Ankle Socks That Stay Up & a Girl Named Kitt
I usually pride myself on solution finding, in fact I’m well known for troubleshooting. At times however, there are solutions that completely and totally elude me. Once I went on a date and came home with blood all over my shoes. Don’t worry, nothing nefarious happened, unless you count the fact that my Adidas Allstars had completely chewed into my ankles. My ankles were a little sore, but I was trying to be a good sport, not realizing that they were actually worse for wear. I got home, my date still with me, when my sister exclaimed and pointed, “what happened?!” My shoes were covered in blood. I didn’t know what happened, but I was mortified. I tried over the years to wear ankle height shoes, but I’ve been left with lots of scars on the back of my ankles. I tried all kinds of socks, bandages before any rubbing occurred, moleskine etc. etc. etc. Nothing. Worked. My socks wouldn’t stay up, bandages wouldn’t stay on and my ankles were always turned into ground beef. My solution? Boots and booties. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good boot or the shorter sister, but sometimes you just need a good tenny.
I walked into Nordstrom Rack recently and there was a pair of Vintage Havana tennies sitting there, calling to me. The white creamy, soft leather, the suede star on the side and the champagne gold leather embellishments. They were on clearance and just $40. I was so tempted, but I walked away. Then I turned around and looked again. “Nope, nope, nope you know what happens when you wear shoes like this.” I walked away again. I turned right back around, plucked the box off the shelf and tried them on. I loved them. I headed straight to the checkout and those Vintage Havana tennis shoes came home with me. I put them on and I walked back to my car. Halfway to the car, I was fighting with my socks. Slipping, sliding, bunching up under the ball of my foot. “It’ll be ok.” On several occasions I tied my Vintage Havanas onto my feet. I fought with every step. Maybe if I walked this way or that way I could get my socks to stay up. Maybe I could shove my toes into the front of the shoe. Blisters formed, the skin was raw. My legs were sore from walking funny. My toes were throbbing from shoving my toes into the front of the shoe. I was extremely frustrated from thinking about every single weird step I took. Going out for a fun day wasn’t fun when I wore my Vintage Havanas. My good deal was now a paperweight in my closet. I quit wearing my pretty leather shoes. It was so disappointing.
One day I was sitting at the doctor’s office, wearing my lug soled booties, just waiting to be called back. As I sat there, a girl named Kitt was called back for her appointment. I watched Kitt as she walked by. Kitt had on a pair of short tennis shoes and these ankle socks that had a thick back lip that sat above the top of her shoe heel. Now I know, this isn’t earth shattering news and there’s a really good chance you already knew this, but those socks with the thick lip, were the answer to all of my ankle problems. Those socks were going to solve my sock slipping issues.
On the way home from the doctor’s office, I stopped into the store and grabbed a pack of those thick lipped socks. I got home, tried the socks on and put my paperweight shoes on and walked around. No slipping, no rubbing, but that was just a house test. I needed to really test them out. I went to Sunken Gardens with my discounted year pass, and gave my leather tennies a real, true test. I got to the flamingos, no slipping. I passed by the ripening pink bananas, no rubbing. By the time I got to old man Kookaburra, I knew that these socks that Kitt had inspired me to buy, had solved 20 years of problematic shoe wearing. Yes, you can see the socks above your shoes, but you can walk without adjusting your gait, your ankles won’t scream at you when you shower because you won’t have layers of skin that has been peeled away. If you’re like me and you’ve been struggling with raw ankles and slipping socks, give these socks a try.
