Should Socks Be Lighter Or Darker Than Pants?
So, you’ve put your entire outfit together, are flawlessly dressed (obviously), but realize that you’re not too sure which socks to wear with your dress pants. The question, whether socks should be lighter or darker than pants, pops into your mind. You’re stumped. Now what?
Don’t fret! We’ve curated a guide on how to pick out the perfect pair of socks for your outfit, and why you should feel confident in doing so! First of all, here’s our short (but sweet) answer to whether sock should be lighter or darker than pants:
Socks should either perfectly match your trouser color or contrast it strongly. Something in between will probably look weird. Stick to brighter and lighter socks for dark pants and darker, more subdued socks for light pants. If strong contrast of lightness is too hard to pull off, go with strong color contrast.
Our Very Cherry socks are a perfect match for dark pants, whereas our Spicy Chili pair might not be the best choice for blue jeans because the colors are too similar, yet not perfectly the same. A nice red pair of socks would have been more fitting.
However, our concrete (and much longer) answer for this lighter or darker debate? Let’s find out. Scroll down below to discover what we recommend wearing on your feet in certain situations, and why we suggest them.
Sometimes, life throws us through loops! Maybe your sock drawer is completely empty… except for that one set of socks that don’t go with anything. What do you do? Simple. You wear those socks with pride. Or you choose to go sockless that day.
No one is judging! However, if you are looking to coordinate your future outfits appropriately, we suggest paying attention! Down below are some rules we like to follow when choosing which socks we should wear with our pants and if they should be lighter or darker.
Match Your Socks to Your Pants
First off, before we start with shades, we always recommend matching your socks to your outfit and not your shoes. When in doubt, this is the safest route!
For example, if you are going to wear a gray suit with brown shoes, go for socks that match the gray of your pants. There are some exceptions, of course.
If you have socks that match both shoes and pants, you’re always good to go. In such a case, your legs don’t seem neither visually “stretched” nor “shortened”. | Socks: Squorange
If you match your socks accordingly, they can add an extension to either your pants or your shoes. Sometimes the former is better than the latter, sometimes it’s the other way around. Sometimes, like in the image above, it can be neither. So, it’s important to know what you’re doing.
We recommend matching your socks to your pants in most cases, so go with gray socks like your dress pants or some color to accent. Otherwise, your shoe might look extra tall and boot-like. Plus, you’re legs might seem shorter.
Repeating your trouser color is usually not the best choice, though. Here at Colorbux, we’re advocates of wearing socks with contrasting colors (obviously). We’d usually like them to stick out – but in a pleasant way, of course. So this is where it becomes important if the socks are darker or lighter than pants.
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It Depends on the Color of the Pants
This one is important! The color and shade or tint of your dress pants can make an enormous difference with the pair of socks you choose.
If your dress pants are darker, we recommend going with a tint lighter when you pick out a set of socks. If your dress pants are on the lighter side, we suggest choosing a darker shade of socks.
For example, a lighter gray suit? Try a darker pair of dress socks. Monochrome is always a safe bet, especially when you are working with neutrals like gray. So, you can spice up your outfit with a small smidge of color, right?
We seriously suggest contrasting your trouser color with your socks. It just screams “character” - especially if the the outfit is well-composed. | Socks: Tic Tac Toes
If you have chosen a suit in the middle of its own color range, you could go either way, lighter or darker – but this one depends on the occasion. Darker is typically for more professional and formal settings, and lighter for less professional occasions. More on this topic in this article on dark versus light clothing colors.
Pro tip: We like gray socks. We really do! Gray is a very versatile color that can be paired with almost any outfit. From navy to black, to even brown, gray hits the mark every time. Neutrals are your friends, use them!
What About Bold Socks?
When you decide to break out your bold dress socks, like Colorbux’s Super Fruit or Spacecubes, we suggest doing this with a darker suit. In this case, go lighter!
Pair your lighter and brighter socks with a darker pair of pants. Your socks can become your outfit’s accent color. We also suggest wearing bold socks with a non-patterned, solid-colored suit, as this can really let the socks shine.
Paring a fun sock with a patterned suit can create an overwhelming outfit, and they might clash. Therefore, it’s best to keep your brighter socks for solid-colored outfits.
For a more daring look, you can also pair a darker pair of colorful dress socks, like our Bordeaux set, with a lighter suit. We suggest this combo with a less formal setting.
It’s been said that bold socks are only meant for less professional occasions. However, we believe you can make a significant statement wearing a fresh pair of striking socks to the office.
Remember, your dress socks are a great way to add your personality and a pop of color to your style. Don’t feel restricted to only wearing them to dinner dates and parties.
If you want to keep your outfit on the “put-together” spectrum of suit dressing, we suggest wearing a navy suit, our Flamingo socks, and a tie that matches the base light blue from the socks.
This example shows a well-balanced outfit you can rock in any setting. Don’t forget, our fashion rule #6 from our Golden Rules For Color in Fashion suggests you repeat colors within your outfit!
SOME OF OUR BOLD SOCKS:
Use Your Clothing Piece as a Guide
When in doubt? Use your clothing piece as a guide. If you’ve read our article, Should You Wear Dark or Light Colors? you might remember this one! If not:
Within it, we discuss all things contrast. You can play up your outfit depending on the contrast you want it to have. If your outfit already has two or more colors, stick with one of the primary ones and dress your socks accordingly to their shades and tints.
If your outfit has one color? Then coordinate your socks dependent upon that one color’s shades and tints. Here, you can always adjust your outfit around your choice of socks (especially if they are on the bolder side). Or choose your socks around your outfit choice.
Head back to the color wheel! You can always adjust your sock choice to feature analogous colors.
If you look at our article, 10 Golden Rules For Color in Fashion, you’ll understand what we mean by this. Haven’t had a chance to check it out? Let’s summarize. Analogous colors typically refer to one color on the wheel and the two sitting on either side of it.
The analogous hues of purple are red-purple and blue-purple.
For example, blue’s analogous colors would be blue-green and blue-purple. Both colors would complement blue and strike a balance.
You can put together a seriously well-balanced outfit if you follow these guidelines, like how you can pair blue-green socks with a blue pair of pants.
Dark or Light Socks?
After researching, discussing, and personally pairing outfits together, we’ve concluded that your socks can be both darker and lighter than your pants. This conclusion depends on the outfit itself.
It is important to note how many factors can change your overall decision on what to wear. Color theory can come into play, the specific shade or tint of your pants, the occasion, and even your own personal desire and tastes!
Overall, we suggest pairing darker pants with lighter tinted socks and lighter pants with darker shades of socks. This is the easiest route we can suggest.
Other than that? Do what your heart tells you! Go bold, go bright, be extraordinary.
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