Sandals: Cuffing Hosiery


Figure 1.--Here we see a CE2 class at the Ecole Kouba in Algeria durinng 1948-49. Notice the boys in the front row. The boy in white sandals has rolled down his kneesocks. Also note the boy at the far left in the smock. He has rolled down his kneesocks over his high-top shoes. 

We see both kneesocks and shorter-length socks being cuffed when wearing sandals. For kneesocks the cuffing was commonly so a garter could be used. This was not the case for shorter length socks. Here it is not readily apparent why they were cuffed. We suspect that this was dione by the mother who liked the look of cuffed socks. I am not entirely sure why. A reader writes, "In looking through your information on sandals, you showed a picture of a boy with "cuffed socks". I have always wondered about turning down the top of socks. At my age, I turn down socks myself to minimize lines (circulation??) on my legs. But, I have seen children with turned down socks and wondered if this was a style fad, or just to keep the socks from falling down. I remember my mother turning down socks over the top of my sister's high top shoes, but I don't know why she did it." A complicating factor here is that we note in the 1930s and 40s that some boys rolled down their kneesocks and cuffed them to look more like ankle socks. This is a little different than the cuffing we are discussing here.

Cuffing Kneesocks

Sandals were worn with kneesocks, although shorter socks were more common. This varied chronolgically and by country. Kneesocks were often cuffed. For kneesocks the cuffing was commonly so a garter could be used.

Cuffing Shorter Socks

Sandals were often worn with ankle or other shorter-length socks. We have noted that these shorter-socks were some times cuffed. Unlike kneesocks, they were not cuffed to cover over garters. It is not readily apparent why shorter-length socks were cuffed. We suspect that this was dione by the mother who liked the look of cuffed socks. I am not entirely sure why. A reader writes, "In looking through your information on sandals, you showed a picture of a boy with "cuffed socks". I have always wondered about turning down the top of socks. At my age, I turn down socks myself to minimize lines (circulation??) on my legs. But, I have seen children with turned down socks and wondered if this was a style fad, or just to keep the socks from falling down. I remember my mother turning down socks over the top of my sister's high top shoes, but I don't know why she did it." Tere are several examples of this on HBC. We note a younger American boy about 1930.

Rolling Down Kneesocks

A complicating factor here is that we note in the 1930s and 40s that some boys rolled down their kneesocks and cuffed them to look more like ankle socks. This is a little different than the cuffing we are discussing here. Rolling down kneesocks was more common with boots and shoes than with sandals, but we also note it being done with sandals. We note German children rolling down their kneesocks in the early 1920s.







HBC





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Created: 4:55 PM 7/29/2005
Last updated: 7:05 PM 8/16/2005