The Rules for Wearing Socks (or Not!) in the Summer
Next time you’re outside, look at ankles. Observe socks. These little tubes of fabric that you ball up and toss in the laundry every night are the Rosetta Stone of style. Humans have been wearing socks since the time of antiquity, and for better or worse they’ve been fashion statements ever since. There’s a pair in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Shakespeare included a joke about a guy’s fun socks in Twelfth Night.
In other words, you can learn a lot about someone from their choice of socks.
For instance, crew socks—the ones that hit about mid-calf—suggest their wearer is Gen Z, a cohort that’s embraced longer hosiery. Ankle socks are the realm of millennials. The debate over which style is better got so heated last summer that The New York Times cast it as an intergenerational war. Going sockless transmits volumes of information about a person, and no-show socks, which suggest someone is barefoot in their shoes when in fact they’re not, are the most insidious of them all.
So where does this leave you?
In the colder months, when you’re wearing long pants and possibly boots, socks are an important but less essential component of a wardrobe. In the summer—due to shorts, shoe styles, and cropped pants—socks or bare ankles are part of the look. When the weather is warm, choosing the right sock requires care. We are here to uncomplicate the process so that you can pull on your socks every morning with ease.
Consider this your guide to not only which socks to wear now—including style, length, and brand—but also when and how to go sockless, as well as tips for avoiding foot odor. This guide is specific to the summer months. You won’t find advice here on how to wear wool or cashmere on your feet. Even if some of this material strikes you as controversial, remember we have your best interests at heart. In 2011, Esquire told readers, “Most people who say ‘nice socks’ do not mean it.” We want you to feel confident—and to not draw the attention of a smartass who might say, “Nice socks, pal.”
Jake Mueser of menswear brand J. Mueser went sockless with Belgian loafers in our Five Fits With series.
Yes, there is no better time to bare your ankles. Doing so suggests you’ve got an easy, breezy personality, like you just stepped off your boat or left your lake house to pick up a few essentials in town. It conjures images of summers in New England and along the Riviera. Going sans socks is Peak Summer. But looking effortless and timeless requires you to understand a few essential guidelines.
First, the sweat from your feet can hasten the destruction of your shoes. Sweat and friction erode the lining, especially when your footwear is made of leather or suede. The glue that keeps the shoe together can come apart, and the wear and tear of going sockless can deform the shape.
So that means you need to consider the kind of shoes to wear with bare feet; consider canvas sneakers, espadrilles, boat shoes, fisherman scandals. The materials from these shoes are forgiving on your naked feet, they can better withstand the damage of sweat and friction, and quite simply, they look good with bare ankles.
You should wear socks with leather or suede lace-ups. Otherwise you’ll shred your feet, stink up the shoes, and damage the hell out of them. Plus, in formal settings (job interview, court hearing), regardless of the season, you’ll want to wear socks and dress shoes.
Leather or suede loafers, on the other hand, represent a gray area. Loafers look good without socks, whether you’re wearing shorts or pants. But the risks remain. So if you choose to forego socks, do so with eyes wide-open: You might get blisters, your shoes might reek, you might fuck them up. But yes, you will look good.
The other day I had a conversation with a legend in the world of menswear. It was a 95 degree day in New York—swampy, gross—and he wore brown suede John Lobb lace-ups with socks under a pair of cotton pants. I was wearing light-brown suede Scarosso loafers with a tassel, no socks. He took one look at my feet and practically gasped. “A shoemaker would take a chisel to your throat if he saw this,” the legend said.
Fair. But worth it for the look.
How can I avoid stinky feet?If you’re going sockless, especially in the summer, you will likely have to contend with foot odor, the technical term for which is, suitably, bromodosis. There are ways to avoid the stink, but know that the solutions aren’t airtight.
- Rotate your shoes. If you’re going sockless in the same pair every day, the odor will build up.
- Use baby powder. Sprinkling some cornstarch in your shoes and on your feet will help keep them dry and mask foot odor. Be careful when going to a house where you have to remove your shoes; you’ll be the guy leaving white footprints all over the floor. In that case, you might try a foot-odor spray from Dr. Scholl’s or rubbing antiperspirant on your feet.
- Wash your feet. Do it when you get home. Make sure you’re scrubbing in between your toes, where bacteria hides.
- Clip and maintain your toenails. Some nasty stuff can accumulate in those toenails. Keep ’em trimmed and cleaned out.
- Clean your shoes—especially the insoles.
Another look from Mueser, this time with socks.
It’s hot. The air is thick with humidity. You need thin cotton-blend socks that hit about halfway up your calf. My two favorite brands are London Sock Company and Ralph Lauren. I buy them in bulk and wear them out—or until one half of a pair gets lost in the laundry. Other brands to check out include Pantherella, American Trench, and Uniqlo.
Keep it simple with the color. A general rule around Esquire is that fun socks suggest the wearer is, in fact, not fun at all. He is overcompensating. For black lace-ups, wear black or navy socks. You might also consider a burgundy or deep green. Stripes are fine, but as a rule of thumb, make sure there are only three colors or fewer of stripe.
Loafers worn with socks can also look good. A decade ago you could be exiled from the Esquire offices for doing such a thing. No longer. Go ahead—wear socks with loafers. Just be mindful of the color. Pair black loafers with black or navy socks, brown or light-brown loafers with tan or light-brown socks. Again, you could consider a burgundy sock. I even have a purple sock from London Sock Company that I wear with loafers and lace ups. White socks with black loafers can be a style flex, and wearing an athletic sock with a stripe adds a casual element to the look. But know that fashion civilians will recognize it as a choice, so do so purposefully.
There’s a trend among the cool people in Paris, Milan, London, and New York of wearing socks with loafers and shorts. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll likely see this trend take hold on the streets of your community soon. It’s not bad! The fashion guys often pair this with long, baggy shorts and a button-down shirt. I prefer socks and loafers worn with seven- or five-inch shorts, a battered T-shirt, and a baseball cap. The contrast of casual summer clothes with a dressier thing happening on your feet is interesting and—similar to going sockless—conveys a certain devil-may-care attitude.
The actor Paul Mescal went to a Gucci fashion show in the summer of 2024 wearing shorts, loafers, and white socks.
Low-slung socks that “hug the foot like ballet slippers,” as The Wall Street Journal once wrote, suggesting the wearer has nothing on his foot at all, were dominant in the first two decades of the 2000s. That Journal story—which is from 2002—described no-shows as a “male-fashion rage.” They allow a person the aesthetic benefits of going sockless without the consequences.
In the past couple years, however, the opinion on these cheaters has soured. The fashion set started embracing actual socks nearly a decade ago, and so did people in their teens and 20s—Generation Z—until the look became ubiquitous. At the same time, writers started bemoaning no-shows, calling attention to their discomfort, particularly the unique pain in the ass of the back sliding underneath your heel. Esquire was well ahead of the trend. In 2011, we wrote, “Some men wear something called socklets to make it seem as if they’re not wearing any socks at all. These men should stop doing that.”
For many people, the appeal of no-show socks endures. Habits are hard to break—particularly the bad ones. But we stand by our advice from 2011: Stop wearing these “socklets.” Wear socks people can see. Or skip them and commit to the stink and the damage to your shoes. Don’t cheat and wear no-shows. They are disingenuous, and they prompt a far more ominous question about their wearer: What else are you hiding?
The musician Del Water Gap knows a thing or two about sporty socks.
For years, the dominant trend was to wear sneakers—think Jordans, Nike AF1's, or New Balances—with socks that hit the ankles. There are plenty of people who insist that maintaining this habit is a hill they will die on. I’ve got bad news for them: It’s time to abandon the trend. Gen Z won this battle. Adapt!
Buy crew socks. Nike Dri-Fits are great, but so is an eight-pack of white athletic socks from Costco. You can also try Stance, Bombas, and the aforementioned American Trench. Consider a pair with a stripe at the top of the sock, which offers a retro vibe.
The exception to this rule is canvas sneakers. You can wear crew socks with a pair of Vans, for instance, but you can still go sockless with them and not look out of step. You’ll appear beachy instead. Just remember: Avoid no-shows and ankle socks.
Harry Styles pairs white crew socks with canvas sneakers, like a pro.
Socks and sandals have been the butt of jokes for generations: What are you, a German tourist? If you’re still of this mindset, the time has come to give it up. White crew socks with Birkenstock Bostons—the clog-looking ones—is perfectly fine. Same goes for an understated slide like the Arizona. You could even try them with a pair of dark socks; just make sure they’re 100 percent cotton. But please, no dress socks with Birks. Then you will attract an unwanted “Nice socks, pal.”
Anderson .Paak is a master of the socks-and-sandals look.
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