Around these parts. socks with sandal are a sure sign that the wearer is a Yankee. Won't say what kind of course. Wouldn't be polite.....

Oh, socks matter. Especially socks with sandals. I did not know about the southern bias, a new insight to me.
DS, designed a sock for sandals. See the link below.
So Dorf, what about the Yankee connection?

Here is a link that might be useful: Breezy socks

There are tons of Socks videos on the net. I've linked one of the most popular.

Here is a link that might be useful: Socks

Work socks, solid, trusty, will take me through any weather and a full day of hard garden work, weed-whacking, whatever.

Then I put on my Columbia thongs and my back pays dearly, but, there comes a time when I can't stand hot feet anymore.

Have a couple pairs of 'girl' socks
---bloomin' things drive me up the wall when I have to wear them.
It's like having my goofy brother sitting next to me,
al-----most touching my arm, but not------quite.
Just wanna bean him!!!

kathyjane ,lol, the sock topic can be evocative. Who knew until agnespuffin made her post.

I actually knitted myself a pair of socks once. At least I remember knitting ONE sock. Don't think I wanted to try for another. Maybe I didn't even finish it. Can't remember doing toes. They would have been something. I remember turning the heel so I must have done something.

Maybe I shouldn't claim to have knitted a whole pair of socks.

agnespuffin, That's known as the :"SSS - Second Sock Syndrome." It is very well known in the knitting world and fully accepted. Me included.

Socks, socks, two bits a box
Never rip, never tear
Wish I had a million pair of
Socks, socks, two bits a box ...

(My great grandmother enjoyed repeating this whenever socks were mentioned -- we don't know where it came from.)

I live in an area with artsy, kooky, oddball people whose least concern would be which socks to wear with your shorts, sandals, etc. Cute that people on the forum you found were so worried about it.

Very interesting Petaloid. Sounds like a rope skipping rhyme. Hmm.. Geez, maybe if socks were two bits a box I'd wear em. Nah, I'm a serious barefooter. Getting me to wear shoes is a chore, so you can pretty much forget about socks. Scrunched down, eh? Interesting A.

West those socks look pretty cool. Literally and figuratively. Christy would like them. I just thought Dorf meant dam yankees.. smiles.

Socks with sandals may be the cool thing right now, but the vision of my great uncle, a WWI vet who had been gassed and had scared itchy legs that he slathered with calimine (sp) lotion (This pink stuff would turn white as it dried and flake off.) wearing shorts, sandals and black socks will prevent me from ever thinking socks and sandals is an acceptable fashion.

But the most important question is, should you remove your shoes at the front door when you come in???

(Sorry, couldn't resist. lol)

Karen

Oh Karen, what a can of worms that one is!

When I was in high school we wore a modified "bobby sock" and they had red bows on the back. Everyone loved them.

Most of my childhood, was barefoot here, even on crush and run driveways. If you're Southern enough. Do you know what crush and run is?

;)

And now there is another important question. The OP on the forum I mentioned has convinced me that I really, really, really should see that my husband wears the proper socks with his shorts.

You see, she says that it's important to present a good impression on others. I agree. However, now my question is: How many people create a good impression when they don a pair of shorts? Would the proper socks really help?

When he was my husband, Ed wanted to drag out a pair of khaki shorts to wear out. And they looked like they had been rolled up with a blender before putting them away. I'd say, Honey! Can you please run an iron over them? When he did, and his shirt was clean and tucked in, he looked pretty nice. Nowadays, he wears the blender shorts and everyones says man he looks really bad! He's really going downhill. So shorts can be ok. When ironed. But the right socks with 'em? C'mon!

The "Glamour 'Don't'" in this equation for me would be the wearing of shorts in the first place! I think I have two pairs of long walking shorts and wear them rarely. When I do, I wear them with flip flops (used to call them "thongs," but that evokes a different image these days) or sandals, so socks, as far as I'm concerned, are not even an option. I don't like it when Steve wears shorts when we travel. I'm always begging him to get some very lightweight khakis, as I think shorts come off as disrespectful.

Steve sometimes wants to wear socks with certain sandals, and I think the look is ridiculous. I associate it with NY retirees living in Florida, and tell him to go whole hog and go for the black socks with garters if he's going to dress like that. ;-P I did buy him some shorter-than-ankle-length, thin socks that match his flesh tone that he can wear with some of his sandals that don't expose much foot. They do absorb sweat (which is why he wants to wear them) and aren't very noticeable at all.

I don't keep my hands manicured because they're too useful to be pretty, but my feet are meticulously pedicured, even in the dead of winter. I go barefoot every chance I get. (Steve does too, and I often giggle at the barefoot footprints he leaves in the snow when he goes out to get the morning paper.)

We're now at the time of year that unless I wear hiking boots (though I'm just as likely to go sockless in Tevas for hiking-type activities) I'll only wear socks a handful of times for the next several months.

It's just as well really: Toolie has an incurable sock fetish. She steals them from drawers and the hamper and walks around the house with them in her mouth, wagging her tail like the evil fiend she is. ;o)

Since I wear orthotics in my shoes, I don't wear sandals, often, but when I do, I don't wear socks. However, my toenails have to be painted or --no sandals. As to other shoes, I don't like wearing them without something between my feet and the shoes, b/c of the perspiration issue: feet sweating in shoes feels awful, IMO! However, years ago, I remember a female relative, who shall remain nameless, wearing sandals with knee-high hose! I swear, I didn't want to go out in public with her.

Agnes, I'm going to look for that forum on style; it sounds interesting! :>)

It's 96* out there [with matching humidity]. I looked around and a) 3 of the nearest 50 people are not wearing shorts (me and 2 librarians); b) shoes vary but sandals and flipflops are in the majority 45-5; 3 shoe wearers have socks on; NO ONE else is wearing socks.

My rule of thumb, or toe: if the temp is cool enough to wear socks then it's cool enough to wear slacks instead of shorts.

Of course, I suffer from growing up under the influence of a peer-induced dress code, so I'm inclined to think that the public wearing of shorts should be limited to pre-adolescents and Twiggy-lookalikes. OTOH, if my shape were more Twiggy and considerably less Pillsbury, I'd wear shorts and ignore the age bias. What I really believe is that temperature and locale is most influential: when it's really hot out there: library, gas station, hardware and big-box stores are shorts-acceptable if you can stand to see a photo of yourself wearing them. Otherwise, slacks or skirts in gauze are just as comfortable and look better.

mjmercer, removing socks at the front door could be a cultural thing or a business thing.
Cultural being that some cultures remove their shoes before entering the home.
The business thing is about real estate, where there is an open house and the floors have been done and you're being asked to remove your shoes and put on booties.

west,

Karen is referring to the food fights that occur when the two schools of thought in the US are, remove your shoes so as not to ruin the beautiful floors or contaminate them, both really great points!!!! and the others who (and I can't find a good way to say it) don't agree, for whatever their reason. I don't make people take their shoes off. Just so you know which side of the issue I am on.

:)

I like the custom of removing shoes all though it works better where there are entry ways with a place to put them, not a norm in southern Calif. We did run around in socks or bare feet in Iowa and also used old socks to polish the hard wood floors.

Around here style is a consideration as baggy shorts with white knee high socks and a hoodie are common fare for those that like to cause trouble or intimidate. Plenty of working guys with cargo shorts and work boots whose sock come just above the boots.

Tourist stand out here too as there are so many attractions for them. They come in all colors so there is much to see. Even the wall mart people are more common due to the warmer weather.

Oh my, dd just told me I have the ugliest toes she has ever seen. I guess I better wear socks.

Rob, did you say what "crush and run" driveways are? If you did, I missed it. Would you explain, again, for me? Thank you.

I didn't say what it was west. Since it was a test, wink, wink. It's a Southern thing. And a poor southern thing. Just a step above a "dirt road".

It's a special type of gravel used in driveways here. The rocks are grey. Bigger and good for traction. If your driveway isn't paved here, it's likely covered in this. As opposed to say, pea gravel. Many of my happiest childhood days in the south, spent in not-so-affluent areas with gravel driveways.

Here is a link that might be useful: