Tuesday, November 01, 2005

The Allure of Knee Socks

Leather will, of course, remain a fashion staple in the wardrobe of any dominatrix. But there are times when one wants to wear something besides leather.... Well, there are times when I want to wear something besides leather.

Ten years ago I paid $200 for a pair of fierce Italian black leather motorcycle boots. They remain as fabulously wearable as they were the day I bought them--and I wear them often. They've got enough of a heel to look formidable, but it's not so high that I can't walk comfortably around Paris all day in these boots everyone admires.

The thing about boots is, if you're going to have them on for any length of time, you've got to wear something under them. With these boots, I've worn regular nylons (serviceable and utilitarian), fishnets (pretty hot), and at one point I bought a garter belt, but I can't say I found that garment particularly practical for any situation where it wouldn't be on display. But lately I have been indulging in the joys of and sexiness of knee socks.

That's right, knee socks. I think there's something thoroughly alluring about pairing fancy knee socks with short black boots tough enough that you could kick in a door wearing them.

I mentioned this to Saviour Onassis and he laughed, thinking it was some kind of bored dominatrix joke. But when he realized I was actually ardent and serious, he had to demur. "I find calves really sexy," he said. "I wouldn't want them covered up or obscured."

"I'm not talking about tube socks or athletic socks," I said. "Women's knee socks are generally tight enough that while they may cover a calf, they don't obscure it. In fact, they accentuate it, if you ask me."

Recently I purchased a dozen pairs of knee socks, all of them ornamented in some imaginative way. I have a black pair with wee pink roses all over them, and a dark blue pair with pale blue cornflowers. I have a blue pair, a black pair and a brown pair with dark and pale micro stripes. I have a couple of pairs of argyle socks....OK, argyle isn't all that sexy, but it's at least visually arresting. And the best socks of all have large roses climbing in vines up the side: I got a gray pair with lavender roses and a black pair with bright red roses. I wear these socks under a long skirt with those black boots, and the effect, when I raise my skirt to ascend a staircase and you catch a glimpse of sock, really is quite fetching.... Trust me, I've been told. There's an even better effect when I'm wearing the boots, the socks and a fairly short miniskirt--not that I wear such things often these days, because I don't really want my 20-year-old students to check out my legs. But I used to wear ensembles like that. They get noticed.

In October ago I attended an open house at a very chic tattoo parlor/ spa outside Toronto. (God, I want a new tattoo!) Because it was a newly renovated 19th century carriage house with brand new hardwood floors, we were asked to remove our shoes as we wandered the establish, ate hors d'oeuvres, and talked about tattoos and Canadian politics. I was wearing the black socks with the red roses up the side, and I was very glad that if I had to walk around in my stocking feet, those were the stockings I was wearing.

2 Comments:

Blogger spike said...

Yes, I had noticed those socks! "Alluring" is le seul mot juste. I've got an idea for a future tattoo that echoes those socks. Andrea Juno edited a book of interviews entitled Angry Women of Rock. The pages for each interview are bordered with heavy black drawings of medicinal plants intended as tattoo templates. There's one of hops vines and flowers and one day, I'd like to do something similar, not in black, as a vine on my right leg from calf to thigh. Especially if I can keep up the bicycling. My legs are not much to look at (because there's not that much of them -- Sir Bedevere would likely find me witchy) but who knows? Might hops make my gams more alluring? (If not, the bicycling certainly helps.)

By the way, yes, fantastic banner! Tip of the hat to SO.

I hoped to insert a link to http://www.toymania.com/columns/spotlight/hgpatsy.shtml in the above on "Bedevere" but I'm incompetnet mentos.

10:24 PM  
Blogger jana said...

Love the sock post!! I think it's so sad that most fashion is 'sockless' these days. I love a good sock, be it wool, nylon, fishnet, etc.

I have socks for every mood: cozy, whimsical, naughty, etc.

You can tell a lot about a person by their socks. Are they clean? Holey? Slouchy? Coordinated w/their clothes? Even the socks that men wear under their dark suits w/their conservative lace-up shoes reveal a lot about the man underneath all of that wool...

PS: John's favorites inlude rainbow-striped toe socks and yellow smiley socks. He's not a man to be timid w/his choice of footwear...

10:39 PM  

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