Pair of socks

Object Type
People have been wearing socks since at least the 8th century, but socks really came into their own at the beginning of the 19th century, when men began wearing trousers instead of breeches. (They had previously worn stockings but socks were easier to keep in place beneath a trouser leg.) By the 1840s they were being made with ribbed cuffs, so that they did not fall down. Men's socks were usually made of cotton, merino or silk.

Ownership & Use
These socks would have been worn during the day or evening and would have added a touch of colour to the owner's dress. Although black was a fashionable colour for socks, brighter colours were also worn, such as scarlet, bright blue and green. The writer Lytton Strachey is shown wearing olive green socks with a grey suit and a green tie in a portrait of 1904 by Simon Bussy.

Trading
Technological improvements led to a great expansion in the stocking-making industry after 1850. This meant that socks could be manufactured in greater numbers. I. & R. Morley Ltd. was probably the largest firm in the 1890s, employing thousands of workers and with factories and warehouses in London and the provinces. By this time the company was producing knitted underwear and sports garments as well as socks and stockings.