Long socks can brighten your look if you’re bold enough to include them in your outfit. Long gone from being an unnoticeable part of an outfit, in recent years, socks have become a real fashion accessory that you can use to upgrade your look. So how can you style long socks?
Men can wear long socks with shorts and sneakers. While women can wear a mini skirt, summer dress, shorts or jeans shorts with long socks. Above, men and women can wear a t-shirt, pullover, or jacket. For footwear, in addition to sneakers, women can choose heels or ankle boots.
In the rest of this post, I’ll show you how men and women can combine long socks with their outfits.
How do you style long socks?
Long socks can be worn as an accessory by men and women almost all year round – from spring to fall. Long socks cover a large part of the leg so we won’t get cold on less warm days. Long socks can be combined with both casual and sporty looks.
First of all, I would like to clarify what counts as long socks. Long socks are crew socks and anything longer than that. Crew socks go up to about mid-leg, but we also know knee-high and over-the-knee socks. Now let’s see how men and women can wear long socks.
How do men style long socks?
Men who wear suits often wear long socks, as dress socks often reach the knees, and the calves prevent the socks from creeping toward the shoes. Dress socks are so long that the skin on the leg is not visible when we sit down. This is the etiquette, but it is different if we opt for a sockless look with no-show socks. You can read more about this in my post explaining why wearing shoes without socks is not a good idea.
Men wear dress socks with long trousers, but long socks can also be worn with shorts.
Men wear crew socks with sneakers more often than knee-high socks. In a few cases, you can incorporate knee-high socks into your outfit, as Justin Bieber did in the picture above. As for the casual look, I’m a fan of crew socks with sneakers and shorts. Crew socks have become popular recently, especially among young people, so I suggest you look at how you can wear them.
Some men even wear dress socks with shorts (left picture below) which is now a trend, especially for summer weddings. However, I still prefer wearing no-show tights with dress shoes or loafers.
How do women style long socks?
Women have more options for combining long socks, which can be worn with sneakers, ankle boots, and even high heels. You can combine long socks with casual shorts, denim shorts, a summer dress, or a short skirt. You can wear a short T-shirt, pullover or jacket for a top.
When choosing socks, they should be the same color as your trousers or dress. Socks do not need to match your shoes; just like socks, you need to match your shoes with your outfit. The socks and shoes do not have to be the same color as your clothes, but it is important that they are at least a similar shade (dark clothes – dark shade, light clothes – lighter shade). I suggest you read more about how to match socks with clothes here.
Are high socks in style?
High socks are back in style, especially crew and knee-high socks. Long socks go best with sneakers and ankle boots. They are an accessory to an outfit and can be worn with a dress, trousers, shorts, or a sporty look.
Where else can we find long socks?
Long socks can also be found in sports. Runners and basketball players often wear long socks. They usually wear compression socks, which serve a health rather than an aesthetic purpose. Athletes may wear compression socks during and after their sporting activity. Compression socks prevent cramps during sporting activity and speed up recovery after the activity.
I recommend compression socks to anyone who has problems with cramps and varicose veins and whose legs often hurt because you sit or stand too much. You can read more about compression socks here.
How to wear long socks with shorts?
Wearing long socks with shorts suits a more casual look with sneakers. You can wear crew or knee-high socks. For this look, tights are an accessory that works well if you wear neutral-colored socks or colorful socks with patterns and stripes.
Long socks with shorts are only suitable for a casual look and are not suitable when you are dressed formally (in this case, it is better to wear no-show socks). The purpose of long socks is to hide behind the trousers when dressed formally and to cover the skin when you sit down.
For a casual look with shorts, put socks on and pull them up as far as possible. Then push them down until they start to wrinkle. If you don’t push the socks down, you will look like you are wearing compression socks. You can also wrinkle or fold your socks if you like.