The Importance of Socks in Sweden

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Socks aren’t usually something I consider important. I don’t really think about them and therefore they don’t usually match.

In Sweden, winter Swedish socks are important obviously during the cold winters.

But sock style in Sweden is important and is something that should be considered with every outfit. Because most likely, at some point, you will need to take off your shoes.

For example, I was dressed up for a very important job interview in December. I took careful care to dress professionally. And when I got there, I needed to take off my shoes.

These are the socks I had on.

Professional Swedish socks

Another example is a party I went to all dressed up…

swedish gals

I forgot to remember to wear cute socks…

Swedish Party Socks

Flash forward to Bozeman, Montana. Socks are no longer an issue. Most people wear shoes in doors. Yep, they do not take off their shoes at all!

Suddenly socks are no longer so important. Which is good, because I never got used to remembering to pay attention to my socks!

16 thoughts on “The Importance of Socks in Sweden”

  1. Hi

    I don’t get that……. I mean, why not take off one’s shoes when beeing indoors?

    I Know that’s not how you do it “in the states” but why?

    I hate wearing shoes inside, they drag dirt into the house, they make your feet warm (and smelly), you can’t (shouldn’t) put your feet up on the sofa and so on!

    D

    Reply
    • I know! Well, first off not all houses are like that. My parents’ house is a no-shoe house. But many aren’t. They argue that their dogs make the house dirty, or they don’t have nice carpets so it doesn’t matter, etc.

      I’m at a friend’s house now, standing in my boots because the floor is dirty and I can’t stand it. I need slippers. I think I will always be a no-shoe girl. Its hard, because when you are in a “shoe” house, you can’t really take off your shoes because it is dirty, and then your socks get dirty, and so on…

      Reply
      • And what do we do when the socks get dirty? 😉 We clean them! 😀 Mine get dirty from going around at the work floor here, if I don’t put my slippers on, but then I take them off when I come home. But, I also only wear black socks.

        Reply
  2. This was such a fun post. It’s so interesting to see what new problems other people from outside have to deal with, which we have had to deal with for a long time, and perhaps haven’t put that much thought into. Really interesting perspective.

    Reply
    • Daniel
      totally agree no shoes in house or when possible in my office.
      Like slippers and like your choice . I often wear Italian or English Mules .

      To me its comfort and cleanliness. Dogs lick their feet clean People drag in dirt

      Nelson

      Reply
  3. I don’t wear shoes in my house either, but why in the world would you have to take your shoes off at a job interview! That sounds just weird. Also, at parties I’m all in favor of bringing pretty indoor shoes and switching…

    Reply
    • It was one place, but that is quite common and it is great being in slippers at work. It is extremely common in Czech, shoes are taken off in school too. No idea if that is the case for Sweden as well…

      Yes, I should have done party shoes! 🙂

      Reply
      • Shoes are taken off mostly in lågstadiet and mellanstadiet, not in högstadiet, gymnasium, högskola. The reason being, I think, that it’s only in lågstadiet and mellanstadiet that you have a dedicated room. In the later years, you most of the time have different rooms for each class, and you have lockers instead of hangers. (Sorry that I didn’t have the energy to translate everything)

        Reply
    • So offices with carpets prefer you to remove shoes, this custom is observed when entering certain offices off the mail sec pool.
      I ran such an office slippers were keep in all executive
      offices.

      Reply
  4. Americans are very safety-conscious, especially at work. No jobsite will tolerate going without shoes because of injury. Many jobs even specify the quality of the shoe (rubber sole versus hard sole, high boot vs. Shoe, leather vs. Canvas). Removing shoes at work will likely lead to disciplinary action. Every school I know makes specific requirements regarding shoes. When I was a Girl Scout leader, our national safety rules codified in a book all volunteers had to become licensed in before supervising children, required us to ensure all girls wore shoes at all times. And they could not be sandals or have an open-toe. Even when we went in the water. This safety-consciousness affects me even at home. If I am in my pajamas in the morning and I want to heat something on the stove, I think I should wear shoes… In case I spill boiling water or drop a pot. I don’t want to injure my foot.

    Reply

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