Do you know the history and origins of socks?

Posted on2023-03-06 by LanaOnLine

Have you ever wondered at what point in history socks first appeared? And what fabrics did our ancestors use to protect and wrap their dear feet in the various seasons?

Let us start with the meaning and origins of the word 'socks': sock derives from the Latin calceus or calcius (shoe), which in turn comes from calx (heel), while in English sock is said to be sock, a word derived from the Latin 'soccus', indicating the stocking used by actors in comedy.

The first to wear what we can define as the prototype of the sock were the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, in 700 B.C.: to cover their lower limbs, men used long leggings of cloth with a leather sole. A more refined version was reserved for women: white canvas embellished with embroidery.

The oldest real socks are Egyptian and date back to the period between 250 and 420 BC. Their shape suggests that they were used with sandals.

Ancient Egyptian children's sock - British Museum

The sock in the picture above, for example, covered a child's foot between the 3rd and 4th century AD.

It has a separation between the big toe and the other toes so that it can be worn with sandals and was made from a wool yarn of no less than 6-7 colours, woven using the nålbinding technique, an ancestor of today's knitting and crochet. A rainbow of orange, purple, blue-green, dark red, green, dark blue and yellow. An astonishing palette if we talk about a time when dyeing fabrics was a complex, difficult process and few dyes were available.

Egyptian socks - Victoria and Albert Museum

According to historians, socks became fashionable around the year 1000. Making comfortable socks at that time was a complex process that required care and money. So nobles and kings liked to show off their knee socks, a distinctive symbol of high social status, to express their financial and class prowess.

This would also explain why socks were often given as gifts at Christmas: giving socks was long seen as a generous and important gesture.

In the 15th century, the stocking became an indispensable garment, and at the end of the century the stocking was also invented, a one-piece garment to be worn underneath imposing and pompous dresses. From this time onwards, the introduction of the stocking also marked a clear division between men's and women's clothing.

Men began to proudly display brightly coloured socks that differed from leg to leg. Women's stockings, on the other hand, remained covered for a long time, hidden in the name of common morality. In the 17th and 18th centuries, bright colours gave way to elegant white, the only accepted colour shade at the time.

Before the 20th century, most stockings were above the knee length. But with the arrival of men's long trousers during the early 1900s, the sizes began to shrink (making the difference between socks and stockings clear).

The turning point in the history of socks was 1938, with the invention of nylon.

Until then, socks were made from silk, wool or cotton. The first pair of nylon socks arrived in New York shops on 15 May 1940: 72,000 pairs were sold in a single day.

Examples of fashionable socks in the 1950s

Let's come to today: this garment, no longer just a simple accessory, represents comfort, elegance, fashion, originality, colour, warmth, softness, cheerfulness.

Today, socks and stockings are an essential element of every outfit, an item of clothing that fills drawers and wardrobes in its various versions. Long, short, for women or men, in plain colours or in the most diverse patterns, to match or contrast with the rest of the look, to stand out, personalise, embellish one's daily clothing choices.

Making them by hand, giving or receiving them is a true gesture of love!

But which yarns should you choose to make your socks? And which techniques to use? Are you fed up with the usual boring single-colour socks and want to make something original?

The variety of proposals, ideas, wonderful yarns and techniques for making socks opens up a colourful and joyful world that we at Lanaonline love so much!

In fact, there is a wide range of sock yarns that we propose, without neglecting the accessories that are necessary to make and customise them: from manuals to all types of needles, right up to non-slip imprints, latex and insoles! Let's see them together...

Are you ready?