A few weeks ago I got some new socks at Target. They were Hanes and I really liked them. I’m ENORMOUSLY FUSSY a little particular about my socks so I was happy I found some that I liked. I used to only wear Nike socks but they quit making the kind I like so I’ve been on a journey to find a new kind. The seams HAVE to go across the top of my foot, on the toes and not on the end, at the tips. Following me? I also can’t have any seams on the ankle and they CAN’T be tight.
I get these socks home and really liked them so I knew I’d get another pack the next time I went to the store. Just in case they quit making this kind. I’m neurotic this way. So I was at a Walmart one day last week and got the same kind. Or so I thought! They were in the same package and they appeared to be the same. When I got them home, they were very different. Take a look.
The socks on the right are the ones I got at Target. They are much thicker and much nicer feeling. The ones on the left are darn near paper-thin and don’t feel nice at all. They were both in the same kind of package. I looked VERY closely since I know I have this “problem” with socks. So, I thought I was getting the same socks only to be terribly disappointed when I got home. The ones from Target say they were made in America and the ones from Walmart say of course, China. They aren’t the same socks at all. I feel so cheated but I know I won’t take them back. I just don’t do that but will give them to charity. I won’t wear them. I know myself to well.
Yesterday Paul and I went to Target and once again, I get the same package and sure enough, they were the ones I liked and when he saw me buying more socks, he asked me if I had some sort of a sock fetish but of course I don’t think I do. Here are some of my socks.
These are special socks. They are for after I lotion up my feet or after my shower or just when I relax at night. They never go in the dryer. They loose too much fluffy life if I put them in there. Instead, I have little hangers I hang them on. Okay, maybe I do have a HUGE little fetish with them.
Anyway, I was RANTING AND RAVING telling Paul about this and he says companies do this all the time. They don’t say what things are or where they come from. He used to sell plywood to Mendard’s and they didn’t put “seconds” on it or what kind it was or where it was from. They just labeled it “plywood.” I guess it’s okay, it’s just that I was expecting the same socks. So, do Target and Walmart get their stuff from the same place or what? One pack of sock come from the USA and the other comes from China. What is it?? I kind of feel cheated when I think I’m getting one thing and I get something of a much lesser quality.
What kind of socks do you like?
Have you ever noticed anything like this between Target and Walmart?
Us Girls..Our Views 
You know… Steve and I just went mattress shopping, and I’d heard a similar story about mattresses. That one company makes six of the same mattress, and then slaps different labels on them, sends them to separate stores, and sells them for different prices. Such a case of Buyer Beware.
But yeah, I’m fussy about socks. I found a bunch of pairs at Target last year – crew socks with fun colors around the ankle, and i snapped them up. I wear them ALL the time, and I’m going to be heartbroken when they wear out.
I also have a stash of Pink Socks, for Pink Sock Days.
I too have a sock fettish of sorts- I’m a grey tube socks sort of guy- they come in a 6 pack…Remember Ernest Saves Christmas?- 20 sets of the same outfit- that’s just about me…blue jeans, bright t-shirt and grey socks. Simplifies sorting socks in the laundry.
Well, you learn something new everyday. I never would have taken you for a sock fetish kinda guy 😉
I have a sock fetish too… I’m not too fussy about seams, but hate the kind of ankle sock that always slips off the heel. They drive me crazy. I love colorful socks and will wear them EVERY DAY!! 🙂
I pretty much refuse to go shopping at walmart because I’ve had similar experiences concerning product quality.
Oh Lucy, I can’t stand when they slip off my heel either. How irritating is that???
I thought I was the only one who was weird about socks. It has been at least 15 years since I found socks that I really liked – and then only after I “broke them in.” I am on my last, threadbare pair of those socks now, and I found a not-too-bad substitute in the boys’ section of Walmart recently.
But in the mean time, I hate to think how many socks I bought that will never be worn. Yes, I can donate them to charity, but will they ultimately end up in the garbage? Makes me wonder how many socks there are floating around out there, used once or never used.
My issue with everyday socks is that they are always tight, and they block my circulation. I’m not fat, so I don’t know how I could have legs that are too fat for all normal socks, but apparently I do.
I also have those fuzzy socks for lounging around at home. I hate having cold feet, and I also hate being constricted in anything tight, so now I wear those loose, fuzzy socks as often as I can get away with it.
As far as Walmart vs. Target, I still prefer Walmart. I like most of the choices and prices at Walmart better. I don’t expect department-store quality, of course, and most of the time, it doesn’t matter. The only time I’ve chosen Target over Walmart was when I needed to buy pants socks. I insist on cotton, knee-high socks, and Walmart didn’t have all the colors I needed. But now that you pointed out this difference in the white socks, I may check them out someday.
You really should check out the white socks. You never know. You remind me of my father in law. He used to hate tight socks so when he got new socks he’d put them on this wood “thing” he made to stretch out his socks. It was comparable to a V only upside down. He’d stretch them out on there sometimes for months before he’d wear them. He was so funny.
You freakin crack me up! BTW those socks are too cute, I love fuzzy socks too! I love new socks, so much that I wish I had a new pair for every day!
You are neurotic about things that may go away. The creamer, your chap stick stuff. You would buy out the whole store of something if you knew it would be discontinued! LOL
The difference between Walmart and Target is quality vs. quantity. You want a lot of something for cheap, go to Walmart. You want something of quality, you may pay a little bit more but Target just has better quality of stuff. IN MY opinion. Price is always a dollar or two more on things, but something it’s worth it. Do you remember the price difference if any?
I can’t have seems at the tip of the toes or the bottom, I hate when socks ball up at the toe!!! That happened to me Saturday. I was wearing my fashion boots and I literally had to take my boot off in the store to pull up my sock and rearrange it. Talk about annoying!
You’re so right Nikki. If I find something I like I will hoard it. When I die and you guys go through my stuff, I hope you laugh!!! Do you have any idea how many tubes of that Lypsyl lip stuff I have. Me neither but I have one of my drawers upstairs just full of that! Not only would I buy out my store, I’d buy out any other store I went too! LOL!!!
I don’t remember how much they cost. I’m terrible that way.
You people want a Sock Nut Job? Let me introduce you to my dad.
Mom refuses to pair his socks after doing the laundry, because he’s clinically insane.
When he gets a new package of socks (and it *must* be a certain brand, a certain kind, and, if he can find it, the same “model number”), he sits with the new socks, his old socks, and a Sharpie (permanent marker). He goes through the socks and places a mark at the same place on each partner sock. For example, he’ll put a little “A” on the left heel of pair 1, a little “A” on the right heel of pair 2, a little “A” on the arch of pair 3, and so on. WHY he doesn’t use different letters, or numbers, or something DIFFERENT, I don’t know. He’s clinically insane, remember? Also, he does this near the old socks, so he doesn’t accidentally repeat one of the codes that already exists on those previously labeled socks.
I asked him once, why he does this.
“Because they come in pairs, and I want them to stay in pairs.”
um.
But each set of socks – all 12 socks in a 6-pair package – are EXACTLY THE SAME!!!
“well, not really. Once you wear a pair of socks together, they should stay together.”
forehead slap.
Each week, when Mom does the laundry, Dad ends up with a pile of socks on his lap, and he spends the next fifteen minutes reuniting the little pairs of socks.
Can I just butt in here and say… that’s whack-a-doodle! LOL!
That is so endearing. I can just see him sitting with a pile of socks in his lap….searching for the little mates 🙂 How funny and really, a good memory you’ll have.
BUT….I agree with him. I feel once you wear a pair of socks, they do have a mate and they wear differently. Don’t you think so? I try as hard as I can to match them up the best I can. I would NEVER wear a pair of socks that weren’t a match. I would feel discombobulated.
actually, I can see how they might wear differently… but I never buy socks in the big package, so I don’t have that problem.
I have my own sock fetish – when I see a cute pair, I can’t help but buy them. But I have really thick calves and ankles (I *refuse* to say the dreaded C-word), so I can’t wear knee socks, and I wear crew socks like anklets.
I totally understand this. When I wear socks, they might get a little dirty or a lot dirty, depending on where and how long I am wearing them. So if I have time, when folding clothes, I try to match up the ones with the darkest bottoms, and the ones with the lightest bottoms. That’s after I match up the ones with the most worn-out elastic and those with the tightest elastic. Now if I am going to a place where I know my socks are going to get dirty, I will look for a pair of socks that is already discolored. Then if I need to show my socks someplace where it matters, I will always have a few nice, white pairs so it doesn’t look like I am a total grunge. Theoretically, anyway. What’s weird about that? LOL! There’s always a method behind the madness.
You definitely have a sock fetish! LOL! They are cute socks though. 🙂 as for the different products in the same bag…I wonder if the manufacturers do this so that the company can buy and sell at a reduced price. Walmart has lower prices than Target on many items…maybe this is a way for them to offer the “same” product at a lower price than other places.
I think that’s true of a lot of products Joz. They make the same thing and sell them for whatever they want to but these socks aren’t the same. One pack was and is clearly better quality. But I do buy a lot of generic food if I’ve had it and it’s as good for example, Campbell’s soup. I swear they make the generic too and one way or the other, they are selling their product. The chicken noodle, veg beef and bean with back taste EXACTLY the same and I’m a soup whore. I love soup.
A soup whore!? LMAO
hmmmm…. a soup whore with a sock fetish. I’m thinking we’re approaching TMI territory here….
Um, Joy, you have a sock fetish. Admitting is the first step in recovery. Actually, I doubt you want to recover.
It’s pretty hot here, so I’m usually running around in my Havaianas … sockless.
♥
Hold up. Did you say sock hangers?! 😀
You make me laugh Jean. My sock hangers are really little kid hangers for pants. They have those little clips on each side of the hangers. I don’t put a lot of my clothes in the dryer, as you saw on Facebook so when I can’t hang them out, I hang them on those hangers in the house.
*I’m walking away in embarrassment* because after writing this, I feel totally whacked!!!!
LOL these comments are hilarious! To add to Joy’s sock fetish, her son, my husband has a thing with socks too. Under no circumstances can you ever roll his socks together! That would stretch them out. No they have to be folded the way they came, the way they were intended to be folded! I gave up and we now have a sock basket!
That is hilarious. I NEVER stretch the socks and put them into a ball!!!! It does stretch the elastic out.
My insane dad is the same way. No balling. Must be folded.
On the other hand, I fold the ankles of Josh’s socks down all the time. You know, you lay the socks together, then fold one ankle down over the other, so the tops are balled up? It doesn’t make a HUGE roll, but it does hold them together, so he’s not yelling “MOOOOMMMM!!! I CAN’T FIND A SOCK!!!” three minutes before he’s supposed to get on the bus.
I always “fold” my socks by balling them. I wish it would stretch the elastic more than it does!!
I think it is very funny you are so into socks. I buy my socks most times at the Walmart too, but now I see the difference on your picture, I will check Target too. I have never hear of sock hangers. Btw do you iron your socks also? 🙂
My sock hangers are really little kid hangers for pants with the little clips on each end.
Sock hangars are not crazy… my mom had a bunch of those for her pantyhose. Once a week (when I was really little and she hadn’t yet given up wearing the evil little buggers), I’d go into the bathroom, and there would be four or five pairs of hose hanging from their toes, by those little hangars.
ok, yeah, they ARE crazy.
What I meant to say is, “sock hangars aren’t that rare.”
but then, maybe they are rare, and I just hang around with crazy people.
You crazy???? I think I’ll keep my mouth closed on that one 😉
I’m the normal one (tic)… the normal one (tic)…. the normal one (tic)….
I love socks that have any kind of characters on them.I love the fuzzy colorful ones too.I use to be plain black.As I get older,I love socks that cause a reaction.Especially from my grandkids.I love when they point to my socks and laugh 🙂
LOL I love your cute, comfy, “special” socks! Ever since my mom started buying me comfy slipper socks for Christmas, I wear them all the time around the house. Socks ARE important! 😉
I only buy Hanes socks and I never ever get them at Walmart! I also try to match up my socks with it’s “mate” because they all stretch just a little bit different. Also when I take my socks off and then put them back on they have to go on the correct foot. My kids laugh at me because every now and then I will say “my socks are on the wrong foot.”
So Joy, nah, you are not crazy! 😉
I’m a guy with a total sock fetish! I dont care what kind I wear, but I just love women in socks!