There’s a disturbing Chinese fashion I must share with the world at large: Ankle-high stockings. (Mrs. Stevo calls them skin socks. After seeing this photo my sister will ask to have a few pairs sent to her.)
They’re not socks or stockings, but some evil eyesore combination (see image above).
This has bothered me for some time. I’m sure they serve a purpose (keeping your feet clean inside your shoes is how Mrs. Stevo explains it) but the butt-ugliness of them is an aesthetic assault upon my well-developed, keen, fashion sense.
There are few things as disturbing as seeing a beautiful Chinese woman, with shiny black Asian hair cascading down her back and a colorful frock on her small frame, wearing these stockings. It wrecks the whole fantasy look. There was a post on another China blog some time ago, the blogger said his reasoning for dating a particular Chinese woman was the fact she went barefoot instead of wearing skin socks. That is dedication, or insanity. Using that criteria the blogger would have few dates. Mrs. Stevo brought home “skin socks” when we started dating. After my temper-tantrum pleas she started wearing normal socks.
I won’t go into my feelings about the women that wear the above stockings with sandals and consider that appropriate attire. This could all be related to the many most Chinese people need glasses.
note: I will delete all comments that support the ankle-high stocking camp. I can do it, I have the power. This is a rant, not a debate.
another note: I am copyrighting Mrs. Stevo’s term, Skin Socks. PayPal me a quarter each time you use it.
Yes, Ron, and they will have an Olympic Rings pattern as part of the material.
Neither, amuirin. I like clean lines.
I’m guessing that they’re waiting for the Olympics to unveil the Support Skin Sock models…
R(etc… )
Ron in L.A.s last blog post..Cormorants On The Rio Mamoré – Trinidad, Bolivia
lol
Are you a foot fetishist or a foot purist?
amuirins last blog post..A little space for the sun
I can understand your feelings on this one. Never seen those here in Canada. Of course, most of the year where I live it would be too cold to be comfortable in those, and the remainder the mosquitos would be all over the ankles of thin socked ladies. And I just can’t imagine anyone wearing those at the beach.
And my wife just informed me that those are “old lady socks” so I guess I don’t have to worry about them catching on in my house!
I see these all the time. In different weird ways. I claim that all “tight” ankle socks are gross. I should have photographed it, but yesterday I saw ankle high fishnet socks.
Gah! I though this were a done thing. Ladies were wearing them back in 2003 and I thought they were a bad fashion fad. I can’t believe they’re still around!
Carries last blog post..Taroko Gorge Redux
I was going to come out in support of them, just to watch you wield your power, but…
I can’t do it. They’re awful.
Robins last blog post..Sail on
It looks like they are the kind that American women sometimes wear with slacks (okay, OLDER American women). I have never really seen the reasoning behind these S**N Socks (I’m not paying you anything![img]http://stat.livejournal.com/img/mood
I agree with you, Stevo. I don’t like them. The best that can be said for them is that at least they sort of blend in with the skin so you don’t notice them as much. I hate when I see this kind of thing but they are black or a print instead of skin color!
Corinas last blog post..Oy vey!
Wow. I guess peds decided to demand respect. I mean, those things are given away free at shoe stores as a foot condom between your foot and the shoe. It appears as the ped has grown an upper half and is taking over the world. Well, at least your corner of the world. Ambitious one, that ped.
LazyBuddhists last blog post..Dirty Laundry
HA! They are unsightly. Wow, who started the trend?
I do think you should also buy the domain name skinsocks.com.
Man, that totally fucks up the awesomeness of those vintage (or vintage-style?) shoes. And they look like they’re my size, too…
I support your revolt against skin socks. Knee-high dirty Catholic schoolgirl socks I get. This look– not so much.
Those look like what my mother and grandmothers wore back in the early 60s. And you’re right, I don’t see anything attractive about them.
Ugh. Truly ugh. And I won’t use the term, because I think you won’t give the royalty money to your wife, despite the fact that she came up with the expression.
mariannes last blog post..M is for Mine
Welcome to the real China. Culture shock is the little stuff like this that adds up.
Boyd R. Joness last blog post..Picasa Slideshow
To each their own. I am a white American male and I find these ankle high stockings to be incredibly sexy. I find that Asian women are not ashamed of femininity. I think bare legs are a bit crude. In general I think that many American women are lazy and unwilling to look truly feminine anymore.
Good for you. That is the first positive thing I have heard anyone say about the ankle-high nylons. The consensus among expats in China is that they are eye sores.
While I can understand your point about femininity, I don’t see how a cheap pair of ankle-high nylons, often worn with a formal dress and high-heel sandals, could illustrate feminine allure. A nice pedicure, yes; a nylon cop-out, no.
OMG, I spent many years in China, and tried in vain to talk my friends out of this ugly thing. Now back in the states, I have a friend visiting me from Beijing and try as I can I cannot convince her to take them off, even with her sandals. I got her some peds to wear with her sneakers, but she complained they were too hot. Yesterday I took her shopping in her beige sandals and her beiger ankle socks, a thick blue, red and green paisley jacket blouse, and thin silk brown pin striped knee high pants that bloused and buttoned at the knee. AAAggghhh. My daughter just smiled…Between the ankle socks and the foot long pointed toes, I just don’t get Chinese fashion (?) at all.