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People have been wearing socks since at least the 8th century, but socks really became popular at the beginning of the 19th century, when men began wearing trousers instead of breeches. Men's socks were usually made of cotton, merino or silk. Finely spun silk socks such as these were expensive and often reserved for evening wear or special occasions.
Ownership & Use
Delicately embroidered silk socks complemented the low-cut shoes that were worn with evening dress. They were often worn with suspenders to help keep them pulled up.The 19th-century fashion for black extended to men's socks, but brighter colours were also worn, such as scarlet, bright blue, green and tartan - sometimes to match the tie or cravat. The writer Lytton Strachey wears olive green socks with a grey suit and a green tie in a portrait of 1904 by Simon Bussy.
Materials & Making
Technological innovations and improvements in machinery meant that socks could be manufactured in greater numbers as the century progressed. The firm of I. & R. Morley was one of the largest firms. It exhibited spun silk shirts, children's gloves and men's socks with spun silk at the 1851 Great Exhibition. By the 1870s new methods of producing spun silk socks meant that, although still a luxury item, they were affordable by the middle classes. (en) - Pair of socks of machine-knitted silk. With alternate bands of stocking stitch and openwork stitch, embroidered with black silk and hand-finished. The plain bands are embroidered in small black florets and the centre front panel has Saint Andrew's crosses with diamond between the arms, and diagonal bands. Ankle length, unfashioned and hand-finished. (en)
- British Galleries:
Socks became fashionable during the first half of the 19th century when men started wearing trousers instead of breeches. They had previously worn stockings but socks were easier to keep in place beneath a trouser leg. By the 1840s they were made with ribbed cuffs so that they did not fall down. [27/03/2003] (en)
- Pair of socks of machine-knitted silk, made in Great Britain, 1840-1846 (en)
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