Men’s fashion is infamously conservative. Lapel and necktie thicknesses change modestly with time, but men mostly dress for work the same way they did 70 years ago, with one exception: wacky socks.
Wacky socks have somehow managed to penetrated the hidebound conservatism of men’s dress. A corporate tax lawyer who would be professionally shunned for wearing a charcoal rather than Cambridge grey suit can wear a pair of pink paisley socks, no problem.
Burning Man is a similarly weird exception. One week out of the year, everyone from product managers to lawyers to baristas goes to the desert and is allowed to act like a raving eccentric.
Wacky socks are the Burning Man of attire.
Would you wear a jacket made from any of these Unsimply Stitched patterns? Of course not — that would be outrageous. And would you spend your entire life riding a makeshift bike through the desert and consuming any and all drugs known to man? Of course not — that would be irresponsible. Yet for reasons beyond the grasp of our comprehension, wearing socks with these garish patterns and attending Burning Man every year are perfectly acceptable — nay, admirable — behaviors.
Maybe they both act as release valves for eccentricity. We can’t form a stable society in which everybody is allowed to act however they choose — that’s why norms exist — yet neither can we as humans survive in cookie-cutter suits and 9-5 sterility. Every once in a while, and on our most inconspicuous garments, we must let our freak socks fly.
