Socks that Suck

What is with this trend and when will it end?

Marina Beach

When it comes to golf attire, men have always had more stringent rules—collars, tucked in shirts, no jeans. Women, on the other hand, can slide by wearing a variety of clothing—from sleeveless polos to mid-thigh shorts or skirts. But what’s with the wild-patterned knee-high socks that are all the rage on the professional and junior levels? The trend started in 2012 with Michelle Wie’s baseball socks and sneakers and continued with the red-and-white knee-high socks Paula Creamer wore at the 2012 Women’s British Open. Who was her fashion consultant? The author of Where’s Waldo?

This fashion does have a function. Players like Ai Miyazato, Kaneda Kumiko and Kim Ha-Neui say they can wear their solid, neutral color high socks in the mornings when it tends to be chilly, and easily remove them when it warms up in the afternoon. Some players also like to wear them because they prevent sunburn without trapping the heat the way pants do. But who wants a mid-leg tan line? Isn’t a regular golf tan line bad enough?

The trend shows no sign of abating, as junior players now regularly wear them. Style changes and new cooling fabrics are all well and good, but this one recalls those god-awful legwarmers of the 1980s. And they wouldn’t be necessary if shorts and skirts hadn’t gotten increasingly shorter, forcing players to find ways of covering more exposed skin. Ladies, this is golf—not tennis. Whatever happened to the rule of bottoms being long enough to pass the fingers with your arms resting at your side? That might be the first step in ridding golf of this current fad and continuing the sartorial sophistication that sets the sport apart from all others.

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