How To: Over-the-knee Socks

The irony of this title is that I was really confused on how to wear over the knee socks.  All I knew was I really wanted to wear them ESPECIALLY after seeing how my good friend Olivia rocking them on her blog.  Sure all the young hipsters are wearing them, but the way they rock them is not totally my style and to be honest, what looks sweet & edgy on the 22 year old hipster's slim legs, looks trampy-prep-school-girl-gone wild on my not-so-slim legs.  Anyway, in retrospect I would probably make a few changes to my look, which I will explain below, but all in all I liked it.


Shirt & Sweater: Unkown | Skirt: Guess ( $10, sample sale) | Leggings & Socks: Target ($5 & $3.50) | Shoes: Go Jane ($37.50)

Funny story about this outfit... there was a crazy lightening storm in ATL and it knocked out our power Monday morning.  The word on the streets is I'll need to get used to these things now...ummmm okay! Oh, and I heard my very first tornado warning siren. ummm okay! So anyway, we got the power back on but the dang internet refused to come back up.  I work from home, and taking a day off wasn't an option so guess where I spent my day? In fact, guess where I am right now (day 2)... the good ol' public library. So, with my surprise trip to the public library on my mind as I got dressed, I channeled my inner rebellious private school girl and put together this look, which very much reminded me of my own private school days.  We used to roll our skirts to make them shorter and wear high socks like this.  I even had a pair of lace up guess boots that I barely got away with wearing with my uniform (they tried to make us wear saddle oxfords).  We had our sweaters and cardigans, and all the older girls used to let their shirt tails hang out.  Ahhh the good ol' days of making a fashion statement...even in a uniform.



So, I was originally planning on buying a few pairs of OTK socks on Asos because they have a lot of great options for about $7 but I stopped into target for some immediate gratification and was pleasantly surprised at the considerable number of options they had. They always have a ton of standard knee socks, but I don't think I recall seeing so many OTK socks before.  Anyway, they had a couple pairs on clearance for $3.50 and several other $5 options.  I picked up this gray pair, along with a black pair, and a striped gray, beige, and white pair.

I also learned that there are OTK socks and thigh-high socks... very different things! The thigh-high versions come up to about mid-thigh or higher, while the OTK versions come up from just above the knee to about quarter-thigh.  Of course, this also varies with height, but why is this important? Well, I found that for my thighs, which are not-so-slim up top, the thigh-high versions were very unflattering (to say the least). In fact, the ones I'm wearing here are thigh-high but I scrunched them down a little bit so they didn't cut off at the larger part of my thigh.

So, now let's talk about what I would change about this look in retrospect...

1. I would wear opaque tights instead of leggings. To be honest, the skirt was really an after thought when I realized the shirt wasn't long enough to give me the coverage I needed on my buns.  I can usually wear this shirt with leggings only, but the addition of the sweater vest caused the shirt to gather up a little and cut off some of the length. Anyway, I was too lazy to swap out the leggings for tights...oh well!
2. I would wear a more delicate shoe.  This shoe is a little too chunky with the shearling around the ankle and makes my legs look bigger. That plus the fact that the shoes are completely enclosed also makes my legs look shorter. It doesn't look bad, but it certainly isn't flattering.  A peep-toe bootie or sandal would have worked well here, or perhaps even my brown Sam Edelman laceups since they are open-toed and reveal a bit of the foot under the laces
3. If I had a full or pleated leather skirt, I'd be much happier, but I don't so whatevs.  I am NOT going to buy another leather skirt. I have a few! Lol. Either way, I do like the edge that just a little leather added to the ensemble.

What do you think of OTK socks?

How would you wear them?

Thanks for stopping by!!!