Topic: Socks

[6pairsofshoes]

Many men seem to have issues finding comfortable socks.
My father often complained about the seam that went over his toe being too thick and rubbing against the toe of his shoes.  I used to go to Marks and Spencer to find him socks he liked.  Given this required a transatlantic trip, I didn't get over there much, so this was a major mission for us on travels.

My husband used to order the same good sturdy cotton socks from Gold Toe.  Either the company was sold to a multinational that now wants everything made in China, or they just decided to quit making those cotton ones because they cost too much.  So I've been buying new old stock of these on eBay but they are dwindling in availability.  Now he's switched to a rayon blend, and it was a real job finding those.  I checked stores in Portugal but no luck.

Do you guys have sock issues?  Or is it just my male relatives?

[smokester]

Post a link to the online shop for the socks that you want, and DM me an address.

We should be able to sort the "M&S socks without a transatlantic trip" issue.

TNG and I have nearly the same shoe size and can wear each others shoes if needs be. However, I couldn't wear the socks he wears outside of a sock emergency. They are too thick and too tight and I just feel like I'm going to faint. He, however, swears by them.

I have quite thin black socks (no other colours) and have dozens of pairs of the same brand. I can never find a pair though. There's always one knocking around, but never a pair ...

[6pairsofshoes]

Post a link to the online shop for the socks that you want, and DM me an address.

We should be able to sort the "M&S socks without a transatlantic trip" issue.

That’s really kind of you but my Dad passed away several years ago and my husband is dealing with the US sock supply for now. That said, when he was let loose on M&S on our first trip together to the UK he turned into a veritable clothes horse, which is pretty funny given that he "hates to shop."

[smokester]

Sorry to hear that - belated condolences - but that is on you: you should have mentioned it earlier!

When we lived in Alabama we did a road trip to Ottawa because there was (back in the 1990s at least) an M&S there. Going to visit Niagara Falls was just a side benefit.

I did not know that. Apparently they had 47 stores in Canada at one point.

That would have been a road trip to remember.

[6pairsofshoes]

Sorry to hear that - belated condolences - but that is on you: you should have mentioned it earlier!

When we lived in Alabama we did a road trip to Ottawa because there was (back in the 1990s at least) an M&S there. Going to visit Niagara Falls was just a side benefit.

Thank you for the condolences.  It was hard to lose my father as he was a really good guy.

My main reason for the post was to see if others had sock searching trials.  I have found lots of socks in various places for women, it's just men that I know (or have known) who complain.  It surprises me to not be able to find a replacement for the sturdy cotton socks that my husband bought for years, since you'd assume that in a free market with billions of customers, a market niche could be carved out for such things.  You only have to check the reviews on amazon to see the endless complaints of people who used to buy the same brand socks and their laments that they are no longer available.  It's not a limited phenomenon.

I'm amused to hear of your trip all the way from Alabama to Ottawa to visit M&S.  That's a schlep for a shopping trip.  The first time I went to M&S was in Paris in the 1980's.  I didn't even realize it was a British store, but I was very young and had no idea.  I still have a couple of sweet rayon dresses from that shopping trip that no longer fit.  They'll join others for donations as I clean out the closets.

[christ]

My main reason for the post was to see if others had sock searching trials.

I hate socks with a passion. The way that they are made means that there is a seam that irritates the fire out of my toes. It doesn't seem to be avoidable, so I have just learned to live with it.

All of my sock searching trials are related to the washing machine eating them (well, one of every pair).

[6pairsofshoes]

The fact is that we lag at least 50 years behind the stage in which England finds itself at present.  There, knit underclothes have vanquished woven underclothes....We proceeded step by step, from one part of the body to the next.  ...
We began with the feet.  In this area we have also made progress.  We no longer wear foot wrappings but stockings.  ...
If a man came to Vienna from the Balkan states, where they still wear foot wrappings, and went in search of a lingerie shop where he could buy his customary foot covering, he would be met with the news -- incomprehensible to him -- that foot wrappings cannot be bought in Vienna.  He could, of course, order them.  "Well, what do people wear here then?"  "Socks."  "Socks?  Why they are very uncomfortable.  And too hot in the summer.  Doesn't anyone wear foot wrappings anymore?"  "Oh yes, the very old people.  But the young people find foot wrappings uncomfortable."  And so the good man from the Balkans decides with a heavy heart to make the attempt to wear socks.  In doing so he arrives at a new rung of human culture." 

Adolph Loos, "Underclothes" published in the Neue Freie Press, (Vienna) September 25, 1898.

So, you see, this problem is not a new one.  And it drove me across oceans in search of socks that minimized the seam over the toe.  My dear departed father had the same complaint that you make.  One could always experiment with linen foot wrappings, I guess.

I wonder what Napoleon's soldiers wore on their feet when they invaded Russia.  Probably linen foot wrappings.  I can imagine the incidences of frostbite were pretty high.

[christ]

M Loos had the right of it.