Now that fedoras, keffiyehs and bro-cardigans have somewhat fallen by the wayside in the "stylin' big city straight dude" fashion lexicon (and thank God for that), it was only a matter of time before some other overdressed-guy trend came along. Meet the Male Bougie Socks movement, which seems to be on the upswing lately.
There's the Kickstarter for Wits + Beaux, a luxe sock company for gentlemen of taste which is aiming to raise $40,000. Then there's Nice Laundry, which features classy and well-crafted options to spiff up the average dude's sock drawer. But wearing nice socks doesn't make you fey, insists the marketing for both companies — it makes you a hottt sock maverick. As Nice Laundry's website copy declares, "Our socks are badass."
Let's not forget Rob Kardashian's "Arthur George" sock line that debuted earlier this year, currently sold at Neiman Marcus for $15 a pop. Although, of the three options, Rob Kardashian would probably be the least debonair choice to emulate, for obvious reasons.
But why splash out on socks if nobody can even see them? I'm glad you asked. The upscale sock trend coincides with this summer's rolled-up chino extravaganza, as noted by Esquire earlier this month. While socks on display aren't specifically noted, they're no big fan of the cuff-roll. Writes Style & Grooming editor Jonathan Evans: "[Rolled up pants] artificially break the natural line of your legs and make you look shorter than you actually are."
We are inclined to agree. While we wholeheartedly believe that dudes, like women, should dress for themselves rather than for the opposite sex, it seems like these socks are being pitched as a ladykiller... and that feels like false advertising.
Sure, we're not into opening a dude's sock drawer and seeing anything out of Children of Men, but this trend is derivative of that post-Rat Pack "Christian from Clueless" thing we sometimes see on the street and admire in a platonic way. "Nice socks," we might think. Not, like, "Those socks make me want to have sex with you up against the wall of this Chipotle."
Keep the classy loafers, though. And buy me a burrito. Both of those are total aphrodisiacs.
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Image courtesy Nice Laundry
