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Should socks match shoes or pants? The world is full of fashion rules. There are so many to choose from. The question of whether socks should match shoes or pants has been a long-standing debate among men.
Some men say socks should match the color of your shoes, and others say socks should match the color of your pants. But, of course, you also have some people that don’t care and grab the first pair of socks that they find in the drawer. So there are many different opinions on this topic.
If you are here, it’s because you find matching your socks with something essential for style purposes, and you are right. You should care and match your socks correctly. So let’s find out the answer to the question: should socks match shoes or pants?
Should Socks Match Shoes Or Pants?
In my opinion, your socks should match the color of your pants and not the color of your shoes. It doesn’t mean you need to match the exact same color. You can wear different shades of the same color, so if you have blue pants, you can wear lighter or darker shades of blue on your socks.
You can also wear similar colors that are in a similar spectrum. For example, khaki pants can be worn with khaki socks and olive, green, tan, or brown.
Read: What Color Socks To Wear With Jeans
The golden rule is to wear the same color as your pants, but you can play a little bit with the color you have. Just don’t wear white socks because they belong to sports, ok? Also, I am not a big fan of black socks, unless you wear black trousers or a professional environment. Black is not a good color for your casual outfits. But that’s my personal opinion.
Why Should Socks Match Your Pants?
The color of your socks should match your pants because it will create an extension of them when you show your socks. When you wear the right shade of socks, they extend your pants and create an optical illusion that makes your legs look longer.
So if you are shorter or don’t feel confident with your height, this can be a good trick to make you appear taller.
It also looks better from a fashion perspective to have your color socks matching your pants. Can you imagine having brown pants with white or pink socks with yellow dots? It doesn’t look good.
In a professional environment, your colleagues check every inch of you, looking for something that makes you less perfect. Your socks can be that “something.” In these environments, you need to look at your best, so if you wear black pants, choose black socks, go for a blue suit with blue pants, and wear navy socks. Always go for the safest option.
Wear Different Shades Of The Color Of The Pants
As I said before, you don’t need to match the exact same color of your socks with your pants. Instead, you can wear different shades of that color.
A good trick is to wear the opposite color of the pants (inside of the same color). For example, if you wear darker pants, choose a lighter color for socks and vice versa. Let’s imagine you have a darker pair of grey pants. Your socks should be grey, but you can wear a lighter grey. Therefore, you have multiple shades of grey you can wear. This is valid for any color.
Why Should Socks Not Match Your Shoes?
It would be best if you did not match your color socks with your shoes because it will make the shoes look longer and sometimes can be perceived as wearing boots when you aren’t. Also, it can ruin an entire look if you show your socks at the wrong moment.
In my opinion, when you match your socks with your shoes, you are putting a lot of attention into that zone. Shoes are something that people always look at, but you want people not to forget the rest of your outfit.
Read: What Color Socks With A Blue Suit?
You want people to look at your face when talking to you and not to stare at your shoes to try to understand why you are wearing the same colors of socks and shoes. Maybe they are questioning themselves if you have boots or shoes.
What About Socks Matching Shirts Or Ties?
No, socks should not match shirts on any occasion. However, when it comes to ties and pocket squares, I think this is an excellent opportunity to do something.
First, socks match pants. Don’t overthink this step trying to think about your color socks and accessories. For example, if you have a light blue tie and darker blue pants, your socks could have a blue pattern between these two colors. The same rules for pocket squares.
You will show an image of a person that thought about every single detail of your outfit. That can be very attractive to others when looking at you.
Professional vs. Casual Environment
The environment can dictate some rules. Regarding a professional environment, your color socks should be the same as your pants or a very similar shade. This will ensure your look is professional and ready for any business meetings.
Read: How To Wear Colorful Socks?
In a casual environment, you can leave your comfort zone and wear funny socks and bright colors (that make sense in the outfit). I usually wear patterned socks in casual environments because I sometimes love a good sock fashion statement.
Conclusion Should Socks Match Shoes Or Pants
When answering the question: Should socks match shoes or pants, it would be best if you matched the color of your socks with the color of your pants.
This is the simplest way to go about matching your sock color to your outfit, and it’s also one of the most common methods for dressing well in general. You can also experiment by combining patterned socks with ties or pocket squares if desired.
Matching your socks with your shoes is not the best option since it doesn’t bring anything relevant to your outfit. In most cases, it can make it look worse. But, this is only my opinion. You have many people saying you should match your socks with your shoes. I’m not too fond of the perception that it gives to your look.
At the end of the day, you should wear whatever you want. If Justin Trudeau can wear the funniest socks in some of the most professional events with other world leaders, so can you. I will say that I love his way of wearing socks, and you need to be a confident guy to do it.
What is your opinion? Should socks match shoes or pants? Share with me in the comments what you do.
