Niqkita's Sock Journal

This was going to be a sneak peak post because I didn’t think we’d get our full order so soon and we only had a small starter order on hand with lots more due next week. But half of the filler order showed up early so there ya go! fully stocked sooner than expected, how often does that happen? not often enough…
Leg Avenue Leg Warmers with Brass buttons
Brass buttons!!! yes, they are functional. and brass.
There’s ribbing and an actual cable knitted in, though we thought that a tad strange because it is on the inside. The supplier’s image showed them to be a knee high so I was a little disappointed that they are 25 inches long and need to be scrunched to be below the knees. Once the initial surprise was over I actually really like them longer.
Another weird thing about them: they are all identical. What I mean is, they all seem to be for the left leg. How do I say this? the flap with snaps on it, always faces the same way, at least on every pair I’ve seen. It’s only a little weird, but I can totally see this bugging some people. You could always wear them so the snaps face in on your right leg, revealing the cable on the outside. We’re pretty sure this wasn’t their intention though because in the supplier image (on the label and in their catalog) the snaps appear to be set up correctly and face outside on both legs.
…You could also wear these with the snaps going down from the top. In fact, earlier today I saw a very similar leg warmer on another site with the snaps going top down. They claim theirs is an exclusive, for $20 no less (ours are $15 with free shipping for US orders, which, said “other site” does not offer).
Another way to wear them is on your arms, this will be best if you have larger arms. Mr Natosi did it the other day and was quite pleased with them. I’d've taken a picture, but didn’t realize he was wearing them til he took them off later at home.
Ohwell, I’m sure it looked quite nice and am sure to see him do it again soon.
I wore them over jeans and they stayed up perfectly all day. Dara is wearing them over tights in the image above and they stayed up for at least an hour before I took them back (MINE! all MINE! ~;) …I’m not so sure they would stay up as well over bare legs, but really, at this time of year why would your legs be bare?

In previous years Ozone has had an angora jambiere that was quite popular.
This year they’ve made a mohair version and wow is it warm!
thick, soft and really toasty, especially if you wear them over a pair of cotton or bamboo tights (try MP cotton lined wool tights or leggings for the ultimate warm combo). I wasn’t sure I needed a pair of these mohair socks til I tried them, then I thought about it… long ribbed mohair socks that are actually made in France and only cost $45. I know, times are tough and we’re all watching our spending, uncertain what the future holds. For $45 I can stay warmer without turning the heater up, I can enjoy wearing skirts on chilly days, and they are really stylish not merely functional, suddenly they are sounding like a very good value. But I hate itchy wool things and don’t always want to layer to lessen the itch. …that’s okay because I wore these over bare skin on a very windy day with a cute skirt and a light velvet overcoat and I was totally comfy. Only had to pull the socks up sporadically, not every step or every five minutes, just once in a while. Plus, uncuffed they went just about to the tops of my legs! of course, your results may vary, but my body double Dara (I say that only because several of us often have a hard time telling which of us is in a picture of legs if there are no hints given) has longer more muscular legs than I do and they were nearly thigh high on her too, but she cuffed them down for the photos to help keep expectations realistic…

Another high end treat:
Orkney Angora leg warmers…

For years I ordered their anklets, knee highs & thigh high angora socks as well, but as they and they’re staff get older they have decided not to make those by hand anymore. Happily, they are still making us the wrist and leg warmers, though for how much longer I am uncertain. If there is still a strong enough market for $60 fuzzy warmth this winter I may bring in more colors, for now I stuck with the classics: black, brown, charcoal and olive…
Stay warm with us, and we’ll keep the comfy socks & warmers coming!

Today novelty socks officially got an attribute for the quick search drop down menu, thanks to the addition of the 3D Pretty Kitty Novelty Socks.
It’s not that I’ve ever been anti-novelty sock,
it’s just that we didn’t have that many
and department stores are full of them, especially around the holidays.
Olivia has it written into the new design so there will be an official catagory for the quick-search-impaired and it is sure to become a large section because people sure do seem to love the silly little novelty socks nearly as much as they love the long, lovely socks our dreams are made of. I’m adding socks we currently have to this category slowly but surely, starting with the obvious choices. I’m not always sure where to draw the line between novelty and unusual so I’ll be employing the help of my assistants and their minions, and of course, you…

Shhh!!! more just came in, with this tasty new color!
Hot Sox calls it Burnt Orange, but Brenna thinks it is too creamy to really pull that off so we’re going with pumpkin marl, which sounds much yummier to me, like pumpkin pie, or pumpkin gelato, with a cardamom donut and a double latte.
They have them right down the street, come on…
I’ll race you there!

Raggedy Ann, taking pictures in the forest

I don’t know who she is, but there she was.
…taking pictures of the ferns on the roof

…and taking pictures of the trees in the park

with red & white striped socks (or tights) & curly red hair.
Like a dreamy fairytale in action.
I hope everyone got their socks in time to dress up this year…
Happy Halloween!!!

From Betsey Johnson…
Buttons Up!

I’ve been in love with Betsey’s designs since I found an amazing full length, stretchy black velvet dress that I had to have when I was 20. It had a Betsey Johnson label in it and I could barely afford it, but it became my first really nice dress, perfect for elegant parties should I find my way to any. Even better at the underground parties that were so fun in the late 80s. These leg warmers are another must have Betsey for me, at $40 they are a stretch for most sock budgets, but for something I will treasure for the rest of my life (like the Betsey beaded shoes I found at Betsey’s shop in Soho last time I made it out to visit EG in NYC) I think they’re a steal. Because they are so high end we started with a much smaller order than I would like and I’m not sure if we’ll run out within days like we have with another style I’ll cover in a moment…
So, for $40 you’d expect them to be something like cashmere right? I did, but instead they are a really soft acrylic that will wash and wear better over it’s lifetime with less fuss and muss than the furry stuff. We’ll get our Betsey cashmere fix in a few weeks with leggings and tights that look fantastic.

From Hot Sox…

This ever-elusive button up warmer has continued to be as hard to get this year and sells out just as fast, we have at least two more very large orders of them scheduled to come in, but as usual, I’m not sure exactly when they’ll get here.
What I do know is it isn’t soon enough!

From Leg Avenue…

We were super excited when we first saw these show up in a Leg Avenue catalog. So excited that I ordered alot without even seeing or trying them only to discover they run small, painfully small, yet too long to be worn as sleeves on me.

…note the dents left in my thighs after just about 15 minutes of wearing them. The little belts have alot of empty holes left to loosen them, but the tops of the warmers will not go more than 15 inches comfortably and since the buttons are purely decorative you cannot simply undo a few. At first we thought we could just sell them in the store because we feared mass returns due to fit, but whenever someone would try them on they decided not to buy them. I let our L.A. rep know about this, we even pulled a few pairs out last time she was in so she could see what we meant, we hope that next time around they will be what we were hoping for, a cool spat-like warmer that will fit most of us. If you are very small and/or thin and love these count yourself as lucky and grab a pair! Leg Avenue has another style I’m bringing in to try, the buttons are also decorative rather than functional, but everyone is so mad for buttons perhaps they won’t mind?

and finally, buttoned sock garters from Sock Dreams…

Lily is working on bunches now that we have restocked the goods to make them
…nobody’s fault but mine this time, too much going on the past couple of months to keep up with it all. Ah, but I’m settling in and enjoying fall with all the snuggly, button-y goodness it brings! Someone asked recently if all our fall items are up. Not even close, I like to keep fresh stuff coming all the way til new years.
And then, I start all over again…

Last year when we were brainstorming billboard ideas Bsti came up with this one which many of us thought was brilliant. After much consideration we decided against using it for advertising as it was suggested some may not see the humor in it.
But since Sheila asked, here it is.
…You’re not alone!
The twelve steps to managing your sock addiction
1. Admit that you are powerless against our socks
2. Believe that Sock Dreams can restore your sanity
3. Decide to turn your will, and paychecks, over to Sock Dreams
4. Make a search & fearless inventory of your socks
5. Admit to yourself the exact nature of your sock needs
6. Be ready to add more socks as needed
7. Humbly ask us for more socks
8. Make a list of all the people you know who need more socks
9. Make sock orders for such people whenever possible
10. Continue to add to the inventory of your socks
11. Seek to improve your contact with Sock Dreams through concise & eloquent emails
12. Have a spiritual awakening as a result of Sock Dreams and all that we offer and practice these steps frequently for enlightened sock enthusiasm.

It’s Monday morning, I’ve showered and have my cup of coffee at hand. Now all I have to do is get up and head in to work, but first, a little hello note…
Our move went smoothely other than Comcast not being able to properly coordinate our cable and internet installation. It is a comfy & unique little home that suits us perfectly with big windows overlooking the prettiest mimosa tree I’ve ever seen. I know they are considered a pesky, invasive nuisance in some parts of the country, but not here, they are quite welcome and beautiful!
As the rains have started up again I am worried that my flip flop wearing toe-socked days are coming to an end. I’ve become quite fond of the freedom they give my toes, but am not a fan of the wet dirty toes I come home with if I am out and about in the rain. The Golf Toe socks are among my very fav socks right now. Because they are designed for activities like golf, tennis & yoga they are super comfy and breathe very well, but do not look at all like a sport sock, instead they look like a fancy crocheted sock that comes out of the wash fresh and ready to go every time, no pilling or felting at all, so while they do cost more than your average toe sock, I think they are a worthy investment if you love wiggling your toes.
Although I barely sat at a computer for the past week there has been progress made on the many new socks arriving and I will get back to adding the new stuff after I check in and meet with my warehouse & product development team this morning…
time to put my cup in the sink, gather my stuff and get Lola ready to go…

This is my imaging assistant Brenna, celebrating her one year anniversary with us in her new pair of Ozelots. She started out as a minion in the warehouse pulling orders and restocking as needed. She still does a lot of that as our General Warehouse Coordinator (in addition to Amanda our Dream Stockings coordinator) and has recently started helping me get through the tedious parts of image editing (making sure the colors are spot on with good clarity, ect) so that we can keep the new items coming, even through our busiest season yet. She is also part of our small purchasing & product development team having created several Sock It To Me socks during her time there. Most recently she helped us make the Chaos socks a reality.
She is just one of nearly 20 people who make Sock Dreams what it is today. In the coming weeks I’ll introduce you to more of them. Til then, I’m taking a week off with my beloved Bsti to move into our new home. Love and cozy toes to all!!!

Rarely does a movie make more than a ripple in our sock world.
We’ll get the occasional query or request for something someone saw somewhere.
But before this year’s Batman even came out people were looking for socks like the Joker wore. And true to the dedicated nature of many of our sockaholics they even provided images and clues to start us on our hunt. First we brought in this version from Foot Traffic:

and for $7 it is a great deal, especially if you’re in the US and choose our standard free shipping (which will usually get them to you wicked fast). We’ve seen these socks elsewhere for more, plus shipping. In fact, some of our sluethiest customers have pointed out Ebay sellers selling this exact sock for $20+ using our images and words altered ever-so-slightly. Yes, this has happened more than once or twice, and yes, I always send the sellers a nice note about copyright infringement.
Now, thanks to the help of our friends at Tabbisocks, we have this custom version created just for us! First I had my imaging assistant Brenna do a layout of colors. This was a huge challenge as we required more consistency than the original had, plus, you can’t outright copy something like that. Next Tomomi sent our request to their mill in Japan and came up with what we think is a darned fine representation of this years hottest Halloween accessory. And you don’t even have to be a guy to wear them! They have a great stretch that allows them to fit from small feet to large.

Only $13 with no presale wait or extra shipping charges
(unless you are outside the US, or choose expedited shipping, of course).