The sock war: Tell me how high you wear them and I’ll tell you how old you are

It is said that you can tell a person by their shoes. Today, additional information can be gleaned from the socks they wear. This humble garment, traditionally at the bottom of the heap regarding wardrobe hierarchy, is becoming an unlikely protagonist in the generational divide.

The theory dominating TikTok is that you can guess a person’s age simply by the length of their socks. If the socks are short, practically hidden so that they look good with tight pants, we are dealing with a millennial, born between 1981 and 1996. If they go all the way up to the calves, we are dealing with a member of Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012. The theory is usually accurate and also quite addictive: this journalist has to confess to spending entire subway trips analyzing the length of the socks of her fellow passengers.

In the digital realm, the theory has taken on a life of its own, becoming a source of scorn — the sort of ‘OK boomer’ of social networks, not unlike the skinny jeans and the side parting. So much online derision has meant that 30-somethings have ended up pulling their sock balls out of the drawer to assess which ones they need to send to fashion Siberia. Although many, including actress Jennifer Lawrence, are reluctant to park the short model.

According to one TikTok user in response to this video discussing sock length, “I suffered horrible ‘bullying’ for wearing them long and I had to roll them up and fold them over. Zoomers are not going to take away my skinny jeans and ankle socks.”

“No one I know wears ankle socks. They’re considered an old person thing,” explains 17-year-old Milo. “I usually always wear my socks white, and Nike is the most popular among people my age. In general, we pay more attention to brands when it comes to socks, just as we do with other types of clothing,” he adds. According to the data site Statista, Nike, Adidas and Uniqlo are, in that order, the top-selling brands for socks, although most of the transactions come from other types of retailers.

Chiara, 20, agrees that Nike is the zoomers’ favorite brand: “It’s the most fashionable for socks,” she notes. “When you wear shorts, you wear them longer, but with tight pants we usually choose short. The most sought-after are Nike socks with the logo right at the ankle, but they’re hard to find. They’re practically out of production.”

—In a growing section of the global market, socks span both the sports and fashion sectors. Socks by high-end brands, such as Balenciaga and Ralph Lauren, have positioned themselves as the new perfume that is, a good entry point to luxury. It’s no wonder Gucci didn’t forget to bring out several tribanda-style socks during its Cruise 2025 collection presented in London: “They’re a fantastic way to elevate an outfit,” says stylist Caterina Ospina. “I often use them in editorials to make the look more unique and interesting. I personally like them, and they spark intrigue. I notice them when I walk down the street. They say a lot about the personality of the wearer, and I think they are not given the importance they deserve.”

The virtues of socks are well known to fashion insiders, but it has been the celebrities who have massified the trend. Hailey Bieber and Paul Mescal combine their micro shorts with socks that reach their calf, and even the tennis ace Carlos Alcaraz, an unlikely style reference, teamed his yellow Bermuda shorts with some dark blue almost black socks during the 2024 Roland Garros, a departure from the typical white ones.

Although it may not seem like it, the humble sock has a long history as an indicator of age and social background, albeit a highly variable one. The posh eighties relied on a sock-loafer combo as a key trend, partly inspired by the ‘preppy’ student look of the Ivy League, America’s elite universities. On the other hand, the nightclubs of the following decade banned entry to anyone who dared to show up with these ‘casts’ covering their feet and ankles.

Meanwhile, patterned or colored models have traditionally enjoyed a certain status among men. Socks were seen as a touch of distinction, of dandyism, until the ‘fun’ sock brands reduced them to Secret Santa gifts. If you wanted to identify a northern European tourist with no interest in fashion, there was nothing more infallible than sandals with socks, though recently David Beckham was spotted sporting this very combination in the front row of his wife Victoria’s fashion show. Although, of course, it can also be argued that Becks is a real Brit, who would fit in perfectly in a British pub on the Costa del Sol. And whereas long socks used to be the preserve of grandparents and the Damart catalog, now they indicate you’re someone who knows what’s what when it comes to style. All of this having the potential to confuse the hell out of anyone.

But if this Zeta fetish had to have a historical reference, the perfect antecedent would be the bobby soxers of the 1940s, a subculture of American girls who belonged to the first generation to be defined as teenagers. The bobby soxers worshipped Frank Sinatra, adorned their hair with ribbons and spent their allowance on soda, the equivalent of contemporary matcha. Like today’s youth, they grew up in an environment that was economically complicated and punctuated by wars; and of course, they became the target audience for brands looking to sell specific products — sound familiar? The tribe is named after the bobby socks they wore with flat shoes as a way to differentiate themselves from their mothers and their heels.

In an age where dress has become progressively casual, where parents and children wear the same shorts and the same sneakers, socks act as a distinguishing feature between the generations. It is no longer necessary to look at the cap or the shirt: the length of the sock is the new micro-sign that unmasks the older generation.

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