Finding socks that fit can be really difficult for small footed guys.
Packaged "men's" sizes say shoe size 6-12, which is a huge range if you think about it. And it turns out, the socks are really sized for someone wearing 12s, and guys with smaller feet just have to get used to having the toe bunch up an/or the "heel" resting on your ankle, which just serves to show you're not really big enough for men's sizes.
Of course, the alternative is to buy boys socks... Yep, BOYS size socks. Boys large has an equally absurd range of size 3-9, meaning elementary school kids might be wearing the same size socks as you. And it would be one thing to buy boys socks and then not admit it publicly, but the major brands all have unique colors or features which make it obvious which boy's size you have (to help with laundry sorting). This has the side effect of publicly announcing your small sock size to anyone in the know.
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Other small footed guys, what do you do for socks? Are you content with wearing ill-fitting adult socks? Are you ok with the embarrassment of wearing boy's socks?
What size are your socks? Do your socks have the sizes printed on them? I've seen a few videos from Europe where the size range is visible on the underside of the sock, and didn't know how common that was.
ReplyDeleteWow, so it's really hard to hide being a smaller size (rather than people just thinking you look small, it's on display for them to see). Makes me glad I have a little anonymity here!
ReplyDeleteYep, boys large is sizes 3-9. US sizes the continuum is consistent between boys' and mens' sizes.
ReplyDeleteI'm not 100% certain on the age ranges, but in my experience, it's about ages 8-13.
Those correlate to the 39-42 and 43-46 sizes, don't they?
ReplyDeleteI've definitely seen some men's socks in the US listed as 8-12 and a few with 9-12, but that's just further proof that the 6-12 range is absurd, plus just acknowledging that 7-8 aren't men's sizes.
So this is were everyone has gone ;-) BTW, if you click "Load More" at the bottom of the "Outsized by younger kids" thread it will show all the comments that have disappeared. Just realized that.
ReplyDeleteAnyway...to socks. I always buy boys socks, which are usually size 3-9 as mentioned. They always fit me great and are also narrower so they provide a more snug fit. My feet are skinny so mens size socks are always way too loose feeling to me. The boys socks I get don't have the size printed on them. Other than them being smaller than mens they don't stand out that much. Boys socks are also often thinner material so they fit more comfortably in smaller size shoes where there might not be too much extra room.
SSrF: Thanks for the suggestion about the "Load More" option. I thought my comment was just lost and I didn't feel like typing it again, lol!
ReplyDeleteAs for socks, I just buy men's socks. I guess my feet are not "so" small that I feel the need to wear boy's socks luckily.
I guess it depends how you look at it. I sort of consider it a privilege now to have smaller feet and to be able to wear boys socks and small shoes. Having small feet is more fun and gives more options ;-) I can wear a 12-13 and I might trip or they would be super loose but I would not have pain. Someone with a 11-12 foot needs to ensure pain to wear a size 8. So I love having more options for shoe fun, minus the pain (and small is just more fun anyway) :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't consider it a privilege...maybe more of a relief that I don't have to wear boys socks or shoes? (tough it's true that I could wear a 9.5Y which is youth...which is to say that it would not be uncommon for a preteen to need up to a 9.5). And I have noticed teens wearing a 10 and it actually looks small compared to the average teen...10 is now the very "low" end of normal :-( Sigh...
ReplyDeleteYup, I have definitely learned that 10 never looks "big", even on someone short, it only looks average at best and sometimes it can even look small.
ReplyDeleteJust the other day I was in a store and I overheard a customer talking to an employee. The employee was wearing some stylish Nike running shoes that were blue and cool looking (might have been shox or vapormaxes, I am not sure). The employee looked like a late teen, he was maybe 5'7" so several inches shorter than me. I looked at his shoes sort of thinking someone that height might wear a sz 9 or 10 at the most, but then looking at them I was thinking that they didn't look "small" on him and looked very much in proportion with his size. The customer was asking him about his clothes and shoes as he was dressed very stylish and then I heard the customer ask about his shoes and I heard him say that his shoes were a sz 11 but that he should be like an 11.5-12 but that 11 was the biggest size available when he bought them and he had to have them (the customer was actually trying to buy them off the employee he liked them so much, but the employee was not interested in selling them - customer was a size 12 BTW and probably 5'9"-5'10"). I had actually noticed that the shoes didn't seem loose at all when he walked and had a look like they were fitting him pretty snug. So anyway, another example of a not too tall guy with good size feet and as usual I misjudged his shoe size...I guess I always hope they will be smaller than they seem and that the whole world is not "huge" compared to me...
This story might just seem same old obvious "everyone's feet are big" sort of thing, but I am just continuously surprised / amazed at people's shoe sizes non the less. I guess I should just be used to it by now or maybe I am just in denial :-/
I was just thinking back to high school and I remembered there was a kid who was like 5'9" and wore a size 6-6.5. He was even skinnier than me (I think he was 115 lbs). I remember thinking his feet were pretty small but hardly anyone ever commented on them. He was one of the only kids with shoes smaller than me and at that time I tended to wear more size 7.5-8. I think generally because he was very skinny it wasn't really seen as that out of place. He tended to wear work boots which probably helped to make the small size less noticeable. I wasn't that friendly with him so I never got to try his shoes to see if they would fit me unfortunately, though generally 6-6.5 is just a little too small to fit me even with proper stretching (though I have had exceptions) and especially with work boots which are really stiff..
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you are worried about people picking up your sz 6 shoes and knowing the size you should remove the size tag. I know a guy who wears like 8.5-9 and he always removes the size tag because he doesn't want people to know his shoes are that small. Which is funny because compared to the 7-7.5s I like to wear I now think of 8.5-9 as not all that small. Actually for me a size 9 now frequently feels big actually ;-)
A grinder should take care of that ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat might be a stretch ;-) You might be able to get away with an 8 or 9 sticker on a size 6 but an 11 people would know something was up...
DeleteI struggle with denial, it's true... If I am lucky I can pretend to be average, but deep down I know I am not. I will check in for small foot counseling now... :-D
ReplyDeleteI rarely wear socks any more, problem solved! (I do wear socks sometimes when going for a walk in really cold weather, and I do have a couple of pair of shoes that cut my ankles or toes without socks, but otherwise, why bother.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've generally bought boy's large (or even medium) or women's socks. Hey, what is important is that they fit comfortably, who will ever know what socks you are wearing.
BTW, I measure men's 7, typically wear shoes a couple of sizes small "Y" sizes or women's 7 or so.
Huh, I don't think I have seen any socks with the sizes written on them. Even kids socks (which I tend to buy). Size 5-8 would be perfect for me :-)
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think it would be cool if everyone's shoes/feet had their size written on them so I didn't have to guess...as long as I didn't have to display the size on mine! ;-) It would satisfy my curiosity but also feed my mediocrity I am sure...when I found out just how many people were bigger than me.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of socks, how about the ability of socks to further transform the foot? I find that thin, tight fitting boys socks help to make my feet look smaller and make it easier for me to fit small sizes. But the whole look changes too with a thin tight fitting sock vs a loose bulky men's sock. It can almost transform a foot from a man's to a boy's (or maybe vice versa), especially a foot like mine that is already small and skinny!
ReplyDeleteOh hey Panjumbiejohn, I didn't realize you posted here too...
ReplyDeleteWithout socks my feet get too sweaty and uncomfortable (unless I am wearing slides or sandals). I have tried it and it is just not very satisfying. I too like to wear boy's socks. They make my skinny size 9 feet look smaller, helping them to pass as a 7 :-)
Any pictures? I'm curious to see.
ReplyDeleteI usually put the pic up on imgur and just post a link. I don't think you can post photos on here.
ReplyDeleteAs for socks...my feet are big enough for normal men's socks so I can't contribute much on that...
I have never found socks with the size range on them like that, though it would be kinda cool. I would love a pair that said something like "5-7" on it :-) I do have some kids socks that are for like size 3-9 with the letter "L" on them, which I guess means "large boys size". I far prefer boy's socks as they definitely fit my feet better, with my feet being so skinny and all... And as I mentioned previously above, I think wearing a boys sock does make feet look and feel smaller. If I compare my feel in men's socks to tighter fitting boy's socks the boys socks definitely make my feet look smaller. Men's socks are just much more bulky and make the whole foot look bigger and also make shoes fit tighter.
ReplyDeleteYeah you can't put pictures in comments, only the main post. I suggest what JBCx said to post a picture.
ReplyDeleteThose are so cool! I would loving wearing those with slides, especially if they said like size 5-7 of something, so everyone could know my size!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could find small socks like that in the men's section. I usually go to the boy's section to get socks that are marked size 3-9 (or something around that rang) or what is considered a boy's large or "L".
ReplyDeleteum, no...I prefer men's socks. I am not looking for tight fitting boy's socks that will emphasize my small-ish feet.
ReplyDeleteYeah, socks are kinda boring ;-)
ReplyDeleteBoring, yet more comments than several threads!
ReplyDeleteWell, I like the socks topic. I think socks help to finish off "small" nicely :-) If you are wearing a size 8 or below it works much better with boy's socks. My smaller, skinny feet look much better in boy's socks. I am lost in men's, lol!
ReplyDeleteI wear socks 5-8. Here, that's often printed on the socks, which is how i sometimes know that someone is in the 9-12 league.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I also tend to wear size 5-8 socks or similar. They just fit me better.
ReplyDeleteAlso here, it used to be that on racks you had 5-8 socks and 9-12 ones, - and the first ones are no longer a given, or just a few. No idea how many guys are still our size, a 5%?
ReplyDelete