Came across this article.  Now I know why I fall asleep so easily with socks on.

VITAL SIGNS: NOSTRUMS; Curling Up With a Nice Pair of Socks

Sometimes the smallest detail can make the largest impact. People are made famous everyday by their imperfections, quirks, and zany characteristics. Too many people overlook one of the most important clothing items that can set you apart and make you shine: your socks. These warm and fuzzies warm your feet, ward off illness, keep your shoes smelling fresh, and ensure a more comfortable walk. So why don’t more people wear their socks loud and proud? Even if funky socks are not appropriate in all settings of your life, you can hide them under your clothing. When that little snippet of wacky sock peeks out at the world from under your pants leg, people will notice, and your socks will work to be your conversation starter. Before you know it, you’ll have more friends, success, and comfort. Take a look at what socks have done for others throughout history:

Famous Socks:
“Curt Schilling’s Bloody Sock – Despite where your baseball loyalties lie, you have to appreciate a man who pitches a winning game even though his ankle (which has recently gone through a serious operation) is slowly detaching from his body. The pressure from his sock kept him from bleeding into shock and checked the pain well enough for him to pitch what may possibly have been the best game of his career. His sock now sits in the baseball Hall of Fame.

“Homie the Clown’s Sock – Homey the Clown was an ex-convict on the show In Living Color, who was required to dress up as a clown to teach school children morals as part of his prison work release program. When people told him what to do, he would thwack them on the head with a big, stuffed sock and say his famous line, “I don’t think so! Homey don’t play that!” Try that the next time your boss gives you a hard day.

“Mick Foley’s Mr. Socko – Mick Foley has one of the most impressive WWF winning records out there. Mr. Socko is possibly more well-known than Foley himself, and is one of the best marketing ploys ever used by a professional wrestler. Whenever Foley was about to win a match, he would slip Mr. Socko on his hand and deliver the final blow. Although he’s an angry sock, there is no doubt that Mr. Socko has been a successful ploy for Mick Foley.

“Lamb Chop’s Play Along – this little 6-year-old girl ewe is the sock of every childhood. When creator Shari Lewis saw the success of her little sock friend, the cast expanded to include several other endearing sock friends. Lamb Chop’s Play Along was so successful that the show was an Emmy Winner for five consecutive years. And it all began with a fuzzy sock.

“The Socks of the Nobleman’s Daughters – The story behind this pervasive Christmas tradition is now deeply engrained into society. A poor, widowed Nobleman had no money to give his daughters to marry, so St. Nicolas would secretly stop by every night and toss gold coins into the fireplace hearth. The daughters hung their stockings to dry by the fire place, so the change would fall into the hanging stockings, leaving a delightful surprise for the ladies each morning. Socks can be profitable!

“Red Sox/White Sox – These two teams have built an entire empire based around the color of their socks. Both World Series Champions have a series of great players outfitted in the team’s custom socks, and the icon of socks means the world to followers. You can bet that these guys would never dream of going to work without their socks.

“Socks the Cat – this Presidential cat and his famous footwear played First Kitty for the eight years of the Clinton Administration. The cat was mostly grey, except for his feet which appeared to be outfitted in white socks. This is one kitty that vetoes going barefoot!

Bottom line…socks can make you famous! Start wearing funky or mismatched socks and solidify your place in history!

Looking through topics to write about and I can across this news story from a town in New Zealand.

Southlanders can take part in a Guinness World Record attempt for the longest clothesline filled with socks.  As part of the Red Socks Day celebrations, the Sir Peter Blake Trust is going to attempt the record at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium on on Thursday next week, aiming for 30,000-plusred socks to create a line of more than 3000 metres to beat the record of 2324 metres. 

Communities, schools and Westpac staff will get the chance to hang their socks in 17 locations around the country, each with 50m of clothesline to fill.

Red socks will be pegged to a line set up at Southland Boys’ High School at 11.45am today.

The Red Socks Day campaign is part of the trust’s leadership week, which is about cultivating great leadership and working as a team.

We’ve got red socks too if anyone from the US wants to try to outbeat them.

We now have socks that are purposely mismatched but while surfing the internet I found this great article by Joni Ratts on what happens to all those missing socks.

The Neighborhood Files, My Sock is Missing!

Socks go into the washer in pairs and come out of the dryer as singles. Where do these wayward socks go?Most of us own socks and many of us lose them. Where do they go?I have a basket of lone socks. I never throw them away because if the mate ever turns up, I wouldn’t be able to pair them up again. I have one mate-less black sock that’s been in the basket for over a year (hope springs eternal). I really liked that pair, but have no idea where I got them.

Occasionally I’ll shake out a fitted sheet or unfold a bath towel and find a sock nestled inside (now that’s static cling). How does an orange striped sock go unnoticed when I’m folding a pastel sheet? This I do not know. I’m always delighted to find the sock and have been known to greet the prodigal sock with, “So that’s where you’ve been. Glad you’re back.”

Did you know there was a Bureau of Missing Socks? Joseph Smithson, a Union soldier, started it during the Civil War. A haberdasher by trade, he implemented a General Order that all union soldiers had to turn in a full pair of used socks before receiving new ones. Thus, he stumbled on the fact that most troops lost only one sock at a time. (Hmmm, no dryers on that battlefield.)

Socks go back as far as the Stone Age—simple animal skins wrapped around the ankle. By the 8th century B.C., socks had evolved to matted animal hair; Romans wrapped their feet in leather. By the 2nd century A.D., people used woven fabric. Historians discovered knitted socks in Egyptian tombs between the third and sixth centuries. Cotton socks didn’t arrive until the late 17th century.

Over time, these wrappings changed to strips of cloth with feet sections attached. Around 1490 tights came into stylet—each leg a different color. My granddaughter would have been right in fashion.

In 1589, an English clergyman invented the knitting machine. It seems William Lee did it for love. That’s right love! The story goes that the woman he was in love with, a fanatic knitter, seldom looked up from her clicking needles. He wanted her to look at him. (Who said necessity was the mother of invention?)

As fashion changed, men’s pants became longer, and stockings became shorter. So did the name—stockings became socks.

Plain white socks (popular in 50’s and 60’s) are still around, but today, sock choices are determined as much by function and construction as by appearance. Have you shopped for socks lately? The selection is so vast I need Socks For Dummies to decide what style and material to buy.

I own socks with a sushi design. Two friends have the same socks; we used to wear them to sushi dinner nights. My favorite socks are cashmere, lime green with dots. Extravagant, but oh, so soft and warm.

There are specialized socks for sports (soccer, baseball, tennis and running) and shoe styles (sneakers, boots, casual shoes and even toe socks—they’re funny looking, but they make it easier to wear flip-flops). Business types often favor trouser socks while athletes prefer socks with wicking capability. Did you know your feet could produce over a pint of perspiration a day?

I have a friend who buys her socks in the men’s department, she says they’re less expensive and she likes the argyle patterns. Bishops in the Catholic Church wear purple socks; the Pope wears white.

Sock hops (I remember those) started as a way to protect the varnished floors in school gymnasiums. Like many good things, there’s resurgence in their popularity among middle and high school students. One school in South Bend, Indiana gave the term a new twist. They collected 800 pairs of socks for a local charity; to celebrate their success, they held a sock hop.

Last weekend I was invited to a party in San Francisco. The invitation included the instructions: wear your most outrageous socks and come hang out for the sunset over the ocean. Rain obscured the view, but the array of socks was eye catching.

Single socks have practical uses. They make great dust cloths (perfect for baseboards and small spaces), monkey dolls, and places to hide treasures. As a kid, I kept pennies, marbles and small treasures in one of my dad’s old socks. Socks on the ends of a ladder protect wood floors. I put them on the legs of furniture I want to move (a never-ending pastime—maybe an obsession). I pack shoes and small electronics inside empty socks when I travel.

I know someone who lost the cover for her umbrella; she replaced it with a slightly altered flowered sock. It’s cute and it catches drips. Smart idea.

The award for Best Use of a Single Sock goes to Katie Murphy, a Petaluma teenager diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, who used cut-off sock tops to make covers for her PICC line (an implanted device in her arm for transmitting chemo medicine.) Now in remission, she’s expanded her idea and started the PICColina Foundation dedicated to donating colorful sleeves for kids with cancer. Good job, Katie!

Maybe the socks that never come out of the dryer are sacrificing themselves so their mates can be vehicles for creative inspiration. Maybe the missing socks crawled out the vent to someone else’s house for a better fit. Maybe children under the stairs are wearing mismatched socks. Maybe there isn’t any mystery at all.

In the scheme of things, a missing sock is an annoyance not a catastrophe.

Here’s an idea. Throw caution to the wind; pick two socks with personality, ones with color and pattern, ones with something to say and sport them down Castro Street. You may catch a glance, even a comment—just laugh and dance along. Have fun! If you feel embarrassed, look for me. I’ll be nearby flaunting mismatched Socks and colored crocks; I love that look. We can dance together and then have coffee.

Afterwards, we’ll grab our stash of orphaned socks, and if we’re lucky, we’ll each have a half pair that match. What size do you wear?

How do you deal with lost socks? Tell us in the comments.

I was a plain white sock girl who never gave a thought to anything else.  Ok, maybe a color or two but never gave a minute’s thought to novelty socks.  Now I’m the proud owner of alot of them.  You figure who sees your socks.  You know probably not many, but you have to satisfy yourself & as you see all these new styles you get more & more into them.  Whether you’re a dog, cat or just an animal lover, there are socks out there for you.  Let your personality take wing.  Explore new styles and fun themes.  I never thought that I’d be into them as much as I am.  Plain white socks are now a mere memory!

Well, I’m on vacation, sitting here on the beach looking at the Caribbean Sea and what do I think about but socks of course.   The view made me think of our tropical theme socks.  The birds flying overhead make me think of our parrot socks.  I know I’m a little bit crazy but ideas for socks are all around us.  A sailboat passing by, a beach umbrella shading the couple next to us, the big crab that we saw last night ( I was not thrilled!) – all make great subjects for socks. 

 I’ve often wondered where the sock designers get their inspirations.  All I have to do is look around and I find the answer.  Our surroundings, things that we love to do and things that are important to us.  Things that bring back memories or make us smile. 

We are always looking for new styles and encouraging our manufacturers to add to their extensive lines.  We just got in some “social media” inspired socks - BFF socks ( http://www.sockwizard.com/bf-06858.html).  That’s Best Friends Forever for those not aquainted with the twitter & texting shorthand.  These are so cute and they are mismatched on purpose adding to the fun.  Let us know which are your favorites.  We always love to hear from our customers. 

Bye for now, have to get in a few more rays before we have to pack it up and go home.

Can anyone have enough socks?  The answer is a definite NO!  Especially if you are a sock-a-holic like our staff here at the SockWizard.  We love socks!  Whenever we get a new shipment, the girls rush to open the boxes and oh and ah at all the new styles.  Each person has to pick out their personal favorite.  We carry so many socks that their overall favorites are constantly changing.  We hope that you will pick out your favorite and let us know about it. 

We love feedback and would love to hear from you.  Email us at any time at sockwizard@sockwizard.com

Visit our website at http://www.sockwizard.com

Easter will be here before we know it. Have you thought of what goodies you will be filling those Easter baskets with ? One great suggestion is our fabulous selection of Easter socks in a variety of pastel colors or fun Easter prints. Check them out today. And for the little ones, Easter socks are available on our sister site http://www.kidsfunsocks.com