# Socks (a poll) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210 "2003-01-17T12:51:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/21 "2003-01-17T18:07:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cjhoworth \* > \*\*I’d rather knit socks than wear them. Actually, I’m wearing a pair of cotton socks now as a concession to the cold, but I’ve been known to run out to get the paper in barefoot through the snow. > > On the other hand, I knitted a friend of mine a pair of really funky socks for Christmas, and I have knitted a pair of what I affectionately call “Elizabethan Ugly Socks”. > > CJ \*\* Hey! I’m a sock knitter, too. I’m 3/4 of the way through my first pair, done with Regia stripe. I have a big ball of Trekking for my next pair, and I got 2 sock books for Christmas. One even has directions for toe socks! ---
**Author:** ![odd-socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@odd-socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/odd-socks)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/22 "2003-01-17T19:36:57Z")
**Garius** heh. 😃 Cotton. Non-elasticated tops. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/23 "2003-01-17T19:43:35Z")
White. Cotton. Always. However, I have a drawer full of black socks made of nylon and other non-natural materials given to me by the same people at Christmas and other times over and over again. I think they are trying to give me a hint. Screw 'em. White. Cotton. Always. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/24 "2003-01-17T20:15:48Z")
Cotton, usually black because I wear black pants and black shoes a lot. For those who wear white cotton always, do you ever wear black pants and/or black shoes? ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/25 "2003-01-17T20:25:34Z")
I forgot - If you do the dark pants, white socks, dark shoes thing, are you an engineer? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/26 "2003-01-17T20:35:43Z")
A wool-cotton blend (they’re called ‘Explorers’ down here) and they are thick and spongy and incredibly comfortable. I used to wear them winter _and_ summer, but in the last couple of years I’ve taken to wearing sandals in the warmer weather, so my Explorers only come out now when I need to wear my riding boots. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/27 "2003-01-17T20:41:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by porcupine \* > \*\*I forgot - > > If you do the dark pants, white socks, dark shoes thing, are you an engineer? 😃 \*\* Hmph. The uniform of the day is: plaid flannel shirt, blue jeans, white socks and running shoes. Perhaps one day I’ll open a thread for the purpose of discussing the pregant irony of my decision to wear running shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/28 "2003-01-17T20:44:15Z")
Or “pregnant irony” dammit. I need to go home. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/29 "2003-01-17T20:50:14Z")
I wear tights or cotton socks. My husband, on the other hand, wears some sort of wool blend, and he’s absolutely fanatical about his socks. He has to wear them inside out so the threads from the woven-in design don’t touch his feet. And they have to be the right thickness and elasticity factor. He’s obsessed, I tell ya. ---
**Author:** ![Nenya\_Elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@Nenya\_Elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nenya_Elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/30 "2003-01-17T21:11:13Z")
White cotton (?) sport socks, pretty much always, except for some really cool novelty socks my mom’s been buying me for the last couple of Christmases/birthdays–with kitties or hearts or Christmas pics on them. And the one pair of toey socks with bright rainbow colours on them…all those are still cotton, though. ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/31 "2003-01-17T21:45:46Z")
Actually, if it’s gonna be anything at all, it’s gonna be choice #4, but that’s more for the benefit of Mr Sidle. (See? Ya never DO know!) 😉 I no like socks. It’s about 30-40 degrees here today, and I’m wearing black “highwater” slacks with loafers and my ankles exposed, 'cause I’d rather them be cold than “socked.” EEWWW-they just really gross me out. Speaking of garters, though, any guys out there still wear those sock garters I’ve seen in movies? ---
**Author:** ![skot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@skot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skot)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/32 "2003-01-18T01:59:11Z")
1. Cotton. All purpose and comfy. (Wool makes my feet sweat…☹ ) ---
**Author:** ![g8rguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@g8rguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/g8rguy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/33 "2003-01-18T03:38:10Z")
Cotton, almost inevitably white unless I’m wearing dress shoes (or playing soccer, in which case pretty much anything goes). Can’t wear wool as I have the immense misfortune to be allergic to it, and on especially super cold days, I just wear two pairs of cotton socks instead. Fortunately, here in Florida I don’t have this problem too often. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/34 "2003-01-18T03:39:38Z")
Cotton. Black cotton only. (In fact, cotton socks are all I can find at Target. Where do wool socks even exist, outside of Scotland?) Why do I buy all my socks at Target? And why are they all absolutely identical? Because I hate sorting socks. When they are all exactly the same, I am saved the bother of having to sort them after laundering. I just pair them up easily. I don’t like to be given gifts of socks that don’t match the ones I already have, it throws off my neat and simple system. One more benefit of having all identical sox is that when one of a pair goes missing, as it inevitably must, sucked into the voracious maw of the chrono-synclastic infinity vortex lurking in the laundry room, it’s no problem. The bereaved member of the pair can match up just as well with any other sock in the drawer. ---
**Author:** ![cadolphin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@cadolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cadolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/35 "2003-01-18T04:05:17Z")
I’m really a bare foot or sandles kinda person but when I have to wear socks, it’s always cotton. I get sick when I get to hot and I find that wool even fleece make me to sick. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/36 "2003-01-18T04:26:57Z")
Usually plain black cotton of various thicknesses but currently I have many pairs of “Cushion Feet”, in which the foot bit seems like it may be a cotton/wool blend but I don’t actually recall. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/37 "2003-01-18T12:40:41Z")
In winter, Smartwool socks, possibly with polypro liners. Spring and summer, it’s Allen Iverson black athletic socks. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/38 "2003-01-18T13:26:15Z")
- - - Cotton socks are the worst, the only good thing about them is that they’re cheap. Wool and synthetic fiber socks cost more but feel much better, if that’s what you’re dressing for. My only “sock rule” is _no cotton at all_. - I like wearing thicker/looser-woven (wool/synthetic) socks --they’re very comfortable-- but the problem is they don’t hold up very long at all considering they cost $15+ a pair. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/39 "2003-01-18T15:57:30Z")
At the very least, you’ve guaranteed that every single Moderator and Administrator will look at your thread, **Rue DeDay** 🙂 Personally, I prefer black cotton socks. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210/40 "2003-01-18T16:03:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\* Where do wool socks even exist, outside of Scotland?) \*\* Outdoor stores. Department stores. Men’s clothing stores. Unisex clothing stores like the Gap, Banana Republic, Eddie Bauer, Brooks Brothers, etc. Discount stores like Marshall’s. Catalogs like L.L. Bean and Lands’ End. Basically anywhere that sells anything but the most cheapo stuff. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-a-poll/149210.md?page=3)