wool

For most of my life, I abhorred clothes containing any percentage of wool: they were itchy and required no consideration. Three years ago that changed.

I was at a shoe store, one where someone actually brought me shoes and laced them up for me. She insisted I try the shoes with a pair of socks from their display. I wasn't trying to go commando; I had my own socks on, so I scoffed at her wool sock offering. Eventually she convinced me to try them on to see for myself that they weren't itchy, and to ensure a proper fit with the shoes. The socks were expensive, so I just bought the shoes that day, but I soon returned for the socks after a few miserable blistery days: the wool socks provided wicking action necessary for a blister-free fit. I have ever since been a fan of SmartWool socks.

Today I stopped by EMS to see if they had a low-cut SmartWool that would make me look like less of a dork when wearing my black lug-sole Skechers with shorts. Though I'm still far from high fashion, at least I found some socks that will barely stick out of my shoes.