The Socks Drawer Blog

Another Japanese sock trend I happened upon in my search for all things socks, was the loose sock.

In the early 1990’s the school uniform for girls in Japan was changed to a shorter skirt style. At that time some girls started to order and wear imported mountain climbing socks. These added warmth and also hid more exposed legs. Somewhere along the way, these high school girls started stretching them out, giving them a looser, sloutchy appearance. This turned into a huge fashion trend. Although these socks can be found in black and navy, white is by far the most popular. The biggest surge of this trend was in the mid to late 1990’s, however loose socks are still worn and trendy by highschool girls, especially in the more urban areas of Japan.

The loose socks are now available in Japan, and not imported. They are an extra long white sock that girls stretch out. They often use a special sock glue or other adhesive to keep their socks up. These socks are usually worn with mary janes or loafers. Loose socks became such a fashion rage at one time that schools would not permit them for a time!

So from function and utility to fashion trend, the loose sock is definitely a unique sock!

Here is a good shot of the Japanese Loose Sock

Here is how these Japanese Loose socks were worn with the school uniforms.