Socks & sandals: Sexy or sad?

Tag : odd socks
Socks & sandals: Sexy or just sad? Trend-setting designers are taking dad's faux pas and putting it onthe runway. But does that make it right? June 14, 2008

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David Graham FASHION EDITOR

Long derided as the ultimate menswear misstep, wearing socks withsandals is being elevated to the status of fashion trend.
The S&S look, commonly worn by nerdy tourists, aging hippies,grunge musicians and outdoorsy types, was trotted out unabashedlyduring the spring menswear collections of designers like MiucciaPrada, Stefano Pilati for Yves Saint Laurent and Nicolas Ghesquierefor Balenciaga.
For fashionistas, this odd coupling of socks and sandalsconstitutes a particularly egregious type of male fashion crime andbelongs in a category that includes flood pants, too-tightclothing, pinkie rings and fanny packs.
Nevertheless, a handful of truly directional fashion designersfeels they have the clout to turn what's considered by many to be alapse in judgment into something that approaches avant garde.
The look is loathed, particularly by women.
Toronto wardrobe stylist Georgia Groom, for one, is aghast.
"There is nothing remotely cool about the look. Even as anironic fashion statement, it still makes me cringe. It's inelegantand, let's face it, it's not particularly virile.
"I can see how some cute kid could bust out the look but I'mnot letting my boyfriend anywhere near it."
Popular sex-and-relationship blogger Isabella Snow has ordereddates to return home to change when they've showed up sporting theoffending S&S combo.
"I think most of you do it because you think it looksgood...or at least normal," she writes.
"Let me tell you, this look is about as sexy as a pocketprotector and horn-rimmed glasses. Unless you're a 10th gradealgebra teacher, this look is inappropriate."
Check sandalandsoxer.co.uk for examples of men who have beencaptured on film in heavy work socks with Birkenstocks or blackdress socks with Tevas.
Look up "socks and sandals" in the Urban Dictionary for adefinition that's blunt. "A footwear combination worn only bythe fashion-challenged.
"If it's hot enough for sandals, it's too hot to wear socks.If it's cold enough to wear socks, it's too cold for sandals."
Sixtysomething Jorgen Fleischer wears his socks and sandals,proudly despite the protests of his wife.
"Men's toes never look very nice," says the consultantengineer who lives in Walter's Falls, Ont. "They are not veryappealing. Women dress their toes and take better care of them.
"My wife thinks it un-cool. But I don't know what's wrong withit."
The socks-and-sandals trend is part of the larger nerd movementthat may go back as early as the 1950s, when teens wore jeans withturned-up hems and horn-rimmed glasses.
In the decades since, the dork-as-fashion icon has surfacedperiodically in men's and women's attire.
According to the experts, the movement reached its geeky zenith inthe '90s when members of the burgeoning computer-savvy generationsoared to financial success