‘I’ve been exposed’: TikToker suffers ‘definite faux pas’
This polarising new fad has crept onto Sydney streets. Have Aussies pulled it off? One TikToker struggles as James Weir watches on.
TikToker Amy Morgan almost topples over on the concrete as she attempts to strut around for photographers.
It’s partly the red heels that hinder her balance. But, mostly, it’s the socks she’s wearing with the heels. She picked the wrong day to experiment with the viral style fad that has taken over runways, internet feeds and now Australian Fashion Week in Sydney.
“This is my first time trying the trend. I’ve admired it. And I thought with the right heel, with the right sock (it could work),” she said while filming videos for her 163,000 followers.
Her thick white cotton socks are a stark contrast against her patent red leather shoes.
“They’re dirty, old and mismatched,” she said.
One is splotched with a brown stain. The other is on backwards.
“I’ve been exposed!” she says. “I was in a mad rush.”
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop.
More girls teeter by in their various combinations of socks and stilettos.
Annie Hart, 25, only started tiptoeing into the trend a few weeks ago.
“It’s new. I saw it on Pinterest and I was, like, I love it,” she said. “I never thought to wear socks and stilettos — but it’s cute.”
Showing off your socks is on the nose in more ways than one. It can be laced with frills – but also pitfalls and perils.
“I dig it, but I wouldn’t do it,” says fashion writer Glynis Traill-Nash.
“Depending on the thickness of the sock, it can stretch your shoes. But if they’re too thin, there can be a slippage issue.”
And a stained gym sock?
“Definite faux pas. It has to be a considered sock.”
Punters parading around the former railway yard that has been transformed into ground zero for Australian Fashion Week have already raided their jock drawers to rock underwear as outerwear. And it only makes sense to yank out the socks as well.
It’s Japanese style meets Cher from Clueless.
But what are the rules for the trend that has tottered down runways in Paris fashion shows for labels like Miu Miu (the luxury brand is hocking pairs of socks for $325)?
Will any sock do the trick? Is a sockette up to the task? Perhaps a bright coloured pair with a goofy pattern on it?
Fledgling influencer Eddie Riley had several pairs of socks specially shipped in from the US. Her brand of choice? Affordable-luxury brand Ganni — $40 a pop. She planned on wearing different pairs with stilletos across the week.
On the sidelines, as ladies clack by, fashion photographer Lee Oliveira watches with a cocked eyebrow.
“It’s interesting options of socks they’ve chosen,” he says. “Some of them are not clean. A couple out of 10 have pulled off the trend. They have to remember that, on a hot day like today, their feet will sweat. So good luck trying to walk.”
He nods across the railway yard. “For example, that one.”
He’s squinting at Amy Morgan, the TikToker sporting dirty old socks.
“She can’t walk.”
Amy stumbles past, still posing for photos, slipping and sliding.
“Just because it’s trending doesn’t mean it’s trendy.”
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