Like many members of Gen Z, Kalissa Persaud won’t be spotted wearing a pair of socks that are too short. Ms. Persaud, 22, who lives in Queens, almost exclusively wears crew socks that go up to her calves: “I’ve gotten so used to not being able to see my ankles anymore that it would be really shocking if I would do that.”
Night Noroña, 18, who lives in San Diego, recently threw away all his socks that reached below the ankle. He said he knew almost no one who wore them except his father. “I’m like, ‘You need to wear some longer socks,’” he said.
Generation Z has already adopted the shibboleths of millennial fashion, like skinny jeans and side-parts. Now some young people prefer crew socks, which generally reach mid-shin and stick their toes towards the ankles, and no-show varieties that have become staples of the sock drawers of the previous generation .
What may be just a small generational difference in sock preferences is being exaggerated into a kind of theatrical warfare on social media. Jabs are exchanged. Comparisons are placed side by side. And some millennials are holding out.
“You’re prying these ankle socks off my cold, dead feet,” says comedian Matt Bellassai in one of the many TikTok videos posted by millennials in recent months, defending their bare ankles.
The conversation has been circulating since at least October, when podcaster Phoebe Parsons argued in a speech widely viewed TikTok video that ankle-high socks were a telltale sign of old age. (“I’m a millennial,” she says in the video, holding her foot up, wearing a no-show sock.)
The sock gap seems to have become increasingly apparent since then. 22-year-old singer Billie Eilish wore red crew socks to the 2024 Golden Globesand basketball star Angel Reese, also 22, wore high socks with both sneakers and heels in one photo shoot for Teen Vogue. “Jennifer Lawrence Boldly Steps Out in Millennial Socks,” read a headline in British Vogue this week.
Every Gen Z-er wears Nike Dri-FIT crew socks to school with Converse high tops and mini Uggs. “I think part of growing up is people trying to separate themselves from what came before them,” Mr. Noroña said.
Gen Z’s supposed style rebellion looks a lot like the socks that weren’t cool when millennials were young, says Matt Bunting, 38, who serves in the U.S. Navy and lives in Oahu, Hawaii. “It’s just so funny to see the kids these days thinking they’re doing something trendy and it made us all laugh,” he said.
As a teenager, Mr. Bunting rolled his high socks under his feet to hide them under low skateboard shoes. It wasn’t very comfortable, he admitted.
“We always want to try to be cooler than our parents or grandparents, so we will come up with these ideas,” he said. Most of the time, “it just ends up being a recycled version of something that already happened.”
Sock trends usually have a lot to do with youth culture. Bobby socks White, lace socks that folded over at the ankles became popular among young women in the 1940s. In the 1970s, large and ringed knee socks exploded along with the rise of organized sports in the United States.
In the 2000s, office dress codes had relaxed and customers were looking for a lower, more casual alternative to dress socks, says Randy Goldberg, founder and chief brand officer of Bombas. The company was founded in 2013 with ankle socks as its top sellers.
But sales of longer socks have increased over the past two years, Goldberg says. In response, Bombas introduced a “half-calf” crew sock in January that now makes up 5 percent of the company’s total sales — although Mr. Goldberg said he still hoped to appeal to customers “whether you’re on one side of the sock war. or the other.”
Young people say they gravitate toward Nike crew socks in neutral colors or similar pairs from Aritzia and Uniqlo. Other companies are eager to join the conversation: “Crew Socks Are In,” reads a sponsored post for activewear company Lululemon.
At least some millennials are curious about crew socks. Renee Reina Grenon, a 39-year-old podcast host in Ontario, Canada, ordered a six-pack of crew socks on Amazon after seeing they were popular among Gen Z. She said she urged her husband to get rid of the ankle socks. , at.
“I’m trying to explain to him that it’s not cool anymore,” she said.
Shae Punzal, a 17-year-old from Carmel, Indiana, attributes the sock frenzy in part to a tendency to play out intergenerational differences online. She believes millennials should worry less about wearing “trending socks” and wear what they feel comfortable in.
Shae’s mom recently picked a pair of crew socks out of her daughter’s laundry and put them on over her leggings. “Do I look young now?” she asked.
