How’s that for a confusing title, but it is amazing how quickly the photo makes it so clear. Yes, these are vintage socks that have metal eyelets that hold laces of some sort. A VFG friend found two pairs of these, and asked me what I thought of them. I’ll admit I’m pretty much stumped.
Gail says the socks are very stretchy, and she thinks they contain a synthetic, maybe nylon. To me, they look to be made from rayon. She was thinking late 1930s, and she could be right. I’ve seen lots of photos from the 1930s and 40s of women wearing colored ankle socks.
But I’ve never seen a pair with laces before. My thinking is that this was a short-lived fad, and I’m looking for proof of this or otherwise. Surely somewhere there is an old ad or a photo that will help Gail know the when and what of these odd socks.
They are, by the way, now for sale at ebay. You too can have lace-up socks.
So, what do you think?
I go for the fad decorative idea. But, if you have never seen them before, it just didn’t catch on.
Interesting! Perhaps they were an early form of removable insole; worn inside a lace-up ankle boot . . . . or ice skates. Just remove them from the boot when they require cleaning. ????? I’m stumped!
That seems plausible!
Compression socks used as a health support for diabetics or women with swollen feet or legs? If the socks were a fashion accessory I might have expected the eyelets to be part of the design and have small knitted button-holes instead of metal eyelets although I can see there might be a sporting connection. As a medical aid they could be worn indoors. A bit hard to date as they look to be fully fashioned and commercially manufactured. They could be from the 1930′s or even early 1950′s. I’ve never come across socks like these.
That’s an idea because one could pull the laces quite tight. I’d think that in that case they would be white rather than in colors though.
Socks are devilishly hard to date. I go by the fiber content, and this case the colors are a major clue. Unfortunately I do not know enough about fashionable colors for each year to help out here.
Lizzie, thinking about the possible medical usage, I was looking at the lacing as a way of releasing any tightness around the ankle area. I too think the colours may be a clue but from the angle of pink and blue being very typical standard colours when used in lingerie/nightwear for women. There was a move away from manufacturing garments in white that had a practical health function so that they did not broadcast the fact that someone had a medical problem.
Hmmm, my first thought was for medicinal purposes too. I’m interested to find out more.
can’t wait for the truth to be unraveled!
Maybe they were for the wearer to add colorful decorative ribbons to their ankles – purely for looks, nothing else??
This is exactly what I was thinking – a cute fad, just because.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. We will solve this mystery!
Not lace-up socks, but I was struck by the lace-around-the-ankle shoes depicted in this mid-1930s pattern for juniors and girls (ignore the misleading, non-period colorizing by the seller):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1930s-ORIGINAL-Charming-Unused-Junior-Girls-Dress-Pattern-Sz-32-B-/360470383547
Perhaps ankle-lacing was a teen fad of the time. They were certainly the major consumers of ankle socks!
I really don’t think they’re meant to be medical. My husband is disabled and I’ve met a wide variety of compression hose, and these don’t seem nearly sturdy enough to work in that way. Besides, if the socks were stiff enough to compress, you wouldn’t want lacing – you’d probably damage yourself with the laces cutting into your flesh. They don’t work like corsetry.
That is really interesting. I can see how the long laces could actually be laced through the socks as well.
And thanks for the information about compression hose.