Blessed by the Potato

My feet used to live a very dull life: I only ever own three pairs of footwear at a time (my current pair of sneakers, snow boots, and sandals/watershoes), and a large assortment of pre-matched all-season socks. These socks have, over the years, cycled from plain white tube socks to tube socks with stuff on them (swooshes, dark soles), to grey tube socks (to quiet the protests of “you can’t wear white socks with that!”). I generally buy a dozen socks or so at a time so that I don’t have to spend an inordinate amount of time playing sock matchmaker on laundry day.

However recently I’ve started getting into fancy socks: shorter socks for the summer with more elasticity around the arches; thicker socks for winter.

I’ve long known of the importance of socks: good socks help keep your feet dry, warm, and serve as a nice cushion/rub barrier between your shoes and your feet so you don’t get blisters. However, I never put much stock in fancy expensive socks, thinking they were largely gimmicks. Now that I’ve tried them, I have to say that I do notice some improvement with the different types of socks (particularly the summery socks that are shorter and breathe better on the tops). So now I’m a fancy sock convert.

In hindsight, it’s a little surprising to me that it took this long to come around, as I’ve long been a believer in the importance of pampering your feet, especially when it comes to comfy shoes.