I’ve always said that symmetry is overrated. Why should everything match up perfectly in pairs? After all, people are never perfectly symmetrical (except possibly in magazine photos of airbrushed Photoshopped super models, but that’s a rant for another day).
In most of us mere mortals, the left side does not quite match the right; one ear is slightly higher than the other; one foot is slightly larger than the other — as any shoestore salesclerk would confirm — and that’s not just me, that’s all of us!
So why the big hangup about having socks that match? We all know perfectly well that the gym locker or the clothes-dryer is just going to keep on eating up random socks and leaving us with singles.
It’s a scientific fact.
One solution is to embrace the random nature of the universe and shop for wild single socks at LittleMissMatched.com — I tip my clown hat to Toronto’s fabulous Bargainista for this find — not just for kids, and not just socks! Do check out the funky mismatched pairs of flip-flops while you’re over there, and bright mixable bedding, and furniture that’s all like a great big whiteboard to fill with colourful doodles…
Another way to handle the single sock crisis, of course, is to load up on many many many identical pairs of generic department-store tube socks. That way, when one sock goes missing, its mate can be matched up smoothly with any other solo sock, and no one will ever know the difference! Practical, yes… but which of these single sock solutions would be more fun?
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I just love the little miss matched idea. I first heard about it in Seth Godin’s talk at Google HQ. He used it as an example of viral marketing — taking something ordinary like socks and turning it into a talking point.
I am off to make a sock monkey now. My friends are going to be so jealous. Thanks!
my daughter and her friend have been doing this for a while now, wearing “mismatched” (but matching) socks!
Have you seen Throx? Take a look: http://www.throx.com/home.html
Pokey the sock kitty is adorable!
Great post, There is a gallery director in Australia who is know for wearing odd socks Edmond Capon Gallery of NSW
So much so that the Gallery shop did sell pairs of mismatched socks
And you know what, guys? Just the other day I was snickering at my (occasionally absent-minded) teenaged niece for wearing unmatched socks – well, did I ever feel incredibly uncool *gasp* at having missed the early warning signs of this oh-so-sensible fashion trend! Long live the odd socks phenomenon, sez I – because I’ve got a whole drawerful of them!
I knit and I love knitting with crazy stripey yarn. I know many knitters who are very particular about both socks having matching stripes. Me? I don’t care if they match!
I hardly ever wear socks that match. Just another one of my weird personality quirks.
And I thought I was being daring with my tie-dyed socks. Looking at the mismatches, I really need to do some sock shopping!
I put on a mismatched pair of *shoes* the other day and nearly drove to work in them. Not sure what made me look down and notice I had one brown and one black. I don’t think it would have been seen as a groovy fashion statement.
I like the idea of the little miss matches, but I want to see them first–a lot of socks are too synthetic-y for me.