more than socks: carol's story
Sock fairy note: This blog post is the first in our new ongoing More Than Socks series, where some of our most beloved customers share stories of connection and joy around our products.
Our mission at The Sock Drawer is to weave us a little closer together through the unique, colorful socks we all love. We sock fairies are thrilled and proud to be part of a company that embraces silliness and joy. We sell novelty socks and funny home goods, after all!
But sometimes, a pair of socks is more than just socks. Many of our customers have shared their authentic, personal stories of how our products have meant so much to them on a deeper level. In fact, our gift items often strike a chord with folks as “more than socks,” touching them through a meaningful pattern or helping to inspire someone through a difficult time in life.
We’d like to introduce you to one of our long-term customers, a truly fabulous woman who has been inspiring us to be better sock fairies for quite a while now: Carol C!
Carol loves those cardinal socks she's holding up because cardinals are the state bird of Kentucky — her home for six years! We asked Carol why socks mean so much to her:
It's hard for me to quantify. They spread joy to me because they make me laugh, or remind me of things. I may be the only one that feels that way, but my sock drawer is like a photo album, because I look at it and think, "Remember that time....
We’d never thought about it that way before, and how awesome is that? We love it!
That picture up at the top shows off just some of Carol’s sock collection. She actually has four organizer cubbies like that one that are full of colorful, crazy socks. She told us that each morning she opens her sock drawer and decides which ones to wear that day based on one of two factors:
- Socks that go with her shirt (as in her shirt with the cardinal socks above)
- Socks that fit her mood for that day
We’re happy to provide so many different socks, from inspirational to outdoors to seasons of the year! We’ve got socks for every mood.
How did Carol’s journey into sock obsession begin?
One day I was shopping with a friend, and I saw the cutest pair of Christmas socks (this was probably 30+ years ago). They were plain red and green, but they had a plaid ribbon bow on the side and a little bell. I loved them! After that I started collecting Christmas socks, and eventually I realized you could get pretty socks for all year around. I found some sushi socks. Then, while visiting the Central Coast wine country I found socks with wine glasses and corks. At our local record store I found wine socks. Pretty soon all the plain black and plain white socks were banished from my drawer! I'm a breast cancer survivor, so I got pink ribbon socks, and fuzzy warm aloe vera infused socks I'd wear at night during chemo when my feet were cold (I had to put on a pair of those post vaccination because my feet were cold). My husband's cousin told me about The Sock Drawer, and once I placed my first order, you've been my primary source for socks.
Carol also told us about a special group of people she calls the Unicorn Brigade.
My husband and I publish an online magazine about audio, and a group of women in the industry and I lament the fact that women audiophiles are, well ... looked down on by some of the men who view audio as a male-dominated domain. They have tired terms like "wife acceptance factor," and say things like "don't bring your wife." So we, and some of our husbands, started a group called the Unicorn Brigade, dedicated to showing the snobs that we women belonged. I bought unicorn socks for all the ladies!
The women here are powers to be reckoned with in the field.
We love Carol and are proud to help her (and the Unicorn Brigade!) spread joy, positivity and even silliness in the world, one pair of socks at a time. Sometimes socks are just fun things to put on your feet, but sometimes they mean a whole lot more!
