It's all about spring socks

Plus! 4 brands you'll love

It's spring! (In theory). So boot season is on its way out and trainers, loafers, Mary Janes, etc are about to come into play. Which means your socks will be on show more. So, perhaps time to spruce them up?

Socks have been A Look during fashion month so far. Bright, striped, long, short, trimmed with ruffly bits - you name it. Going somewhere fancy? The street stylers are wearing their socks with heels à la Prada SS ‘94.

See here. How chic!

For every day, I'm sticking to ankle-length and worn with flats: a colour-pop to make my jeans and trainers feel different; a charcoal ribbed with black loafers; a nubbly knit pair so I can start wearing my Birks already on dry days.

Current moodboard ft Lucy Alston, Le Bon Shoppe and Emma Thatcher

On that last point, I know socks and sandals can be a weird one. The type of thing that looks great on Instagram but makes you feel like a prat in real life. I think it sits firmly in the ‘so wrong it's right’ style category - which so much seems to at the moment. I am a convert on account of the interesting texture they can bring to an outfit (not to mention a good way of getting wear out of sandals before it's properly hot, plus no need for a pedi).

Colour is important: socks in a similar tone to the sandals look subtle rather than try-hard trendy. The weight of knit, too. Chunky sandals can take a thicker sock. For thinner straps go fine.

Of course a nice, non-holey pair of socks is always going to cheer things up when going shoe-less at soft play.

A few to consider:

Le Bon Shoppe £9.77 (also the pesto! and the buttercup!)

Arket, £15 for set of three

Arket, £7

Hush, £20

Anthropologie, £10

COS, £12

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4 labels you might not know that I think you’ll like

If you’re looking for a switch up to your classic gold hoops, try Sandralexandra. The Spanish jewellery brand does the most gorgeous glass pieces that feel playful yet still wearable and chic. Like these lemon and rose T-bars (£88).

The best striped totes in town come from Ace & Prince - a London-based brand, founded by stylist Chloe Forde (who also has kids so knows very well the requirements of a spacious shopper). The Hero Tote (£44) is a great ‘everything’ bag. I also love the make-up cases.

If you like Sézane, have a look at Bobbies - a French accessories brand which does shoes and bags at that ‘sweet spot’ price point - e.g. low three-figures. Maybe too nice for when you're dossing about with the kids (or not, depending on how mucky your kids are) but good for work/evening or any other occasion when you want something grown-up and chic. Check out the outlet section of the website for seasonal discounts.

I featured Laia Alen in my date night post a couple of weeks ago, having been recently introduced to it. Another Spanish brand which does these super cute occasion bags in every colour imaginable. Ideal for a night out, holiday dinner or if you have a wedding to go to.

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One more thing…

I uninstalled Instagram for a few days this week which meant I actually read some stuff. Almost a whole book! (Coco Mellor’s Blue Sisters is hardly an original recommendation, but if you haven't read it yet, it's very good).

I also wanted to flag 'I'm Quitting The Personal Style Industrial Complex™' by journalist Maura Brannigan, an essay in which she talks about the pressure to have a perfectly honed personal style (like everyone seems to have! According to social media anyway) and how that can make you feel shit when you feel you’ve missed the mark.

On the subject of not posting an outfit selfie to Instagram she says:

I didn’t post it not because I didn’t like what I was wearing, but because I didn’t think it was “good.” More specifically, I didn’t think it was “good” “personal style,” by which I mean: It didn’t distill my 35 years of lived experience and aesthetic preferences into a pair of pants and a sweater, and for that I’ve been ashamed.

Maura then goes on to talk about experiencing a revelation of sorts where she's realised the joylessness of overthinking outfit choices ("it's not that deep") and has decided to allow her life (busy, two small kids, work) to shape what her style is, rather than what she thinks she should be wearing: “Clothes can come to me from now on."

I particularly liked the last line in this paragraph:

I used to be the type of person whose hyper-fixation on my outfits and what they communicated about me would quite literally keep me up at night. Once, in 2019, I wrote a frenzied essay at like, 3 a.m. about how bad I felt about “not knowing how to define my wardrobe DNA. I want to go back in time and slap myself. Get off the Instagram accounts dedicated to chronicling Camille Rowe’s clothes and go touch a blade of grass!

Get off Instagram, go outside. I think I need that taped to my forehead.

What really hit a nerve is the issue Maura touches on of there being a right way to dress and wrong way to dress. Because it's this that makes clothes hard. It's this that takes away the fun. It's this that makes you want to lose the plot when you think the pair of shoes you're wearing doesn’t work with your trousers, but you can't figure out which of the 30 other pairs of shoes you have, do. (See also this!)

So a valuable reminder that clothes are important but ultimately should serve you. Only wear what makes you feel good! Don't overthink it! Life’s too short!

Side note: reading the above reminded me of this piece by Jess Cartner-Morley on why being late to a trend is a good thing. It's couple of years old but I think about a lot. So if you haven't figured out if you like knitted bonnets yet, fine! Leave them to next winter.

That's it for now. You're doing great, Frankie x