I don’t like loud socks. I don’t like busy patterns or overly bright colours. I don’t really like white socks. I don’t think they’re the worst thing a person might wear, and I would make an exception to this for cycling socks, in fact, white socks are the only acceptable cycling socks (with shorts anyway), but they look wrong to me in any other context. Off-white can sometimes look good. I really don’t like socks that fall down, and, while I already said I don’t like busy patterns, I do like a bit of texture to them – plain flat socks also look wrong. Nice cotton socks seem to be the exception to the rule that better quality clothes last longer. It’s too delicate a fibre for dress socks worn regularly.
For all these reasons, I basically wear three kinds of socks. In the winter I wear merino wool rib knitted socks from Pantherella (the 100% wool Kangley for preference, but the colour selection is limited, so I also have some of the Naish and Laburnum). When the weather warms up too much to wear wool, I switch to linen from Bresciani, also rib knitted. For more casual wear, I have a few pairs of standard crew socks from the American brand Darn Tough. These are great for wearing with more rugged boots, and casual clothes, although I do find that the rib knit of my others does mean they work fine with jeans and chinos.
Most of these socks are navy blue. I like the leg lengthening effect of matching sock colour to trousers, and sometimes do that, but most often I revert to navy socks as a default choice. Most of my shoes are dark brown, often suede, and I love the combination of rich navy blue, sitting alongside chocolatey brown suede, both colours enhancing each other. Lots of well dressed Italian men seem to agree with me.
After navy, I have a few pairs of grey, to go with my most heavily worn trousers, then the traditional chino shade of beige, a nice dark brown, ecru linen, one taupe linen pair and a dark green merino. I don’t think I need anything else.
After the essential navy and grey in both materials, I’ve picked the colours to suit the yarn. Linen and wool hold colour differently. Linen will fade, so I’ve deliberately picked colours that look good muted and paler. Wool holds dye well, even when washed regularly, so rich colours (like the green) stay rich.
On the valet today 
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