~ Sock Dreams ~

I know a lot of folks born in February. In fact, I think three (!) Dreamers have had birthdays already this month. February’s symbols aren’t hearts, cupids and lace though, they’re the very stately and fabulous Amethyst, Viola and Aquarius.

Amethyst is a super fascinating stone, used for protection in battle, as a ward against drunkenness and for intaglio carving, its soft purple hue lends a calm beauty to goblets, amulets and jewellery. Found in a range of purple (one of the definitions of Amethyst is “purple” qualified by “any purple”), some of amethyst’s more common shades are rose, mauve and lavender.

• Wrinkle Press Knee High •
• Check Pattern Footies •
• Harajuku Scrunchy Socks •

The most valuable amethyst, however, is deep purple, with tinges of violet. I think what we and our suppliers tend to call “plum” is a good match.

• Super Ms •
• Soft & Dreamy Knee Highs •
• Boy’s Socks •

Because people have always loved to coordinate, violets (more properly, “violas”) are February’s flower. Tiny and purple with a distinctive five-petal shape; their larger, hybrid form is called a “pansy.”

• Polonova Flower Trouser Socks •
• Bunch of Pansies Over the Knee •
• Tibetan Flower Crews •

February’s dominant constellation is Aquarius, the water bearer. Symbolised by layered waves, it’s also part of a song title I bet you’re trying not to get stuck in your head. I think Nouvella’s Space Ocean colourway is kind of a perfect match—and the wee baby sock version way more fun (and cozy!) for little folks born this month than rocks and flowers.

• Dreamer Jacquard Ripple OTK •
• Space Dyed Terry Baby Booties •
• Dreamer Diamond Wave OTK •

So far February hasn’t tricked me with a sneaky nice day that pretends spring is around the corner, but we’re only about at the halfway mark of this short little month. There is plenty of time for one surprisingly warm day to make me think I don’t have to work so hard to stay cozy.

3 soxy comments »

I don’t know how many of you ever got presents for your birthdays with coloured glass that represented your birthstone—but the idea of flowers, gems and constellations associated with a month is pretty fun.  And it’s a great way to take a walk through our gardens, mines and galaxies of socks!

January’s gemstone is garnet, which is normally a gorgeous deep burgundy (though also happens in yellow and a startling green!). Philippe Matignon’s red is called “garnet” (or actually, “rosso granata”) and I couldn’t think of a better name for this shade.

• Multi-Lines Knee Highs •
• Lily Lace-Topped Knee High •

It’s thought that the word “garnet” came from “pomegranate” and even if that’s not true, it totally could be. Our Dreamer Socks’ deep red shade is called Pomegranate, and we like it so much we’ve even got the 100 Inch Super Ruched done in the same delicious colour.

• Extraordinary Striped Thigh Highs •
• 100 Inch Super Ruched Socks •
• Dreamer Jacquard Ripple OTK •

Each month has a couple of flowers to choose from, it all depends on where you are, really. But mostly it seems like January’s flower is the carnation. The original colour of the carnation is pink, but thanks to flower science and careful cultivation, they now come in a whole tonne of shades. But one thing makes a carnation what it is and that’s the layers of ruffle-y petals. Hmm, what do we have that has layers of ruffles?

• Micromesh Lace Ruffle Tanga Short •
• Layered Tulle Petticoat •

Of course, you don’t need straight up lotsa ruffles to get a ruffle-y look. Sometimes a textured sock and a good scrunch is all that’s necessary.

• Dreamer Ruffled Stripe OTK •
• Textured Stripe Knee High •
• Keri Dimensional Stripe Crew •

The constellation associated with most of January is Capricornus (more commonly known as Capricorn). It’s a fish-goat. Or a sea-goat, if you want to be proper. Since we don’t have anything that has mohair in it right now (mohair comes from Angora goats), I think Capricorn will have to be represented by things that don’t go together, yet totally do make one awesome whole.

Stance always offers some cool mixed packs of mixable, matchable socks. Maybe those Trilogy Midcalves are more like a chimera, since that’s made up of three different things instead of two.

• Trilogy Midcalves •
• Mariner Midcalves •

These Sock It To Me Toddler & Kids Two Packs are fun because they pair up some unexpected and adorable designs. You know that monkeys and dinos would hang out or that ninjas like robots. But did you know that ninjas also love cupcakes?

There’s still over half of January to go and a long way until spring up here in the Northern hemisphere, so keep warm! Unless you’re in the Southern hemisphere, in which case may I offer you some lightweight sock styles, if you don’t mind my totally shivering while I do.

3 soxy comments »

Two days after All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween, and we hope you had a great one!) is the Day of the Dead.  The Calavera Catrina is a traditional decoration and costume for the day of the dead. Which means you might be needing the Harajuku Long Bone Arm Warmers and the Kawaii Skeleton Over The Knees.

Of course, we have lots of skeletal delights . . .

Clockwise from top: Infant & Toddler Bone Socks, Hand Bone Arm Warmers, Bones Tube Socks, Black Magic Super Stretch Socks, Little Bones Sox.

For a more subtle look, Sock It To Me’s Dia De Los Muertos Knee Highs are perfect.

Whether you call it Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos, or if you celebrated All Souls’ Day yesterday, it is a time for celebrating and remembering. And we have just the socks for the festivities.

2 soxy comments »

It’s pretty clear that we Dreamers are into Halloween and costumes. I know this. Yet, when I put a call out to fellow Dreamers for pop and modern culture costume tips, I did not expect that I’d get so many awesome ideas from pretty much everyone. I am going to do my best to share everybody’s recommendations, so pull up your socks, we’re going in.

Comics

We’ve got some solid comics fans here, most notably Zaffie at our Tumblr. She’s already pointed out that Kate Bishop in Hawkeye #2 (story by Matt Fraction, art by David Aja) is wearing what looks like the Extraordinarily Longer Thigh Highs in Plum & Black.

Spiderman is a classic. And it takes some layering, but one of our Shop Dreamers dressed up one of the manequinns at our brick and mortar store in Opaque Tights in Royal, Opaque Solid Nylon Trouser Socks in Red and the Spider Lace Pantyhose for a webtacular Spidey look.

Super heroes (and villians) are easy game when looking for good use of legwear. They have to wear something under the leotards, right? Another Dreamer reminded me of one of my favourites—Poison Ivy, specifically her character design by Bruce Timm for Batman: The Animated Series. Her simple look is all pulled together by simple lime green tights.

Of course, you don’t have to keep it simple. We’ve had (amazing!) customers pull unique, stunning looks together too (like this fabulous steampunk Poison Ivy).

TV

I know a lot of you are into My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (if only because of all the drawing requests!) so you know that there are a ton of rainbow options to accessorise your Rainbow Dash costume. But one Dreamer suggests that the Furry Rainbow Leg Warmers might be just the thing. You’d be like a My Little Clydesdale!

I am going to be honest here and say that I have no idea who this character is (thank goodness for Dreamers filling me in!), but Fishnet Footless Tights and the Lace Anklet with Ruffle seem to be pretty key pieces to dressing as Robin Sparkles from How I Met Your Mother.

Another popular character is Rachel Berry of Glee. She wears a lot of knee highs and a lot of solid colour basics that can be easily matched by the Color Tights and the Opaque Solid Nylon Trouser Socks.

Video Games

One game that a lot of folks I know are playing is Borderlands. Gage the mechromancer has some great black and white wide stripes that are perfectly matched by the Extraordinary Striped Thigh Highs in Black & Natural.

Also in Borderlands (which is looking to be a pretty sock-tastic game) Mad Moxxi rocks some mismatched stripes and Fencenet Thigh Highs. It’s hard to tell what colourway the stripes are, but the Uma Striped Over the Knee looks to be a good match.

Movies

We were pretty big fans of the Joker’s socks in The Dark Knight. Though we don’t have the Joker’s every day chaos-checkered socks, we do have a taller option in the Neon Checkered Chaos OTKs that would look fab for folks going as Nurse Joker.

Our Tumblr caught this one already too, but Sally from Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas wears scrunched black and white stripes. I think maybe the Super Warmers – Short would be a great match (and give you room in your shoes for patchwork tights)!

If you want to be classically classy, one of the Dreamers points out that you can’t go wrong with Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Either the Satin Gloves with Snap Buttons or the Opera Length Satin Gloves with Rhinestone Trim plus the Sheer To Waist Pantyhose in Black with a little black dress and pearls? Perfect.

This one is a little esoteric and you need a friend to really pull it off, but you could totally channel the vibes of 101 Dalmatians with the Contrast Vertical Striped Thigh Highs for Cruella DeVille (maybe over some red tights?) and the Foot Traffic Polka Dot Knee Highs for a Dalmatian.

A far more straightforward approach would be to emulate the original horror stylings of Jaws with a 3-D Shark Bite Sock over some Bloody Zombie Thigh Highs.

Whew. That’s a good one to end on, right? I hope we’ve helped inspire you if you’re still struggling with a costume. Remember, we love when folks share how we’ve helped them make a costume perfect and our Facebook is a great place to do it! How are socks helping your costume come together?

2 soxy comments »

When you think of monsters, you probably picture the classics—Dracula, the Wolf Man, Frankenstein. How we mentally picture these creatures is mostly shaped by the early work of Universal Studios’ films from the first half of the 20^th century. They made a lot of monsters, but I thought we could look at the classics and see what accessories and socks you’d need to finalise your costume (because I’ve been loving Zaffie’s costume posts on our Tumblr) and what else evokes their classic, terrifying style.

The ultimate classic monster, Dracula, didn’t ever really show socks. I am sure someone as aristocratic as the Count totally rocked classy cashmere midcalves, but nothing you ever saw on screen. Nonetheless, you can wear his vampiric, black tie look a little more campily (because really, Bela Lugosi is a little camp anyway).

• Tuxedo Midcalves •
• Opaque Tights in Red •

As old as vampires are werewolves, and Universal’s Wolfman (and the ground breaking transformation scenes!) is as classic. Transforming into this hirsute beast won’t take much trouble, or a full moon. You just need some appropriate accessories.

• Harajuku Furry Warmers in Brown (we like these as muffs/arm warmers too) •
• Fingerless Arm Cozy in Walnut Brown •

Nerds know you don’t call the big green guy “Frankenstein.” Properly he is “Frankenstein’s monster” or, “THE MONSTER.” And he’s yet another sockless wonder. But I bet big ol’ feet like his would do best with comfy, terry lined styles like the M Bootsocks. Or! I bet he’d like something fun (and colour-coordinated) like the Sock It To Me Monster Midcalves!

The Monster’s lady, on the other hand, wears long fingerless gloves, or bandages that look like it. And you can rock her distinctive hair without breaking out the bleach by rocking those stripes on your legs with a little creative layering.

• Simone’s Sleeves in White •
• Opaque Tights in White •
• Side Stripe Legging •

Some more movie monsters and associated socks after the jump! Read more »

be the first to comment! »