'Sweet Spot' With Mike Sugerman: Rocking Shorts With Black Socks Is Now In Style
"Sweet Spot," by Mike Sugerman
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Hey, German tourists, you're finally hip!
You know those black socks with shorts you've been rocking for years? They're now fashionable.
At least, according to the New York Times.
A headline on a recent article in the style section read, "Go Ahead, Wear a Pair of High Black Socks with Those Shorts."
Really?
"Yepp," said Mark Evan Blackman, and he should know. He's a professor of menswear at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
I checked in with him before I took the look for a test drive.
Fashion, he told me, can move from the top down, from designers. Or it can move from the bottom up, from the streets. This time, it apparently started with the shoes.
"There was a look in the '90s called 'grunge,'" he said. "Doc Martens high tops with no socks. Then, skaters took the look and move to black socks. Their fathers and grandfathers were wearing shorts with white tube socks. They wanted to be different – as different as possible. So they wore black socks."
The Times shared a photo of actor Jonah Hill sporting a hoodie, shorts, black socks and sneakers to show just how cool the look is now.
Can I pull it off?
"It's tricky," said my wife, who follows fashion like I follow baseball and is the arbitrator of my look. "I think you're a little old for the look."
So, I won't be wearing them.
But if fashion can start anywhere, I may start the look of two different socks. That way, when I do my laundry, I won't have to search so hard for a matching pair.
