Althouse: "We don’t have anything against socks; in fact, our big fluffy ones were extra helpful this chilly season."

February 15, 2014

"We don’t have anything against socks; in fact, our big fluffy ones were extra helpful this chilly season."

"But we’re not wild about jamming them under open-toed and/or summery shoes. Some may think it adds a youthful flair, but when we look at it, we see a crazy old lady shuffling off to evening bingo. Which will be great when we are that crazy old lady, but please don’t rush us there, designers. We have at least two more years."

Supposedly the scariest fashion trend on the horizon.

I like it. But then I am a (crazy) old lady.

ALSO: Check out the expressions on the faces of the women at "Worst Eavesdropping Experience" (and read the text of what they were listening to).

ADDED: From the Sartorialist in 2012: "If You’re Thinking About….Black Socks, Black Shoes" (located by clicking my "hosiery" tag).

AND: "Socks with sandals are on trend for spring/summer 2010."

PLUS: "Sometime around age 50, women start to let go of certain ideas about themselves and fashion. Up till then you can wear lots of silly or brash things, and if you are reasonably fit and attractive or consistently daring, it doesn’t really matter. You’re still with the tide. You are home free with your esoteric Pradas, your porkpie hats and coy Lolita socks, and no little voice is going, 'Heh-heh-heh, you’re too old for that.'"

And here's a picture I took of myself years ago, when I was 55:

19 comments:

Rob said...: "I am a (crazy) old lady" is certainly a valiant effort at defusing the inevitable comments, but self-deprecation goes only so far. Hence the use of parentheses.; 2/15/14, 9:59 AM
Lars Porsena said...: Oh yes! White socks with sandals!; 2/15/14, 10:06 AM
tim maguire said...: I wear socks with sandals and, yes, it does make me look like an old man. But one of the pleasures of being an old man is i don't have to give a crap. They're comfortable, that's all i need to know.; 2/15/14, 10:10 AM
JRoberts said...: Ah, but the professor is simply hiding her real fear as she knows the next real fashion trend is men in shorts with socks and sandals

"Robert Pattinson was spotted today walking down Rodeo Drive wearing his Ralph Lauren plaid Bermuda shorts, knee-high white tube socks (with complimentary stripes) and Birkenstock sandals."; 2/15/14, 10:10 AM
MathMom said...: My sister says socks-with-sandals is just "North Idaho chic"!; 2/15/14, 10:10 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "My sister says socks-with-sandals is just "North Idaho chic"!"

Let's attempt to guess the location, within a hemi-state, of the commenter's sister.; 2/15/14, 10:20 AM
Ann Althouse said...: And why choose north for Idaho? I mean, look at a map of Idaho. One thing you've got to say about "North Idaho" (not sure about why the "n" is capitalize) is: She's so skinny!

If I wanted to indicate an unfashionable hemi-state. I'd choose South Minnesota or South New Hampshire or, obviously, South Idaho.; 2/15/14, 10:24 AM
s4e4 said...: One lace appears to be right over left, the other left over right.; 2/15/14, 10:31 AM
MathMom said...: North Idaho is what they call the area of Idaho that is part of the Inland Empire.

If you are ever trying to pass yourself off as an native of say, Athol, Idaho (yeah, I know...some people call it Anuth), Coeur d'Alene (core duh lane), or Hayden, Idaho, and you say, "I'm from Northern Idaho", they will know you are a fake.

I guess the next question would be, "Why would you want to pass yourself off as a native of North Idaho?" This is question I'll leave for everyone just to ponder.

Me? I'm a native of Southern Idaho. We don't do that "South Idaho" pretentious shit.; 2/15/14, 10:45 AM
MathMom said...: The skinny part of Idaho is a surveyor's error. It was supposed to be part of Washington state.

As it is, it's the panhandle.

I have always thought there should be some sort of caucus, like the Congressional Black Caucus, or confederation, of states with panhandles. They would then be able to air their grievances and get compensation, or maybe declare their superiority and laugh and point at all non-panhandle states. Maybe they could seceded en masse and become the United But Non-Contiguous Panhandle States of America.

Who knows where it would lead for panhandle states to be joined as a grievance group?; 2/15/14, 10:54 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "As it is, it's the panhandle."

There's something messed up about a vertical panhandle. Not very pan-y.

Florida -- there's a panhandle. Oklahoma. Keeping it horizontal. Idaho seems more like a broom… or a last-minute desperate need to maintain an escape route to Canada.; 2/15/14, 11:05 AM
Wince said...: "Worst Eavesdropping Experience".

FW is a status exercise in limited access, proximity and being seen.

I don't think "worst experience" is the most accurate way to describe the honest reaction of those listening to or writing about this episode, if true, unless it revealed in some way a the degrading manner in which she obtained her own access.

Gossip is currency. And what society woman would want to miss such a gem of confirmed biases and moral superiority in exchange for boring stories of runway fashions nobody really wears anyway?; 2/15/14, 11:06 AM
MathMom said...: I always thought Florida was just two panhandles stuck together.

Escape route! Good idea.; 2/15/14, 11:11 AM
JackWayne said...: Socks with sandals = men with shorts?; 2/15/14, 1:20 PM
George M. Spencer said...: Idaho's mighty pretty place.

Isn't the scariest fashion trend the return of the midi dress? That whole hemline stock market correlation thing, you know.; 2/15/14, 2:41 PM
Trashhauler said...: It remains a ruefull truth that if you are young, in shape, and possess all of your limbs, the chances are that any fashion will suit you.

As we age, not so much.

Any slim twenty-year-old, of any gender, can wear whatever pair of socks falls into the hand. They don't even have to match.; 2/15/14, 4:31 PM
Original Mike said...: Is this this selfie thing I've been hearing so much about?; 2/15/14, 5:00 PM
paul a'barge said...: I remember those shoes.

They rocked then and they rock now.; 2/15/14, 6:46 PM
MayBee said...: There's something messed up about a vertical panhandle. Not very pan-y.

If you've learned anything from Facebook, you should have learned not to be so judgmental about orientation.; 2/16/14, 8:19 AM