With shorts that is. Do the ladies of the sdmb like the look, or do I look like a doofus?
I vote yeah, it’s a good look if you’ve got nice calves. I love well-shaped calves.
(Even if you don’t, socks with hiking boots are fine. Blisters aren’t sexy, and I would imagine they would result if one wore hiking boots without socks).
Looks, schmooks–if you’re wearing hiking boots without socks you look like an idiot who’s going to be living with some pretty nasty blisters. Besides, the hiking boots come pretty far up the ankle anyway and if you don’t have socks on with them you just have big bulky boots that make your ankles look bony and pipestemmy by comparison. Wear the damned socks and if you don’t like the look of them pulled up high fold them down into a cuff at the top of the boot.
Women who hike don’t give two shits about fashion anyway, at least not on the trail. Form follows function and a man who’s properly decked out for hiking is infinitely more attractive than some dork who wore the wrong thing out of some misguided need to look cool and who will probably be whinging and complaining all along the trail because his fashion statement is giving him pain.
Socks with hiking boots are just fine. Hiking boots, worn properly, are really sexy on a man. Now, that being said, do not wear socks with flip flops or sandals. That is not cool at all.
I guess hiking boots might be a misnomer. I’m not wearing them hiking, I’m wearing them to work, etc.
Socks, absolutely; any type of hiking or work boot looks stupid without socks and, more importantly, will punish you for not wearing socks. But wear appropriate socks (not trouser socks), and slouch them down or fold them over, don’t pull them up like knee-socks on a Girl Scout.
A big “NO” to socks with sandals, though.
Yes, wear socks. Boots, tennis shoes, anything but sandals, wear socks. Shoes without socks is freaking nasty.
I wouldn’t want to smell any guy’s well-fermented foot funk from a day in boots without socks. By all means, wear the socks.
If you want to go really, really high maintenance, send your foot, ankle and calf measurements to one of the knitters here and get kitted out in a pair of wool socks that go up just high enough above your boots to protect. Wool prevents blisters better than cotton. Hand knitted socks fit better, and you can get cool stripey socks.
Yes, wear the socks. Can’t imagine hiking boots without them, even if you’re not hiking.
I wear mine with socks and shorts now and then, but I’m not specifically known for my spactacular fashion choices. To give myself credit, usually I wear them when I’m actually going camping or otherwise doing some hard work that I feel that I can wear shorts for.
I may be showing my Oregon roots here but I rarely see men without socks, whether they are wearing Danners, Chacos, or Birkenstocks.
If men wear any other type of shoe I don’t see it here 
If anything, hiking boots without socks are a major no no. Or, what they said.
Especially with kilts. Then it’s even SEXIER.
(I used to wear socks with my Birkenstock-rip-offs.) hangs head in shame
Definitely boots and socks. There is no real alternative.
Have you ever work them to work to stand around in all day? I am just asking because I wore my hikers to work one day- big mistake. It confused the hell out of me that I could hike in them forever and wear them all day whilst camping/hiking/mapping and my feet never bother me. I wore them to work and standing around was a major pain in the foot at the end of the day.
Also, socks should always be worn with hiking boots, even the low cut trail runner “boots”. If just wearing them to the work a light hiker sock (like the Smartwool brand*) or just a nice pair of regular cotton socks would be okay.
*Yes they are wool socks but they are nothing short of divine. Merino wool, super soft and your feet don’t get hot in them.
Boots without socks? That’d be like jeans without underwear. Yuck.
What kind of boots and what kind of shorts? I’m more concerned about the boots/shorts combo.
Socks, of course, as long as they are the kind that end more or less where the top of the boot ends. You don’t want to have boots to your ankles with socks that go up to your knees. You can fold over the sock or smoosh it down to get it to right level. It’s okay if the sock is visible, just not miles of sock.
Hiking boots. Socks. Utilikilt. Drooling Faerie.
Don’t know about any other guy, but my husband had on that very combo this morning as he headed off to work, and I thought to myself, “Boy, he looks HOTT!!!” 
YMMV
Does this parachute make my ass look big? Maybe I should go without…
Hiking boots must be worn with socks.
Sandals should be worn with socks only sometimes, and then only the super-short style.
LVgeogeek: another Smartwool fan, I see. My shorty sandal socks are black Smartwool.
Yea, no shit!! Everyone is ignoring the elephant in the room. This guy is wearing boots with shorts! Socks are the least of his worries.