The History of Socks
2 min read
Socks taken for granted these days; a lot of people walk around with pairs with holes in them, despite probably having an entire drawer full in the bedroom at home. But, when is the last time you ever stopped and thought about socks? Why did humans decide to wrap cloth coverings around their feet?
Some of the first socks (or sock-like footwear) that we know of dates back to the Stone Age, thanks to cave paintings discovered by archaeologists. In some paintings dating back as far as 5,000 B.C., figures can be seen with foot coverings – likely made of animal pelts.
Moving forward through time, we can see more references to early versions of socks in Greek literature from the 8th century B.C.The Greek poet Hesiod mentions piloi, which are a sock-like piece of historic clothing that was made from animal hairs with purpose of being worn underneath sandals to help protect your feet. When you think of Ancient Rome, there is a good chance you are picturing Romans with leather strap wrappings woven around their feet and up their legs. These served a similar purpose to the Greek’s piloi, but were the first ones to start to look like our socks of today.
In the 2nd Century AD sock historians found the first appearances of the wool socks. This discovery was made in Northumbria, England so it makes sense that folks would want some warm, woollen socks to help protect from the less than tropic British weather.
The history of socks is rich and interesting; from practical uses to neon green stripes, socks have done it all!
This post was written by Matt Conklin, owner and sock aficionado at Lucid Socks. Lucid Socks’ sock of the month club features a random hand picked pair of socks from one of our many categories of unique and humorous socks.
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