One of the unsung technical improvements made to menswear has been the improvement in over the calf socks and the subsequent near-disappearance of sock suspenders. Over the calf hose became widely available in the second half of the twentieth century but the early models did not dependably remain over the calf which rather defeated the purpose. That left most men wearing socks that ended around the bottom of the calf and those had to be kept up with suspenders. And, trust me, the sight of a man in his boxer shorts and socks with suspenders ended more than one romantic evening prematurely.
Fortunately, the geniuses who knit high quality hose have figured out how to properly tension socks above the calf to keep them up without elastic assistance. That means that today the only reason to wear socks of any length longer than anklet but shorter than over the calf is for athletic pursuits where a man will be on his feet all the time. He can safely dispense with suspenders then as there will be no opportunity to sit with his legs crossed and so display a bit of forbidden skin, and the shorter sock wears a little cooler for hours of walking around.
Perhaps the last holdout of the suspender had been with evening clothes, as the higher volume cotton and wool over the calf hose were faster to arrive. But there are silks aplenty now. My mid-calf evening socks and the two pair of sock suspenders that I had had since I was in my teens went into the donations bag at the start of this year, and are now gone forever.
Truly, we have seen the last days of the sock suspender.
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8 comments:
I herald the demise of sock suspenders.
I've still yet to find half-hose that stay up in all situations without sock garters, especially after repeated washes in the machine.
Luckily, my wife isn't repulsed by the garters (not that she _likes_ them), so I can get away with it in that respect. I actually like garters themselves, as a purely functional object, even if they are rather ugly.
It is funny, i have many memories of my father ironing his pants in his shirt and underwear, wearing something similar, sock garters. And I even have some now. Keep the shirt down and the socks up. Only wear them with my dress blues for the Army.
I hope you're wrong. Garters have been one of my retro favorite accessories. When I undress, they spark interest, nothing passion killing in this quarter. I wear them because I hate socks bagging at all. With garters, I am assured of a smooth appearance of sock.
Reports of the socks garter's demise appear to be slightly exaggerated.
I am a nearly daily wearer, as I have an extensive wardrobe of mid-calf socks. Furthermore, few of the over-the-calf socks I have actually stay up on their own. I find garters indispensable for banishing the awful "pull up the baggy sock" routine. Until I can afford the same socks Will wears, I will stick with my garters.
You can find some reasonably good-looking ones, in patterns and colors, as well as basic black. I have gotten mine from John Helmer in Portland (they have an on-line presence, too).
I am tempted to try shirt garters....
They can be hard to find, but they're out there. I can't handle the way they look, though. For my part I'll gladly trade occasionally pulling up my socks for the garters. The chore is usually accomplished behind my desk or in the washroom.
I did wear them once, for a production in college. The character was a Bobby, caught in an upstairs-downstairs comedy (and accordingly, caught with his britches down, his union-jack boxers a-wave and sock suspenders riding high). That production also introduced me to the vocal warm-up routine of this Dr. Seuss classic, which you might enjoy:
Give me the gift of a grip-top sock,
A clip drape shipshape tip top sock.
Not your spinslick slapstick slipshod stock,
But a plastic, elastic grip-top sock.
None of your fantastic slack swap slop
From a slap dash flash cash haberdash shop.
Not a knick knack knitlock knockneed knickerbocker sock
With a mock-shot blob-mottled trick-ticker top clock.
Not a supersheet seersucker ruck sack sock,
Not a spot-speckled frog-freckled cheap sheik's sock
Off a hodge-podge moss-blotched scotch-botched block.
Nothing slipshod drip drop flip flop or glip glop
Tip me to a tip top grip top sock.
Cheers!
They were truly one of the most preposterous accessories ever known to man. By comparison the string that used to attach boaters to coat collars pales into insignificance. I was trying to think of an example that was it's equal as a passion killer and the only one I could think of were those linen moustache holders that kept your waxed handlebar in place during sleep.
"When I undress, they spark interest,
You must know some strange women. I couldn't stop laughing when I read this. I'm somenthing of a garter enthusiast myself but not on the male leg.
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