I was given a free pair of socks today with my new boots. It’s making me think about my sock collection.
For the last ten years or so I’ve only bought one brand of socks. The same type even. All white. At three bucks a pair they have been good enough quality to keep me happy. Having all the same socks saves me from spending any amount of time sorting and pairing them. Whenever a sock looks nasty or gets a hole I throw it out. Anytime my supply runs low I add some new ones to the mix.
This free pair of socks messes up my system but they are more comfy then my cheaper socks. I could upgrade to a higher quality sock and keep my same system I supose but that would be expensive.
I have other socks for dressing up for occasions and a collection of wool socks I wear over my regular ones for cold outdoor work.
Am I totaly bizare with my system? anyone else do something similar? Do normal people buy different socks all the time and have to match them up every time they do laundry?
For a long time I bought plain white socks in packages of six from Footlocker. I’d match the ones with the stamp on them with the ones without, and try to match new-to-new and old-to-old. My rationale was that the socks wore evenly that way and lasted longer.
After I moved to Washington I took to buying my socks at REI. They’re more comfortable. I get a variety of colours, so I have to match them. Since they are all of approximately the same vintage, I don’t bother with the new-with-new/old-with-old thing. They’re all pretty much in nice condition.
There is one thing that might be considered odd though: How I fold them. My dad was a Navy ‘mustang’. There was One Way to fold socks: Put them together, roll them from the toes, and flip the tops over them. But when I was ten years old I changed the way I folded my socks. I put them together, and then fold them in half. That’s all. My dad was a little irritated and told me to fold my socks. I said that if I folded them the old way the tops get stretched out. My new way didn’t stretch the tops out. He accepted my argument. (But he still folded his socks the Navy Way.) I still fold my socks my way.
I buy (mostly, sometimes I get grey heels or soles) white socks, and do pretty much the same thing you do. Except, sometimes they don’t match exactly. Not usually a problem, as I wear jeans to work and don’t care if my socks don’t match at the gym. It’s usually just a slight length difference or ribbing width difference anyway.
My system is very similar to yours, boytyperanma. I always wear long pants (and usually boots) so most people never even see my socks, unless I’m sitting a certain way. This makes sock management easy - I only buy black socks. There are a few navy pairs have crept in, but even if I end up wearing one black and one navy, nobody will likely notice. There are one or two white pairs that I’ve acquired somehow, and those are the only flaw in my system. Generally, I don’t think of socks as “pairs”. I don’t need to. I have a basket full of loose socks, and I just reach in and grab two. I throw away socks that are too old, and buy new ones as needed. I don’t have any problem with odd or missing socks. If one was missing, I wouldn’t even notice.
My “system” mostly consists of buying a few pairs of dark socks every time I happen to be in TJ Maxx, then wandering around the house every morning, digging through every drawer and every pile of vaguely clean laundry, muttering to myself about how I can buy a couple dozen pairs of black socks every year and I can still never find a pair that matches. I then either find a pair of black socks that sort of vaguely matches, or I get some white socks (which match up much more easily, since they’re all alike) and wear my boots. (One of the biggest reasons I wear my Doc Martens to work so often is that I can wear white socks with them.)
I’d estimate that this process adds about ten points to my systolic blood pressure. I have honestly wondered more than once if it would be worth it to buy black socks in huge quantities and wear each pair once before giving them to Goodwill.
I buy white socks for wearing with sneakers and black socks for wearing to work. It doesn’t matter that I always buy the same kind, they still end up looking a bit different from each other so I make a point of trying to match them. Not sure why; I doubt anyone would notice if my socks were unmatched.
My method too. As well as the black pairs I have a grey pair and two two-tone pairs. The odd pairs of white socks are remnants of tennis and cricket playing days. Mine aren’t in a basket they are in a drawer but the method is the same - grab some and make up a pair. They are all the “all day socks” that have no elastic at the top - much more comfortable.
I mostly wear gray athletic socks from Old Navy. I don’t match them up in any way, just grab two from the drawer. When one gets a hole I throw it out, and occasionally re-stock. So I might be wearing one that’s relatively old with one that’s relatively new. No problem.
I also have a few pairs of black socks and a few other colors for dressing up, which is rare these days.
I also have a few socks that are balled up with catnip inside, but they’re not for me.
I tell them, “Socks, look - I’m going to start you at minimum wage. But if you work very hard and prove yourself, after 6 months we’ll review your salary and benefits and adjust your compensation accordingly.”
Then I make sure to fire them within 6 months and replace them with new socks.
I buy Cub Hubby one type and color of socks and don’t bother to match them up. When they start getting shabby we start over with 18-24 new pairs and throw the old ones out.
He does have a couple of pairs of specialty socks like the thin nylon ones for wearing with his dress shoes and a suit but they don’t really count.
I usually just wear boots and all my socks are black or very dark blue, so matching isn’t really an issue. I just chuck out a sock whenever it gets a hole. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit, but my dear old mum still buys me socks for birthday and Xmas, so I only have to buy myself about half a dozen pairs a year.
Years ago, I read that the actor George Hamilton never laundered (or had laundered) his socks and underwear, he just threw them out after one wearing. I always thought that would be great: no accumulating in the hamper, no washing, no drying, no sorting or folding, no worries about cleanliness vis-a-vis the opposite sex, etc…and all for only a few bucks a day (in my case, that is; GH’s mileage most certainly varies ). Still, I’ve just never been able to bring myself to actually do it, even though I probably spend more just buying a soft drink and package of crackers at 7-11.
). Still, I’ve just never been able to bring myself to actually do it, even though I probably spend more just buying a soft drink and package of crackers at 7-11.