Questions & Answers

Foot-Shaped socks

Any recommendations for foot-shaped socks?

I tend to not wear socks because I need lots of forefoot and toe room, and most socks are not foot shaped. I try to get socks of very thin material (dress socks usually), but I find that even these socks inhibit toe movement...not a lot, but enough that I avoid wearing them.

Are there any companies that make foot shaped socks?

I like smartwool socks a lot, and would love to see them jump on the foot-shaped sock thing.

One of the reasons that I am raising this question now, I plan to make my own minimal "shoes" with socks and layers of Shoe-Goo. But if I can't find socks that are foot-shaped its probably not worth the effort.

In particular, I would kill for a pair of foot-shaped waterproof/breathable socks. With these I can see a shoe-goo sole working well as raingear for cold days in fall/spring, and with a 4mm rubber sole as a possible solution for minimalist winter use.

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Answers and Replies

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Do you think toesocks (like from Injinji) are foot-shaped socks? Injinji has toesocks made from their own Nuwool material that contains Merinowool just like Smartwool socks. Smartwool will come with their own toesocks too, especially designed for the Vibram Fivevingers.

There are waterproof/breathable socks from Sealskinz, but I believe not everybody is very happy about them. The Italian shoemaker Lizard Footwear will also come with their own waterproof/breathable sock, the Lizard Stormsock and Lizard Stormsock Hi. They look more foot-shaped but I didn't see them in real.

Those waterproof/breathable socks look quite vulnerable to me if you want to make shoes from them. Maybe you can use neoprene socks for this?

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I have had back luck with waterproof socks. As Huib mentions, the Sealskinz don't work all that well. I also tried some Rocky Gore-Tex socks, but they were not foot shaped and really cramped my toes.

In terms of foot-shaped socks, I like Injinjis, they really let my toes spread. I don't like them in colder weather though because they make my toes cold (like goves vs mittens). Although I haven't tried them yet, the pictures I have seen of Keen socks look like they may have a roomier toebox.

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Keen makes some socks that are different for the left and right foot. They are even marked R and L on the toe area. I have an ankle high athletic pair and they appear to have more toe room.

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