Hasta La Ideas

Socks with athletic support and snazzy looks guaranteed to set you apart from the masses

If you weren’t lucky enough like me to have a wise Italian friend give you the tip, a glimpse of white tube socks will likely make any stylish woman run the other direction. And why run the risk of boring choices that may suggest a similar inner spirit? Thanks to imaginative companies like Stance, my feet will never be subjected to the abuse of plain again.

The San Clemente, CA brand may be rooted in California board sports (the socks have all the ergonomic support you could hope for), but Stance also has a literal foot in the creative community with many of their “society” of “Punks & Poets” doubling as talented athletes and artists. Some of their growing roster of supporters even put their own spin on a pair of socks through the brand’s Artist Series.

Artists like Kid Creature, Urethane, Russ Pope, Matt French and others expressed their personal style with socks serving as their canvas. Dominated by bold graphics and colorways, the series captures the feeling of sunny days on a surfboard and the graffiti-riddled streets seen by skaters.

In addition to jazzing up a simple ensemble of t-shirt and jeans, the super-soft and comfy socks have firm elastic at the top to keep them up while in action. As French points out on his blog, Stance are “really good socks that care for your toes like two litters of little marsupial babies.”

Selling through Tactics and their own online shop, Stance socks span $6-25 depending upon style, size and collection.