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White socks with sandals? How what was a fashion faux pas is all the rage thanks to Gen Z

White socks are in vogue, with Gen Z stars from Billie Eilish to Paul Mescal wearing them – and the more exposed they are, the better

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A guest wears white socks with black shoes outside the COS show during New York Fashion Week on September 10, 2024. Wearing white socks with sandals used to be a big style no-no but not any more, thanks in part to celebrities who wear exposed white socks proudly. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Long mocked, white socks are now firmly back in fashion. No longer are they seen as a hallmark of Germans abroad when paired with sandals.

These days, white socks are often worn with shorts so that the brand logo can be clearly seen, whether that be Nike, Adidas or Puma.

White socks are no longer seen as a fashion faux pas. Style influencers from Generation Z – those born between the mid-1990s and the early 2010s – from pop star Billie Eilish to actor Paul Mescal are wearing them.

Meanwhile, short trainer socks, previously loved by millennials – born between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s – are staying stuck at the bottom of our sock drawers, especially ones that make it look as though you are not wearing any socks at all.

“Instead of socks you can barely see, the trend now is for socks that can be seen from a mile away,” German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung says.

Paul Mescal wears white socks, short shorts and loafers for a recent Gucci campaign. Photo: Instagram/gucci
Paul Mescal wears white socks, short shorts and loafers for a recent Gucci campaign. Photo: Instagram/gucci
At Milan Fashion Week, actor Paul Mescal showed off his “bare, untanned legs in white cotton socks”. Mescal also posed for a Gucci campaign wearing white socks and loafers.
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