough to be readily worn and practical for day-to-day use. Crew length socks are usually used for physical activities. Moreover, they keep your feet warm and cozy during winter. Finally, they also look great with dress shoes such as oxfords and derbies.
5- The Calf Lover
Now these are what we call a ‘socks hug’. Calf length socks stretch to engulf your whole calf. They can either be in wool material to keep your leg warm, or silk (for women), or polyester for sports and physical activities. Usually over the calf (OTC) socks can be more practical than mid-calf socks because the latter can roll down your leg when you move too much, or if they’re not the exact right size. These can also be used to protect the leg when wearing long boots.
6- The leg socks:
When you got socks that covers your leg, you got LEG SOCKS!
Just kidding, we’ve just made that up! They’re known as ‘Thigh Highs’ but who doesn’t love a nickname for a change! These are mostly worn by women, you can buy them in wool or cotton to wear them at casual events. The silk ones look beau-ti-ful when styled with dresses, skirts, and shorts and look sensational on all types of occasions, whether formal or informal.
You’ve met our heroes, one by one; the hidden soldier, the sneaky, the anklet shield, the show-off, the calf lover, and the leg socks. You’re now ready to make smarter choices of socks!
Hold on… No, I can’t do it!
I have a confession to make.
I just lied.
These are not the only heroes you need to know about in the Socks World. To be fully ready to make smarter choices of socks, you need to think about: fabrics, occasions, styles, and functions as well.
Let’s get into more details, shall we?
DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOCKS FABRICS:
The most commonly used fabrics for socks are cotton, acrylic, angora, bamboo, cashmere, polyester, lycra, spandex, olefin and wool. We’re not Wikipedia and you don’t really need to memorize any of these, all we want you to know is that some socks are made purely out of one fabric and others are a blend of different fabrics together. “What if I’m curious and wish to dig deeper into socks materials?” we got that covered too! Check
Here are a couple of findings you can use to differentiate between fabrics or to sound smart in front of your group of friends, whichever comes first.
1- Acrylic: stain-resistant, wrinkle-resistant, perfect for printings because they hold onto their colors.
2- Cotton: breathable, very good for sensitive skin and drives off sweat and moisture.
3- Polyester: durable, elastic, keep our feet dry and they don’t lose their form.
4- Lycra: enables flexibility and movements, very useful to blend in compression socks.
5- Olefin: it’s the top water-repellant out of all fibers and it moves sweat from your feet 25% faster than any other fiber.
6- Wool: it’s perfect to keep your feet warm and toasty, and it absorbs a great deal of moisture before you can get that ‘wet feet’ feeling.
SOCKS CAN COME IN STYLE, TOO!
DIFFERENT SOCK STYLES:
1- Tabi socks (Split-toe socks):
These were first worn by the Japanese. There is one major upside to these, and you can figure it out just by looking at them. That little space between the thumb and the rest of your toes, what is it for? YES! Exactly, you can wear them with slippers.
2- Glove socks (5-toe socks)
Now why separate just one toe when you can separate all of them! Beautiful toe socks act as gloves, but for your feet. And are highly convenient in winter to warm up your foot from the inside.
3- Half toe socks:
We’re still playing around with the toe style! Imagine that you’re wearing a normal toe sock and then someone came and cut your toes in half…
Okay, that’s not at all something we want to picture… BUT the good news is, blood aside, you now have half toe socks! These non-slip socks are perfect for yoga and dancing as well.
4- Toeless socks:
Don’t worry, I’m not going to make any more jokes about toes cut in half, PROMISE!
These socks do not cover the toe area and are used for activities that require you to show a bit of skin to support your leg movements such as dancing, twirling and yoga.
5- Tube socks:
Tube socks are basically socks without heels formed into them.
6- Bobbysocks:
These socks are styled mainly for women. They include a twirl layer above the ankle, leaving you looking all sorts of cute
7- Spats
These are actually very interesting, they are garments worn over your shoes and socks to act as a protective layer but mostly as an accessory to add a little spice to your outfit.
DIFFERENT SOCKS ROLES:
1- Compression socks:
These socks are extra guarded to support your legs, prevent leg swelling and improve blood circulation. People usually use them during sports and to prevent serious injuries.
2- Diabetic socks:
Diabetic people are more prone to infections especially in the legs area, that’s why it’s necessary to wear socks that reduce hot spots that occur as a result of skin friction with fabric. These socks are usually thick, supported, and repels any moisture.
3- Slipper socks:
Socks that act as both, socks and slippers. An additional layer is added at the bottom so you can walk freely in them. They are ideal indoors, don’t wear them alone outdoors, they are still socks at the end of the day.
4- Leg warmers:
A sock-on-sock look actually looks nice.. But aside from that, they are used to coat your leg and keep them fuzzy in winter, looks are a plus though!
5- Grip-socks:
What did you guess from the name? Grip. Keeping a grip onto the floor, since they’re all socks and feet we’re talking about. These socks have special grippers on the soles that prevent feet from being slippery. These are perfect for any activity that requires balance and leg support.
6- Water-proof socks:
You can choose to buy waterproof socks anytime you like, to keep your legs dry! These are however important for sports like hiking to keep your feet from slippering and keep you comfortable.
7- Tab Socks:
Tab Socks only differ because of the extra tab of fabric at the back of the socks to prevent your heels from rubbing against your shoes.
Wait! Where are you going? You’re going out? A party? Well, okay, we’re almost done. Wait don’t close, we just have one question before you leave:
Which socks are you going to order?