Your Complete Guide to Buying and Wearing Blue Socks

There are a lot of different colors of socks you can wear. On the conservative side, there are white and black socks. On the wild side, you have colors like pink, yellow, and green. The one color of socks that bridges the gap between the conservative and the wild is blue socks.

Blue socks are incredibly versatile and can be as staid or as out there as you like. A solid pair of navy blue socks says you’re all business but have a little more style than the guy next to you in the boring black socks. A pair of sky blue on cobalt blue polka dot socks says you are just as much fun as anyone.

Not all blue socks were created equal though. There are multiple shades of blue and blue socks come in all kinds of styles and patterns. These socks can add to all kinds of looks, match with all different colors, and add the perfect personal flair to your style.

If you are thinking about adding to your blue sock collection or are trying to get out of your black and white sock rut and add some color to your sock drawer, you have come to the right place. We want to help everyone looking for blue socks learn all there is to know about these fashionable foot coverings.

In this guide, we will help distinguish between shades of blue, explain the best ways to rock your blue socks, and give some blue sock-related advice on everything from weddings to gift-giving. Here is your complete guide to buying and wearing blue socks.

The Different Shades of Blue

Shades of blue are much more than just a short-lived J. Lo cop show. There are shades of blue for every occasion, every mood, and every outfit. These shades, and all the ways you can use them, are what make blue such a multipurpose color for socks and fashion in general.

Here we will look at some of the main shades of blue you will find in blue socks. You can find solid pairs of many of these colors while others are mainly used as accent colors or are paired with other blues or other colors altogether. 

Sky

The name here says it all. Look up in the sky on a summer's day and you will see sky blue. This light shade of blue looks great as an accent color or as the main event. If you want to highlight sky blue, pair it with a white or a light color. If you want to use it to make other colors pop, pair it with a darker shade.

Navy

The rich, dark blue worn by officers of the Royal Navy in the mid-1700s, this is a stately and professional blue. It is the blue used for suits, dress pants, and is incorporated in many wedding themes. Wearing navy blue with another black-hued color will not help either color. Lighter and brighter colors like yellows, reds, and pinks go great with Navy.

Teal

Teal, which shares its name with a small duck with a similarly colored stripe on its head, is considered blue although it straddles the line between blue and green. It is a great blue to accent or play off other, darker blues and you can go as bright as you want with teal when you wear it as part of a spring or summer outfit.

Aqua

Aqua blue is a lighter, brighter blue/ green than its close cousin, teal. Think of aqua as the crystal blue/green waters of the Caribbean Sea. Also like teal, it is great as a loud neon to complement light outfits in the summer months. It goes great with all types of grays as well throughout the year.

Sapphire

Sapphire blue is a dark, rich blue that is darker than primary blue but not as dark as navy blue. It gets its name from the brilliant blue gems of the same name. Light, pale, or pastel colors all work great with Sapphire blue to make it stand out.

Lapis

The last three blues on this list all have a royal blue feel to them with very slight, but noticeable, differences. Lapis is a true blue with a slight purplish tone to it. Because of this purplish feel, you can pair lapis blue with orange, darker grays, and lighter greens.

Cobalt

Cobalt blue is part of the royal blue family that has a slight hint of gray in it. It is best known for being paired with white in Chinese porcelain but it also goes well with gray, red, and orange. The gray also helps it match with darker colors like Navy or even Black.

Azure

The last in the royal blue family is azure blue which, on the color wheel, rests halfway between primary blue and cyan (a green and light blue hybrid). The complementary color to azure is orange and that is its most vibrant match. Because of the green in azure, greens and yellows also go well with this color.

What Goes Well with Blue Socks

Once you get an idea of the wide range of options that blue socks come in, the next logical question is, what should I wear them with? Because there are so many different blues, the options are seemingly endless. We will give you some tips and best practices to help you decide which blue socks go with which types of outfits.

Shoes

Blue socks go great with sneakers. Whether you go blue with blue or use your blue socks as an accent for a coordinated workout outfit, you can’t go wrong. Neon blue is a good look for the gym as many workout clothes and sneakers have flashes of bright colors. The other popular color you’ll see when working out is Carolina blue, which is the light blue worn by the North Carolina Tar Heels.

For dress socks, a solid navy blue is a classic look, goes with almost any color dress shoes, and is a great alternative to black if you are looking to mix it up a bit. Lighter blues offer a great pop of color with standard color dress shoes, and sky blue and brown is a very trendy color scheme right now.

Pants

The great combinations you can make with blue socks and different colored pants are endless. If you are a jeans person, a pair of navy blue socks adds an element of class to a normally casual look. For dress pants, the world is your oyster. Check out the descriptions of the different shades of blues above and use that blue to match the color of your pants. Even blue and blue work.

There is an old saying that goes “black and blue never do,” meaning don’t try to pair black and blue. But whether you want to consider it better matching now or power clashing in a fashionable way, black and blue are now a trendy pairing. A nice pair of blue socks with a black outfit, when done right, can really show people you knew what you were doing when you put your outfit together.

Suit

You can wear a blue suit, a gray suit, a brown suit, or even a black suit (see above) and find a great pair of blue socks to compliment the outfit. No matter what suit color you are wearing, matching your blue socks to the blue in your shirt or tie is a good look and will show a nice level of thoughtfulness.

In addition to the traditional, darker suits, blue socks also go fantastically well with lighter, summer suits. Matching your socks to the blue pinstripe of a seersucker suit is very cool. If you have a suit that is white, light tan or gray, or another fun summer color, you can make add a great pop of summer color with a pair of teal, aqua, or sky blue socks as well.

Shirt colors

Wearing socks that are the same color as your shirt, regardless of what type of pants or suit you are wearing, is almost always a great idea. It is a simple rule of thumb that, if you follow, will always make you look like a fashionable person, even if that isn’t truly the case.

You can use the exact same blue in your socks that you have in your shirt or you can wear a complimentary one, especially if you have a two-toned blue shirt. If you are wearing a more aggressively colored shirt, like an orange, yellow, or pink one, wearing socks in a blue color that compliments that color well is a great matching tool to use instead of wearing loud socks as well.

Other accessories

If you are going to wear blue socks as a complementary, accent, or pop color in an outfit, it is great to get accessories that are the same color blue as your socks. This includes things like ties, handkerchiefs, pocket squares, belts, suspenders, hats, and more. Coordinating your accessories with your socks is another simple way to look detail-oriented and put together without a ton of fashion knowledge or excess effort.

Are Blue Socks a Good Wedding Idea?

Blue is the color of the water and the sky and has a deep level of symbolism across cultures and backgrounds. It is widely known to stand for calm, stability, wisdom, and inspiration. In certain religions, the color blue is used to illustrate figures who show grace. All this adds up to the fact that it is no surprise that blue is an incredibly common wedding color.

On-trend wedding combinations

The truth is, there are so many shades of blue that go so perfectly with so many other colors, if you are thinking about doing blue for your wedding, you almost can’t go wrong. That said, there are certain color combinations that are classic and others that are trendy right now. Here are some of the hottest blue wedding combinations right now.

• Navy Blue + burgundy, pale rose or pink, or yellow.
• Sky Blue + pale rose or pink, white, or gray
• Teal + yellow, orange, or brown
• All blue, using several different shades

Blue socks for wedding suits

A navy suit makes a great wedding suit but wearing a full suit of another shade of blue, even if you love that shade, can be a little much. A blue or blue patterned sock is a good way to introduce the wedding color into the outfit without something so bold or risky as a full-on blue suit.

Blue socks are also a great way to make your groomsmen party look more cohesive and fashionable. If everyone in the group wears blue socks, it will look great up on the altar while you are saying your vows. You can even make the socks a groomsmen gift that everyone will appreciate long after the wedding is over.

If your wedding suit is navy, wearing navy blue socks is a great look. If it is black, a royal blue makes for a trendy match and, if the suit is gray, brown, or white, the blue accent you choose for the wedding, like sky blue or teal, is a great look. Matching your blue socks to blue ties, pocket squares, cufflinks, or other accessories is yet another way to take this wedding look to the next level.

Some Common Blue Sock Patterns to Consider

Plain blue socks are great, there’s no question about it. Sometimes you need to jazz it up a little though. That is where patterned socks come in. There are all types of patterns and whether it is the base of the pattern, an accent color, or both, blue patterned socks are fantastic and they will take your sock game to the next level. Here are a few of the most common sock patterns you will find.

Polka dots

When people think of polka dots, they often think of big, bold, wild patterns--the type of polka dots you would find on clown pants. That is one kind of polka dot pattern, for sure, but there are others as well. Polka dot patterns with small, understated polka dots don’t look silly or ostentatious. In fact, in many cases, they look incredibly classy.

Blue makes a great base color for polka dot socks. So many colors pop when they are on a blue background. Blue socks with white, yellow, orange, pink, or red polka dots will really stand out. You don’t always have to find a complementary color though. Blue on blue polka dot socks are very cool and a great way to incorporate more than one of your favorite shades.

Stripes

The same rules that apply to polka dots apply to blue striped socks. The wider the stripe, the bolder they are and skinnier, the more classic they will look. Bright colors pop off of a blue background here too and blue on blue is always a good look.

A great time to wear striped socks is when wearing a suit. If you want to get the ultimate in full-body color coordination, find a pair of great blue pinstriped socks and match it to shirt and tie, shirt and suit, or suit and tie. This type of striped sock matching will really pull the whole outfit together in a stunning way.

Argyle and other plaid patterns

Argyle socks may be the highest form of patterned socks. This plaid-type pattern is both eye-catching and upscale at the same time. It is funky enough to get people to notice but also classic enough to be successfully paired with the highest fashion look. A blue argyle sock is one of the best and most interesting pair of socks you can wear with any outfit.

Argyle patterns generally have three or four colors. There is a base color and two to three pattern colors that make up the plaid or argyle design. Some argyle socks have another color, or one of the design colors, on the heel, toe, and top of the sock.

A dark blue background is a great starting point for a lot of argyle patterns, especially with a lighter blue in the design. Blue argyle designs also tend to work very well with a gray background.

What if You’re Considering Buying Blue Socks as a Gift?

With all the great things you can wear blue socks with, of course, they make a fantastic gift! You can get interesting blue shades or funky blue patterned socks for someone with an already developed sock game or you can gift a pair of navy or lightly pinstriped blue socks to someone who is new to the world of non-black and white socks. No matter the recipient, giving them the gift of blue socks is something they will find useful and definitely appreciate. Here are a few things to keep in mind when giving blue socks as a gift.

How bold is their sock choice?

The first step in giving blue socks is to find out how bold the person likes to go with their socks. If they already favor strong statement socks, your choices are nearly limitless both in the shade of blue and the pattern.

If they are a pretty standard sock person, you want to keep that in mind but don’t be afraid to go a slight step funkier than they are used to. It is always nice to get something for someone that they wouldn’t necessarily buy themselves.

What’s their style?

Think about when the person you are giving the gift to will wear their blue socks? Will it be at the gym? Out to a bar? To work? Or even at their wedding? Also, is their style classic? Trendy? Funky? Or even kind of (shhh… just think this, don’t say it to them) boring?

The answers to these questions will help you figure out what type of outfit they will be matching their blue socks to and whether or not a bold color or pattern is a good idea. Try to get blue socks for them that match their overall style. This will make it a more thoughtful gift.

What’s their size?

Most socks are one-size-fits-all for adults but if you are buying blue socks for a person who is above the average in tall or small, you may want to do a little more digging to make sure their feet are around size 8 to size 13. As long as they are in that range, you should be good.

Also, don’t sleep on buying a fun pair of blue socks for kids. It is never too early to start wearing fashionable socks. If you are buying for a teenager, adult sizes will probably apply. If the child is younger, make sure the socks you like for them come in children’s sizes.

Conclusion

Blue socks are awesome. You can dress them up, dress them down, use them to make a more cohesive outfit or to make your socks stand out and add an attention-grabbing pop of color. There are a lot of different colors of socks out there but most colors don’t have nearly the range that blue socks do.

Whether you are planning on buying blue socks for yourself or someone else, adding more blue socks to your collection or wearing them for the first time, this guide should help give you the ideas and the confidence you need to wear blue in style.

Blue socks come in all different shades and go well with a wide variety of shoes, pants, suits, shirts, and accessories. They are great at weddings – for grooms, groomsmen, and guests alike – and they make great gifts.

There are very few wrong ways to wear blue socks--you get a lot of fashion leeway when you wear them. Overall, blue socks may be the most wearer-friendly socks you can find. At the end of the day though, the most important thing to remember is this. Blue socks are fun. More people should wear them. Hooray!