There are very few rules when it comes to wearing socks, given the incredible range of women’s hosiery available, but one of the most widely agreed-upon fashion rules is that people should not wear socks with sandals.
Even this is not necessarily a firm rule; the Wall Street Journal reported the rather unlikely fashion trend of socks and sandals in the 2010s, but even before this, people have been combining hosiery with open footwear for thousands of years.
Aside from tabi, which are traditional Japanese socks specifically designed to be worn with thong sandals, a very similar design was potentially worn by one of history’s oldest civilisations.
Exactly when, where and why is still up for debate.
The Oldest Odd Socks
Whilst shoes have existed for 50,000 years and were essentially necessary for human survival, the history of socks is somewhat more complex, and whilst it involves three of the oldest of human civilisations, it is not entirely clear who invented what and where.
Despite many depictions of barefoot heroes, the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all had traditions of wearing sandals or sandal-like shoes such as the carbatina.
There have also been socks found in various Ancient Roman and Egyptian dig sites, most notably a pair of bright red tabi-like socks found in Egypt.
These findings prove that socks existed during the long history of the Roman Empire, and they appear to be specifically designed to be worn with Egyptian-style sandals, but what makes it more complex is that they have been dated to a time when these very different civilisations intersected.
Who Created The Odd Socks?
The Egyptian socks have been dated to around 250 AD, which would have been after the death of Cleopatra and the annexation of Egypt into the Roman Empire in 30 BC.
Because of this, there is an issue with determining whether the Ancient Egyptians created socks to be worn with their sandals independently of Rome, or whether they were imported and modified udones of the type more commonly found in Roman dig sites in places like Great Britain.
Conventional Roman udones tend to resemble modern socks, albeit sometimes with an open toe area, and were extremely common throughout the length and breadth of the Roman Empire and long after it fell.
Were The Socks Worn With Sandals In Egypt?
As far as historians can tell, they absolutely were. It has been well established that the Romans wore socks with sandals, and there are socks that have been discovered that still have the imprint of the thong of the sandal they were worn under.
There are statues of Roman governors wearing socks with sandals and mundane letters talking about packages of socks being shipped across the length of the Empire. Given that it spanned as far North as Britain, socks were a necessity for handling the changeable and often cold conditions.
Whilst they might not have been quite as necessary for warmth in Egypt, it is likely that they were also worn with sandals regularly, although it is as yet unknown whether the split-toe socks that were found were for practical or more ceremonial purposes.