Ask Miss Caro-chan: Short Socks?

Over on my Formspring I was not-so-recently asked a little question about shorter sock-lenghs:

Hi Caro-chan ^^ I'm a newbie lolita from Hong Kong. I am wondering if it's ok for sweet lolitas to wear "short socks" (above your ankles, but way below your knees). Is it a must for sweet lolitas to wear overknees and high socks? ^^

It's definitely OK to have other options for sock length! Sock length popularity in Lolita has sort of been all over the place, way back when it was sort of anything-goes when it came to sock lengths, and then it sort of leveled out to a rather strict "knee highs, opaque tights, and over-the-knees only!" idea for a number of years, before finally returning a bit to a sense of anything-goes. That incredibly enlightening history of Lolita sock lengths aside, short socks have definitely been making a comeback in Lolita! Especially now that hotter weather is here, they're a really great way to still have some sort of leg decoration going on without the stuffiness of wearing socks or tights.

 Some crew-length socks, including a pair of the currently very popular sheer socks.

Shorter socks tend to come in two different lengths: crew (which I believe our anonymous was describing) and ankle. Crew socks hitting somewhere around the mid-calf area, while ankle socks hitting, you guessed it, at just around the ankle.

 Some ankle-length socks, in case you forgot where your ankles were located.

I'm sure you have noticed that the above socks are particularly Sweet Lolita, as that tends to be the style that works very well with this style of sock. However, it can also work well with a Classic or Country Lolita coordinate, as well as being perfectly suitable for those who are more inclined towards Otome, Dolly Kei, Mori, or even Cult Party Kei. Check out the following pictures for some inspiration, which I picked from some of the more recent volumes of Gothic & Lolita Bible and Kera. Click the picture to make them larger!

Short socks with super cute Sweet Lolita, a match made in heaven! They can make a girly frilly coordinate look even girlier and frillier!

Short socks with the not-so-extreme Sweet Lolita. Yes, you can wear them casually! I feel that they add a bit of an Otome feel to outfits sometimes.

 Short socks with some coordinates that lean towards Classic Lolita. They add a bit of girlish elegance to the more Classic Lolita inclined coordinates.

Shorter socks might not be for everyone, unfortunately, as cute as they are, if you have thicker calves, they can make your legs look stocky, because the ruffles that are almost always on them tend to hide the shape of your ankles. Many Lolitas also find them a bit too childish for their tastes, and some seem to think, because of that, they're just not supposed to be worn in the fashion, despite the overwhelming amount of ads and street snaps featuring them!

If you're on the lookout for a cute pair of shorter socks to wear with Lolita this summer, you can often find them in regular clothing stores, particularly in the kid's section! As they are something of a staple of traditional little girl's fashion. If you want your sock-shopping to be done in secret (because, let's face it, it's a little weird to go lurking around the kid's sock isle sometimes) sock dreams has several pairs on their site. I actually used to have this pair, until I lost them, that looked especially cute worn with a pair of Victorian styled short boots! It made it look like the boots had a pretty lace ruffle around the top of them!