By Mia Hanuska
I’m a collector of the best clothing item in the world: fun socks. “What kind of fun socks?” you may be pondering. The superior type: mid-calf-length socks with random designs. My fashion style is fairly professional (catch me in a suit at least once a week), so a silly or colorful sock adds a bit of flair and personality to my looks without sacrificing the ‘fit. I take pride in my extensive sock collection, which, at the time of writing this, is at 39 pairs. That may sound extreme, but believe it or not, I do wear every pair regularly. Plus, when I travel, I buy socks as souvenirs instead of tchotchkes or trinkets that sit around collecting dust—I can actually use socks in my daily life.
This year, I’ve happily added 12 new pairs to my rotation. Here’s a look at my 2025, in socks.
January
January saw two new pairs. The first is a blue Snoopy sock from the Dollar Tree, bought on my first outing of the year with friends. While I adore this pair, one of the toes unfortunately has formed a small hole, so I can’t say I can recommend the Dollar Tree socks. However, I will still continue to wear my pair until it’s rags.
The second pair came from a visit to Monterey thanks to Emi Gruender’s Daily Explorer. Originally, I wanted to buy a pair of authentic Monterey Bay Aquarium socks, but they were over $24 per pair, and while I love socks, I don’t love socks that much. Instead, we scoured the tourist shops. I ended up settling on a pair of cream socks with otters eating slices of watermelon to add some color diversity (I don’t have many tan socks) to my collection.
March
In March, my dearest mother found a pair of socks for me for a special occasion: Saint Patrick’s Day. Heavily lacking in socks for holidays other than Christmas, I graciously accepted these and wore them proudly at the Sacramento Regional robotics competition on March 17th. She snagged these from the Joann Fabrics super-ultra-mega-huge-everything-must-go sale from when they were liquidating their stock, so it was quite the deal.
April
Tragically, in April I realized the one pair of socks I desperately needed were not in my collection: carrot-themed socks. I am a famous carrot-lover, and that I lacked a pair of socks with the delicious root vegetables on them was truly heartbreaking. I immediately took to my computer, searching the web for an affordable pair. I quickly found J Crew had a pair on clearance and, without a second thought, bought them for a mere $3.29—a birthday gift to myself, if you will.
May
May is when my collection grew the most. On a trip to Indiana for my sister’s graduation, I picked up three pairs.
The first was an obligatory pair of Purdue socks, as my sister got quite jealous of me repping Virginia Tech for my brother. These socks are honestly one of my favorite pairs for winter, as they’re super thick and keep my toes nice and warm. The pair pictured below aren’t my exact socks (somehow they no longer exist???) but are quite similar—just take out the gold stripes.
The second pair I bought at Vons—another obligatory purchase. Purdue has a giant Vons store, and their sock offering is quite impressive. Limited to buying only one pair, it took me quite a while to settle on the pair I wanted the most. I ended up with these cute “Big Ol’ Word Nerd” socks, which I find quite fitting for myself.
The third and final pair from May came from a day trip a little ways away from Purdue—the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It just so happened to be the weekend of the Indy500 race, so we got tickets and took a tour of their incredibly comprehensive museum. As someone interested in motorsports, I decided I absolutely needed a pair to commemorate the visit, and landed on a pair with the checkered flag.
June
June surprisingly also saw an uptick in socks, but unintentionally. On an overnight trip to Turlock, CA, to take the ACT, I forgot to pack a change of socks for test day. Off to Old Navy we went, and there just so happened to be a deal on Mickey Mouse socks. Soon enough, a pack of three was safely in my pack and I had a pair for test day. I think Old Navy must’ve put some magical good luck charm in these too…
My family also went on a short Las Vegas trip in June, where I—of course—bought a pair. Unfortunately, the Hoover Dam does not have any Dam socks, so I instead got a pair of lucky socks from a touristy shop just before leaving. But I have to say, after wearing them for a couple of AP Lit poetry MCQs, I can confirm they are not very lucky.
August
Last but not least, I received my final pair for the year in August. A belated gift from my beloved friend and Westmont alumna Jocelyn Hwang, these “Stop Talking” socks now grace my collection. I think they embody my regular thoughts pretty perfectly.
Now that I’ve reflected on my year’s sock additions, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve been missing out on new socks recently. It’s been over 4 months since I got a new pair! Sacrilegious! Hopefully next year I’ll get to add even more socks (and figure out how to store them at college).