Socks On or Off?
I have to tell you that the discussion on house temperature was very eye-opening. While I don’t love being super hot, I would take it any day over being even a little bit cold. I would never in a trillion years partake in a winter sport that kept me outside for longer than 5 minutes. I won’t even go to ice hockey games and the rinks are heated. If it were up to me, I’d keep the house near 74 in winter. But it’s not up to me. And I can’t seem to figure out how to change this newfangled thermostat. So I’m stuck with 70 degrees.
Though a few of your answers brings up an interesting question: do you wear socks to bed? Do you like socks?
Because I think the world is really divided into the sock-wearers and the sock-endurers. I am a sock wearer. I like to wear socks. I wear them to bed. I wear them in summer. I like to buy pretty socks. Fun socks. I like to match my socks to my clothes. If I’m not happy with a certain pair of socks, I will change said pair until I am happy and then can focus on my work. I do not wear stockings if I can help it, but I do love a good pair of socks.
Sock-endurers wear socks because they have to wear socks, not because they want to wear socks. They wear socks because it is cold and they need their feet covered if it is cold. But if given their choice and a decent temperature, they would opt for no socks.
I even have a song about my socks that I wrote and sing any morning that I put on a pair that I particularly like, a sort of commercial-like jingle for my socks. I’ve heard the kids humming it to themselves as they put on their socks. Josh is the only person in the house who does not derive great pleasure from his socks. He just wears them. He does not partake in reveling in the joy of a good pair of socks wrapped around his feet.
My guess is that sock-wearers tend to like their homes warm and sock-endurers can handle colder temperatures inside.
So are you a sock-wearer or a sock-endurer? And does that match with how you like your home temperature?
60 comments
Ah, can you knit? Because, I strongly suspect that you would *love* the act of creating socks for yourself. It’s not hard at all, to knit a sock. They are a bit addictive, actually.
I like the house cold (it’s winter time- you should be wearing sweaters and not tshirts inside!) and I am definitely a sock-endurer. I love my Smartwool socks (sooooo worth the $) in the wintertime and will wear them with my fuzzy slippers all over the house and to go to bed. But in the summer, it’s way to hot to be wearing socks so I definitely don’t wear socks to bed.
I love a nice, cozy pair of socks. But I am also addicted to slippers. I wear slippers when I’m in the house, no matter the season, whether I have socks on or not. I never wear shoes in the house. I will wear slippers w/o socks, but I don’t wear socks w/o slippers, and I almost never, ever go barefoot. I never wear socks to bed. We have a lovely down duvet, and fleece sheets, so wearing socks and/or warm pjs is uncomfortable.
I’m a sock endurer. Since I work from home…I can get away with not putting on socks and just wearing my slippers around. I’ve been known to put my gym shoes on with no socks to run out to the mailbox, or to pick up something quick at the grocery store (but I don’t like to make a habit of that) during the winter. In the summer, I never wear socks. I’m a flip flop wearing gal…or some other kind of sandals. And I HATE wearing socks to bed. The reason my lab sleeps with me is to lay ON my feet to keep them warm in winter!! 🙂
I don’t wear socks to bed ever–we keep our house warm enough in the winter that I don’t need them–but I’d say I’m definitely a sock-endurer. I never wear them unless I have to, and given that I live in the desert Southwest, it’s rare that I have to.
Loving the deep thoughts. 🙂
Interestingly, while I would prefer to live my life in a sauna-like state, there are exceptions to that and one of those is socks. I LOVE socks during the winter day (fun ones, of course-polka dots, kitty patterns, etc.), but must go bare at night. In fact, at night I can’t stand to wear long sleeves and prefer to have shorts on.
So, day=socks! yay!
night=naked feet! yay!
My house is colder, and I am definitely a sock endurer. But I wear slippers pretty much any minute I am home during the fall, winter and spring. Wear do slippers fit into the theory?
I’m just like Shelby up there regarding socks.
The house is kept at cold 65 and is drafty with all the big windows and hardwood floors. Wool socks, slippers, pants, long sleeves and a fleece vest all the time in the winter during the day. Almost never socks at night, only if husband is on a business trip. The blankets are really thick and socks would make my feet sweat. I do love winter sports as long as I’m dressed correctly, I’m always cold so it’s not really a big deal to add a layer.
Slippers adds in an interesting twist. I own slippers and I sometimes wear slippers, but I’m more of a socks-around-the-house person. No shoes in the house. I like slippers, but I don’t like my slippers. If I had better ones, I’d probably wear them more.
Sometimes I wear ballet slippers. Like just real ballet slippers. Sans socks.
People wear socks to BED???!!!! I cannot sleep with socks on. I suppose I am the definition of a “sock endurer”, and I always come downstairs in the winter without my socks, only to have to go put them on when my feet touch the freezing tile in the kitchen. I actually prefer my fuzzy slippers to wearing socks. I was also the strange kid with what would now be labelled “sensory issues” who had to turn her socks inside out so I couldn’t feel the seam. The seam doesn’t bother me anymore but socks are awfully tight and constricting…
*laughing* … yet another reason I love you, Mel.
I sometimes wear socks. It’s definitely a temperature issue. But it’s also a weird middle-of-the-night sensory issue. Like, sometimes I wake up and GAH I’m wearing SOCKS and I must remove them IMMEDIATELY!
(The other interesting question here is whether your partner sleeps with the same layers of clothing on that you do. The issue is a source of some marital friction in our house, anyway. 😉
I’m a sock endurer extremist. My house is freezing, but most of the time I don’t want to wear socks. We also don’t have carpet or rugs anywhere in our house, and socks are slippery and I am… how shall I put this? I’m known to trip on air, and I walk into walls/doorways all. the. time. My calves are covered with bruises from walking into my coffee table. I don’t even know how I get bruises on my arms half the time. That said, socks and slippery floors are a TERRIBLE idea. I only wear socks in the house on especially windy/cold days, when I’m DESPERATE. Otherwise, I cuddle up with a blanket on the couch and tough it out.
I did wear socks to bed last night, but it was freezing despite having my heat cranked up and I’m sick. Usually I don’t wear them. I don’t like them when I’m sleeping, I don’t like them getting loose, or the lines they might leave on me, it always feels freeing when I remove them. If I get cold at night I just grab another blanket.
I would go sockless 24/7 of I could though. It’s more comfortable for me, in the summer it helps me cool down and I like feeling things with my feet (the grass, water, air).
I am a sock endurer during the winter – but only because my “icy feet” drive my husband crazy and have him convinced that I am one step away from serious illness. But I can not sleep in them. It will not work, no matter what wonderful pair of socks I try.
Yeah, I am a sock endurer. And I prefer it cooler. The idea of sleeping with socks is horrifying, but I have weird little sleeping habits (like Ana above, I totally would have been a “sensory issues” kid). I prefer to wear pajama pants, but they have to be inside out, so the seams are on the outside. And the pajama pants must be super soft.
I really wonder how we acquire these quirks – if we are genetically programed to prefer cold or hot, or if it is how we are raised, or where we were raised.
I guess I’m a sock endurer? I mourn just a little the morning I realize it’s going to be too chilly all day to wear flip-flops and I’ll have to switch to socks and foot covering shoes on a regular basis. Though once I’ve made the transition I don’t seem to mind so much, maybe it’s because my sock of choice is no higher than my ankle? One day I’m going to cough up the $$$ for a pair of Uggs or equivalent and then I won’t ever have to wear socks! 🙂
If I’m sick, I’ll wear fuzzy socks to bed but otherwise the room & bedding is warm enough not to need them even though sometimes I’m tempted to wear a hat or other headcovering to block the breeze from the fan my husband insists on running year round. (Grrrrrr)
I had to give this some thought because my 1st reaction was, “Oh, I LOVE socks!!” but remembered that I also love to go barefoot in the summer, I love being able to slip on flats or flip flops sans socks! But then again, even in summer, when I’m inside in the air conditioning, I love my cozy socks…Then I noticed the comments on slippers & I definitely always have slippers, warm cozy ones in winter & flip flop types in the summer. I love to buy myself a new pair every season tho they go on clearance after Christmas so that is the best time…& when I really think about it, even tho I like to be barefoot, I always have something on my feet: slippers, socks, shoes…so I don’t know where I fit in. Story of my life, lol!
Oh & I do wear socks to bed but always seem to kick them off in the night.
I like socks when it’s cold (i.e. less than 70 degrees outside), and bare feet when it’s not cold (i.e. more than 75 degrees inside). I have a large variety of socks and whenever I think about getting rid of some, I realize that I just wore that pair last week, so I obviously still need them. I wear slippers and socks in our freezing cold house, but sometimes I can get by with just slippers and more rarely with just socks. I wear socks to bed, because I can’t sleep when my feet can’t get warm, but I take them off in the middle of the night because I get really hot when I sleep. Once in a great while, I will wake up with my socks on.
I have the hardest time getting my daughter to wear socks – she puts them on at our insistence, and then takes them off 5 minutes later when her feet get hot. 5 minutes after that, I’m telling her she has icicle feet, put something on them. It’s an endless cycle…but she will wear socks to bed. And then I go take them off of her while she’s sleeping because she’s hot.
My husband wears socks and slippers, but he doesn’t sleep in his socks. I’d say we’re mostly a sock-wearing family!
Socks and slippers around the house, no socks to bed.
Sometimes I don’t even wear socks outside in the dead of winter. Down with socks!
I like wonderful socks in the winter, and no socks in the summer. And slippers inside in the winter, and barefoot everywhere in the summer.
In the summer I almost never, never wear socks.
In the winter I wear them if I’m leaving the house, but if I’m home all day I prefer to just trundle around in my Ugg boots that Q. bought for me for our third wedding anniversary (leather/suede). They are so comfortable and warm and just generally amazing.
If it is really really cold, I have been known to wear socks to bed, but I usually take them off at some point during the night before I get too hot.
E. won’t wear socks with his slippers (Padraigs) and knows to get his socks out if we are leaving the house, so I am clearly passing down my oddities.
Although I own socks, I am a sock disdainer and a bare feet lover. We have hardwood floors throughout and tile bathroom floors, so even if the air temp is 68 the floor temp is quite a bit cooler. We’ve had freezing overnight temps lately and I have been forced to wear socks in the mornings even though I eschew them.
Socks to bed? Never! I’d overheat!
I’m a sock endurer and I like my indoor temps cool. I don’t hate socks, but I’d rather not wear them. Lately, I’ve been wearing socks to bed, because, even though I like it cold for sleeping, it’s a bit too cold for my feet. However, I end up waking up with hot feet in the middle of the night, so I have to take them off.
What a tease! Where’s the recording of the sock song? 🙂
Big sock lover here. I come from a family of sock lovers. We actually enjoy getting socks as gifts. It’s like…candy and toys. The kids seem to have inherited it too.
I do wear socks to bed but only in the fall and winter. Since I hate cold sheets and I don’t want them to touch my ankles, I wear long socks that I pull over my flannel pants. It’s so sexy. I swear.
I was surprised by the previous post’s comments; I always figured 68-70F was an average house temp, although I could see turning it down to 65F-ish when nobody’s home. I was amazed at how many people keep their houses in the low 60s & even 50s. Dh doesn’t like to turn on the furnace in the fall until the furnace guy can come & do a cleaning & inspection… but sometimes the house just gets too damned cold before he can come. This past October I woke up one morning & the temp in the house was 62F & I said, “OK, that’s it, I’ve reached mylimit!” & turned the furnace on. ; )
Anyway. Socks. I wouldn’t say I LOVE wearing socks, but I appreciate them. ; ) I will often go barefoot in the morning (unless it’s really cold — we have ceramic tiles in the bathroom & kitchen…!), but I leave my socks on when we get home at night. And we have a magic bag/rice bag/wheat bag (whatever you want to call it) that I heat up in the microwave & take to bed with us on particularly cold nights (our bedroom is, of course, the coldest room in the house, it seems). I generally wouldn’t wear socks to bed unless it was particularly cold.
Dh hates wearing socks. Can’t wait to strip out of them when we get home at night.
I am a sock endurer, which is why I adore UGGS and own many pairs and wear them all winter. How they don’t stink I’ll never understand but they are amazing.
We don’t put our heat on much and when we do it’s never above 64. We just want save resources and money. We want slippers and our robes most of the time when we’re home. Sometimes we turn the space heater on in the bathroom while my daughter takes a bath. We sleep under MANY warm blankets and comforters (we turn the heat off at night). If it gets really cold (below 58 we turn on the heat but otherwise we don’t.
I do not hate socks, I just don’t like them a lot. I would go barefoot all summer long, but I am allergic to grass, so I have socks and shoes on just as often as flip flops. I have thick warm socks to wear in the mornings, but then my feet get hot, and off they go. I never wear socks to bed. Matter of fact, none of us do. I throw on my slippers to run outside for whatever reason, but they are too warm to wear regularly. My husband would wear slippers all day long if he could convince me to learn to knit to make him some! When our son gets home from school, one of the first things he does is take off his socks.
Your theory works in my home. I am cold; I like socks. My kids are hot; they endure socks.
Two clarifications. (1) I don’t wear socks to bed. If I get too hot at night, I stick out a bare foot to cool down. (2) I’m rarely in sock feet. I almost always have shoes, slippers or flip-flops on. Socks dirty from the floor gross me out.
Love socks. Wear them all the time, especially to bed. I even tuck my pj pants into the socks to keep the cold air out. Unsurprisingly, my house is colder than I would like and this is the way I survive. I love fun socks, knee socks and slipper socks, though I only wear plain white cotton socks to bed. It just seems right. Also, I always put on a fresh pair of socks before bed because who wants to wear socks that have been walking around my dusty house all day?
I am a sock endurer who is always cold. If my house were super warm, and I could pile two down comforters on my bed, I would never wear socks (although I do love slippers). But I hate having cold feet, so I wear socks all winter, even to bed. That is because my husband is hot all the time, and won’t let me put the down comforter on the bed, so I am cold at night without socks. Also, I can’t in good conscience keep our house heated to a level that would allow me to go sockless, so I wear socks and slippers in the house at all times. As soon as it warms up, though, I pack my socks away for the warm season with a lot of happiness.
Very interesting! Yeah, we keep our house cold & I’m totally a sock-endurer. I’ll wear them during the day + slippers, even, but unless I’m literally shivering when I go to bed, those socks have to come off for me to be able to sleep. And in the summertime? Please. It’s sandals or barefoot all the way.
Also, I & my mother & my maternal grandfather have (had) a hard time sleeping with a tucked-in sheet. Why? Because we have to have the freedom to stick our feet out the bottom of the bed at night. I do this even in the winter & it makes my husband crazy! Don’t know how people sleep with hot feet, though. I really don’t…
YES!! I am a double-socker in winter, and wear big wooly, completely-unsexy socks to bed. Cannot stand my feet being cold. No really glamorous socks, I would go for plain black but have learnt the hard way that more distinguishing socks ensure that they are returned to me from the washpile, not sneaked into Mr Stinky’s drawer.
Though I love being barefoot too, so don’t really ‘sock up’ in summer – depends on whether I’m wearing trainers or flipflops. As long as my feet aren’t cold.
Fingerless gloves, however, I could happily wear anytime. But don’t
I am a sock wearer.
I have a rather large collection of knee socks that I wear year round and three pairs of super-soft and thick chenille socks that I wear when I change into my pj’s. I usually do start out the night wearing socks to bed so that R doesn’t scurry away from my cold feet when we cuddle but end up taking them off when I’m ready to go to sleep. I wear socks during the day because I need to wear my house shoes for arch support and I hate wearing shoes without socks.
I will point out that I have chronically cold hands and feet, so socks really are a must. Winter or summer, my feet are always freezing when I get into bed!
My daughter is 7 and a sock endurer. When she gets home from school, the shoes AND socks come off. I can’t imagine!
(BTW, I get all of my cute knee socks from sockdreams.com LOVE THEM!!)
I didn’t answer yesterday because I didn’t read it til now, but I like my house a bit chillier than what most would keep at. I like to have the quilt my grandmother made for my wedding wrapped around me. If I can find the right temp that let’s me cuddle up under that quilt, I’m content. But socks? They are my arch nemesis. I hate them. I won’t wear them in the house (and I’m forever losing my slippers) and will only put them on after my husband threatens me during the winter. I’m so anti-socks that I’m continuously fighting someone cause I’m “gonna get sick” and I just don’t want to wear them. I hate the confinement of socks. I’m usually anti boots or sneakers too. The only shoes I like wearing are my flip flops and my toms. My husband confiscates both after our first snowfall and hides them til spring. I’d rather put up with cold feet under a blanket than break down and wear socks. Clearly I was meant for tropical climates but I’m just not that lucky.
I quite often wear socks to bed, but nothing else. I’m sexy and I know it.
Although, I don’t think I particularly celebrate socks otherwise.
I love my socks, but living in a subtropical city means i don’t wear them often. Carpet in our (overly) warm apartment also means that both slippers and socks are not often worn (and I have some awesome felty wool slippers from Japan). When we lived in a house with wooden floors (always cool because that is what is needed here) I wore socks/slippers around the house. And I have about half a dozen pairs of sleep socks- soft fuzzy fleece socks solely for sleeping in (shoes won’t go on them)
I endure socks.
But I LOVE my shearling slippers. LOVE.
My preference is no socks. I cannot wear socks to bed–the thought boggles my mind. But if I am wearing socks, I love to wear cute socks. It is fun to buy cute socks–funky stripes, cozy ones or fun patterns. And I do put more thought into picking out my socks in the morning than I probably should–tiny pleasure. I chalk up my fancy with socks from going to Catholic grade school for eight years and having to wear boring, plain white socks all of the time. I guess I am a hybrid. And I would rather have my home warmer. Again, breaking the rules!
I’ll wear socks when it’s cold, and slippers too in the winter. (Socks just aren’t enough). But increasingly in my old age, I suffer from hot feet – especially at night. (I think it’s a family thing). And so it can be freezing cold, I’ll be snuggled deep under a warm duvet, and my bare feet will be stuck outside the bed.
Even when I was young, I couldn’t bear to wear socks in bed, though we’d have a hot water bottle. (I’m not a fan of electric blankets after our bed burned down! http://aseparatelife.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/the-night-the-bed-burned-down/)
I wear socks but not to bed… that’s what the super thick duvet is for! I’m a slippers with socks kid in the winter and totally barefoot in the summer.
Oh, I am definitely a sock wearer. And a sweater wearer. But I would much rather be cold than warm. My theory is you can always put on more layers…but there’s only so much you can take off. One of these days I’m going to break down and get real air conditioning…
I’m a sock endurer. I loathe May because it’s still cold overnight, and I can’t get rid of my wool socks and I swear it’s all I’ve been wearing all winter.
I think wearing socks represents being cold, and I really REALLY hate being cold. So for me, barefoot is the way to go, because it means it’s WARM – and sunny – outside.
Because otherwise I’m wearing wool socks. ALL. THE. TIME.
(Can you tell I’m tired of winter?)
xoxo
I’m a sock endurer, and my optimal air temperature is at least 80 degrees. I am perfectly comfortable in the tropics, and miserable in the winter in the mountains of North Carolina (where I live).
Smartwool has helped me to come to terms with socks. At least they’re warm, cheerful, non-itchy, and shockingly durable. But still, I’d rather be barefoot.
I wear socks in winter (and like them) and don’t in the summer because it’s too dang hot. As for house temperatures – the house is at 64 or so (well, the Celsius equivalent as I’m in Canada) in the winter and 72 in the summer.
No matter what the temperature, I never wear socks to bed. Too hot. Then again, I don’t typically wear *anything* to bed unless I’m very ill.
I am so surprised at how many people relate to being sock endurers! I totally only wear socks if I’m skiing… I thought everyone loved socks, but me. My Mum loves socks so much she thinks she’s special. She has a big knit pair she got in NZ five years ago and they are all rotten and mended, rotten and mended, and she wears socks under them! Probably because of the holes!
I also think the house should be warm enough even in the middle of winter to be comfortable in a pair of shorts (my go-tos are a grungy pair of cutoff jeans that are too big) and bare feet. I like the heat up, but the back door open for some fresh air… that’s me in the car with the heat cranked and all the windows down… thanks for providing me something to do while I procrastinate, Mel!
Sock-wearer. Cozy socks in bed. Not particularly hot or cold.
There was a time when I’d go barefoot in the house in the summer but now that would freak my children the F out. “Mommy why you are not wearing socks? Put on some socks now.” They are very much sock wearers. They are constantly criticizing barefoot babies in magazines or out in the world. They wear socks every minute unless they are in the bathtub or having their toenails cut or something.
My husband is a sock-endurer (he wears sandals when no one else would, and he constantly praises the one beach wedding we’ve attended because it meant he could go barefoot at a wedding) but he cannot handle cold, which goes counter to your hypothesis.
Okay. House 75 degrees all winter long. Even with it that high, I am still in sweats and under a blanket whenever I am sitting.
Running over to the sock wearer side. Yes to socks AND slippers during day. Yes to socks in bed.
I think California has ruined me. I can’t take cold at all! I’d be a popcicle if I lived where there was regular snow. 😉
I’m a sock wearer. I love ’em. I’ll wear ’em all year long. Don’t get me wrong I like wearing shoes sockless in the summer. However, I love the cushiness of socks.
Oh, and no socks to bed. Ever. Even when I’m sick. Ick.