Women enjoy a wide variety of ways of customising their outfits and expressing their personalities from dress shade to shoe style, while men, on the other hand, are limited to the same suit in varying subtle shades.
It is little wonder, therefore, that some men have opted to dazzle with bright coloured socks peeking out from beneath their trouser leg on special occasions.
And if you so happen to be Prime Minister of Canada, pretty much every day is a special occasion, calling for an impressive array of imaginative and, most importantly, eye-grabbing cosy cottons.
Justin Trudeau boasts an impressive collection ranging from patriotic maple leaf loafer-liners to statement Star Wars stockings.
Our own Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar recently tried to board the bandwagon with a decent effort at welcoming woolies.
Trudeau's sock collection is so impressive, he managed to make one Twitter user's day by wearing a pair of rainbow socks to a Pride parade. Laura Olin captioned the post:
"1. Justin Trudeau 2. at Pride 3. wearing rainbow socks 4. high-fiving a little girl dressed as Wonder Woman"
1. Justin Trudeau 2. at Pride 3. wearing rainbow socks 4. high-fiving a little girl dressed as Wonder Woman pic.twitter.com/1xYQoOaPOt
— laura olin (@lauraolin) June 25, 2017
However, though he is associated with it, Trudeau is merely toying with a trend that predated his ascension to international public scrutiny. Many other famous faces had stepped out in stunning stockings long before he did.
Not the first
The idea of novelty men’s accessories first emerged in the form of ties in the late 1940's when men returning from WW2 wanted something cheerful to contrast with the bleak and belligerent war years.
Ties have gone through a serious of advancements since then and those of the novelty variety are now largely confined to the realm of dodgy Christmas parties. Socks, however, are another matter.
George H W Bush has been rocking some funky footwear at public appearances since around 2013 and his collection is arguably more enviable than the Canadian Prime Ministers.
Bush senior has sported some stunning Superman stockings complete with capes and even premiered the patriotic look tried by Trudeau way back in April 2013.
Celebrities such as Eddie Redmayne, Jared Leto and Aaron Paul have also been known to opt for a more colourful sock with formal wear as they grace the red carpet.
Out of style
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, men had been following this fashion for a long time. In fact in March 2016, they had already written that the trend was long-dead suggesting Trudeau may be a few seasons past the height of his statement socks. It seems that the trend was more on point between 2010 and 2015 with men’s magazines offering advice on how to pull off that perfect suit-sock look.
Celebrity Socks
Celebrities including Snoop Dog and Rob Kardashian have involved themselves with the footwear. While Snoop worked with established sock brand Happy Socks in 2014, Rob launched his range of Arthur George socks relying heavily on the popularity of patterns in 2013 at the peak of the fancy footwear phase in response to the interest in standout stockings.
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It seems, therefore, that rather than setting the trend, Trudeau is trying to revive it.
So whether your dad is sobbing into his starter or swaggering in his annual seasonal socks next Christmas will largely depend on whether or not this revival is a success.
