Fashion is a funny thing.

One minute it’s the trucker hats, the next it’s the jerseys. Now it’s the socks.

Not fancy socks either. We’re talking 1980s, wear “em high, Dr. J-style tube socks.

“Socks are huge for the fall,” says Tina Wells, CEO of Buzz Marketing Group, based in New Jersey. It’s really a play off the mod trend crossed with the athletic trend, she said.

Jersey dresses were big during the summer, and an easy way to carry the athletic trend into the fall is with the tube sock, Wells says.

Classic footwear such as Kangaroos, Pumas and Converse are all coming back for the fall, and tube socks are a great way to complement the style. They also lend an urban edge to the ever popular miniskirt, Wells says.

They are often worn with Converse All-Stars or Nike Air Force Ones. And color coordination is a must.

“It’s an expression of your individuality and personality,” says Teandra Howard, 17, of Kansas City, Mo., who endorsed the sock trend when it began at the start of the summer.

“I saw them in hip-hop videos, but when I visited St. Louis, everyone was wearing them,” she says.

Tube socks were hard to find at first, Howard says, so she brought a bunch back from St. Louis. But by the middle of the summer the socks were everywhere, from shoe stores to fashion boutiques.

“There are so many different colors and ways you can put it together. It’s about how you feel,” says Howard, a high school senior.

You might be happy and go bright with pink or green, or if you’re feeling more laid-back, you might go navy, says Howard, who wears her socks with jerseys and team tees.

The socks are a part of the jersey trend and just as quick as it came, it will go and something new will pop up, she says.

“But I think the athletic trend will stay and flip a little with football jerseys,” she says.

Helena Taylor likes to sport her socks with net shirts, jerseys, jersey shorts and denim skirts.

“I like the sense of style involved and how it’s coming back from the old-school basketball days,” says Taylor, 15, a high school sophomore in Kansas City.

“It’s an athletic thing that girls can get into. Boys have the throwback jerseys and girls have jersey dresses, shorts and tube socks.”

As it gets colder it will move into football jerseys and cuffed jeans with the tube socks pushed down, Taylor predicts.

Maybe instead of tube socks, they’ll match the football jerseys with leg warmers, which also are appearing in fashion boutiques this fall.

“You shouldn’t wear just anything with the sporty look,” Taylor says. Keep it athletic, don’t dress it up and don’t do it just because it’s trendy, she says.

“If you wear the socks, add your own style to it and do it because you’re feeling it, not because you’re trying to copy what you see on television.”

How to rock the socks

Show your socks. Wear shorts, a jean skirt or cuffed jeans.

Keep it sporty: jersey dresses, jersey shorts, athletic tees, airbrushed tank tops or netted shirts.

Wear a pair of solid white socks, then place a wristband that coordinates with your jersey on top, below the knee.

Coordinate. Most people match the socks with their top. And often the shoes are coordinated as well.


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