Does Sockless Equal Sexy?
Sockless outfits are not by any means something new. They’ve been promoted for a long time now and people are either pro or against them.
The thing about them is that you instantly stand out. 99% of the guys wear socks so it’s obvious how not wearing any can draw attention to you.
Not all outfits are created equal, though. You have the formal outfits (suits, dress pants etc.) and you have the casual ones (casual pants, shorts, jeans).
There are only two things to remember about when to go sockless and I’m going to tell you each of them.
The first one is: only go sockless with casual outfits. NEVER wear a suit or dress pants without socks. Formal situations imply that the event you’re attending needs a dose of respect – so make sure you show it.
However, you can go sockless when you’re wearing:
- chinos
- shorts
- jeans
Here’s the other point about not wearing socks.
Feet sweat a lot when inside the shoe. If it’s hot outside and you’re sockless, the whole sweat will be absorbed by the shoe like a sponge.
(This is one of the things socks are good at: absorbing your feets’ sweat)
This means that, after a few hours of wearing your bare feet inside a shoe on a hot day… your shoe will start smelling.
In time the smell will get worse.
So, how can you protect your shoe and still have that sockless look? You have a few options:
- You can wear “no show” socks. These will absorb the perspiration and they’re 100% invisible to the eye (That’s why they’re called “no show”!). Here’s what they look like:
- You can use a foot spray
- Use some foot powder
I’ve worn lots of shoes without socks over the years, 18 years. It started in college with a pair of leather boat shoes. If I was not in them, I wore a pair of Teva sport sandals, which seam that everybody on campus wore in the 90′s. The odd thing about wearing the sandals then, foot odor and stinky sandals. The rubber footbed always seamed slimy after wearing them for long periods of time. At least the boat shoes were drier on the foot. Later, I purchased running shoes and wore them to class. I ended up purchasing odor eaters insoles and foot spray after about the second week of wearing them. A this time, “no show” socks were nonexistent to purchase. The “swamp foot” ads were running on TV and radio for Odor Eaters. A gal commented on her feet that she needed to look into their products. We both liked the sporty look of not wearing socks.
Three years ago, I start to wear the “no show” liner socks like the ones pictured above after I went for a free medical exam one day. The doctor told me that she could see some nail fungus along the nail bed developing. I never gave my feet much thought until that day. She saw that I was not wearing socks. She then told me that not wearing clean socks with the shoes or going without can cause problems. The toes rub the inside of the shoe where all the moisture is collected. I wore Odor Eater inserts as always. She said that they need to be replaced since they had too much dead skin buildup. She gave me a pair of sandals and made me wear a pair of socks with them. I also found out that I have a mild case of
Hi Cal,
Thanks for posting your insights.
Indeed, not wearing socks is a sure way to getting your feet smelling bad.
One thing about the second part of your story – your visit to the doctor.
Did the nail fungus develop as a result of you wearing no socks at all or “no show” socks?
I just want to add to my last post; which got truncated. The doctor had told me I have a mild case of Hyperhidrosis after my third visit. I wore my Teva sport sandals that day. The doctor commented that she had noticed, as I walked into the exam room, that she could hear the damp perspiration of my feet on the sandals. Sweaty feet is the main reason that I once had nail fungus. Wearing a good pair of socks helps move the moisture away from the foot she said. She also asked me again if I was wearing socks with enclosed footwear. I remember telling her, yes, except with boat shoes. She told me to wear socks even with boat shoes; but stay away from cotton socks and wear at least the no-show liners. Also, she said that my foot odor is no longer present unlike the first visit with running shoes without socks.
Hi george, my opinion is that it’s cool to wear loafers or boat shoes sockless especially in worm whether but imagine not wearing socks with more or less shoes! It’s definetly a don’t. If we do so, we stand out of the crawd as a dork.
I think it looks sexy when women, at least women with shapely legs and ankles go sockless. I don’t know why fat women or any man bothers going sockless. Who wants to see legs and ankles that look like tree trunks or even worse hairy legs and ankles?
I don’t know why socks have become so unpopular with other guys in recent years, but I know I still like them. When I go sockless my feet stink. So whether it’s in style or not I’m going to continue to wear socks. Besides, sockless looks good on women, especially the ones with pretty legs and in shorts. Nobody cares about looking at mine or any other guy’s hairy legs…LOL.