Once again, I’m surprising myself by straying from shiny metal objects and blinking lights… but like all geeks, I love comfort. My primary concern when buying anything I wear is – is it comfortable? No matter how flattering an article of clothing is, if it’s not comfortable, I will not buy it. If I end up going to the Tosche station to pick up some power converters, the last thing I want is blisters. I believe that half the problem people have with foot discomfort has to do with not only not wearing the right shoe, but also with not wearing the right sock. I have found that missing ingredient – the perfect sock. It’s unisex, plain, has support and zero seams!
Many years ago, I used to buy these specific socks at Walmart. Even though I’m a girl, these were guy’s socks, and I didn’t care. I have large feet for my diminutive height and they are wide. It’s hard for me to find shoes that are comfortable, and depending on the shoe I’m wearing, a seam somewhere in the sock I’d wear would start to rub a hole in me if I did any walking
Goodbye old Walmart socks!
other than from my car to my office or vice versa. While I am a desk jockey most of the time, I also have to go out and about to take photos for some of the sites I work on. As my socks would wear out, I’d go back to Walmart to buy a new bag of these thick cotton socks with arch support stitching. I loved them. They fit my feet perfectly and they lasted a long time. I don’t recall the brand name – I just recognized the bag. Then one day, they were gone. I couldn’t tell the managers at the Walmart’s I visited what the brand was. I hadn’t bought new socks in a year, so no one had a recollection of what they used to have there. I ordered lots of individual pairs of socks based on reviews online to test out what would be my replacement sock as my old stand by socks began to die off and go to the Rainbow Bridge.
Not only were my old stand-by socks dying (holes, death of elastic, etc.), I didn’t realize how thick they really were. Several pairs of shoes (I’m not Imelda Marcos – I don’t have even 30 pair, much less 3,000 pairs of shoes) didn’t fit right anymore with the thinner socks I was having to buy. When shoe shopping at Famous Footwear Outlets or even at a resale shop, I was always wearing my thick Walmart socks. That little bit of extra padding all around my entire large feet added up to nearly half a shoe size. Well, bummer.
LOVE LOVE LOVE these socks. They come in several styles – crew, ankle cut, etc.
Fast forward to my husband and I deciding to go to the gym and work out after work. We’re out-of-shape coders and desk jockeys. My husband’s steady gait gave him zero issues on the walking track, but my brisk walking gait and then attempts at jogging (thankfully, no video exists to my knowledge!) gave me shin-splints. At the recommendation of several friends of mine who run 10k races and some even marathons, I went to a Run On! store to get properly fitted for replacement athletic shoes so that I would not continue to get shin splints. I cannot emphasize the importance of getting the proper shoe for the activity you’re doing. We’re all different and we pronate differently when we walk. These professionals watch you walk in your stocking feet and watch how your foot moves when you walk and jog and select the best shoe for your gait and the surface you exercise on. This isn’t a scam. The shoes they sell are the same price as at any athletic shoe store – but these people KNOW their shoes and understand how your feet work. It’s a Mecca for runners. I’m more of a sitter than a runner, but it’s nice not to get shin-splints when I’m running to the refrigerator!
As I was being fitted for the shoes, I bemoaned my sock sadness to the woman who was helping me. She introduced me to Feetures branded socks. This was a Major Major OMG product purchase. The socks are not cheap – BUT – are you sitting down? They have a LIFETIME WARRANTY. On Socks. SOCKS! Lifetime. As in YOUR lifetime. You simply return your worn out socks to them and they replace them. I’ve since talked to other people who have these socks and one guy said he’s had his Feetures socks for several years and he’s never had to send any in. Have you ever heard of any company offering a life-time warranty on socks? They clearly believe in their product as much as I do.
I recently went to a funeral of a dear mentor of mine and wore some new boots with some black dress socks. I was miserable. The socks kept falling down and I had to keep pulling them up and the seam was wearing a hole in several toes. I knew that by the time I left work and got to the funeral, I’d be covered in toe blisters if I did not remedy the situation. During lunch, I drove to the nearest Run-On! and got the medium Feetures socks in crew length. What a delight! I love these socks. Even in dressy boots (well, dressy for me, modest cowboy-boot-esque heel), these socks were so comfortable. Zero slippage. They are snug, but they don’t dig in to my feet, ankle or leg in any spot. Thankfully, they make them in black – not just athletic white – so you can wear them with shoes you wear to work. They only had white socks at the store, but no one could see them with my boots on – so I got a pair and wore them throughout the day. When I got to the funeral, I had to park nearly a quarter of a mile away and walk to the service. I would have been in agony by the time I got to the church if I had still been wearing those other socks. I’m turning ALL my other socks into craft material – and the only brand of socks going in my sock drawer from now on, for any occasion, will be Feetures socks. I have ordered a bunch more black crew socks through Amazon. The lifetime warranty satisfies my inner cheapskate. These are not purchases I have to make over and over again, so I’m OK with buying several pairs at once, despite the price tag. Seriously – unless you are madly in love with your current socks, buy just one pair and wear them all day long and you decide. Upon my initial visit to Run On! when I was introduced to these socks, I only bought 2 pair due to the price. In a week, I came back and bought several more pair, but I had none in crew, which I will be buying from now on. Walk in comfort, my geeks.
Scientists at MIT took a nod from Psychology 101. One of the basic things you learn in any intro to psychology course is a concept known as “just noticeable difference.” You’re driving down the road, jamming to your favorite song, with the speakers cranked up all the way… you stop the car, get out and go into work. Hours later, you hop into your car to head home and when you start the car, you about jump out of your skin because the radio is so ridiculously loud, you can barely stand it. It is no higher in volume than what you listened to on the way to work – but the just noticeable difference is what makes you lunge toward the volume dial at mach speed.