The White Sock
Posted on 23. Dec, 2009 by admin in Socks
Wearing a white sock can be seen as a bit of a fashion faux pas unless you are actually playing sport. The white sock is a gamble, but it seems that its a gamble most people are prepared to take.
White is the most highly sold color of sock sold anywhere in the world. We love them and we just keep coming back for more: One town in Wales (the unpronounceable Merthy Tydfil) report sales of around 200 pairs a day. For a town of only a few thousand people, it’s worth wondering where all these socks are going.
The humble white sock is not an easy item to wear. Worn with suits they are a serious breach of fashion etiquette, in intimate situations they are by far the silliest color sock for a self-respecting man to be seen dressed solely in, and even on the playing field they are considered a bit old-school.
So why do we love them so much? It’s all down to the psychology of buying a new white sock. Psychologists say that the color white summons up feelings of purity and calm, and opening a new packet of socks is something of a metaphor for a new beginning. Really.
There’s one other theory to explain the popularity of the white sock, and its much the same as the one that explains the popularity of the black sock. When all of your socks are the same color, it is so much easier to make up for the ‘lost sock phenomenon’ by taking one from another pair. Apparently, the simple daily stresses of things like lost socks actually reduce your life expectancy, so buying all of your socks in the same style and color can eliminate this killer stress.
Who would have thought that a white sock could be so good for your health?
Irish Blogs