Loose Fit Stays Up! Casual Crew Socks - Superior Stretch and Comfort, Wide Foot, Ankle & Calf - 3 Pack, Up to 3E Width - USA

These are very well made socks, and I find them quite comfortable. I waited to write my review until after I had washed them. Life is too short to worry about how I wash my socks. So, I just threw them in the washer with a dark load and tossed them in the dryer. They have held up just fine after two washings and didn't shrink at all. I'm not sure how others managed to shrink them. I have inflammatory arthritis in my ankles, toes, and elsewhere. These socks are perfect for me. The seam doesn't bother my tender toes at all. The socks stretch, without being binding or too large and bunching, which also causes pain. You can see where your big toe was after you remove the socks, but the socks don't feel tight at all. They do stay up as advertised. I find that the white socks run larger than the black socks. I bought the white socks after wearing and laundering the black ones. I don't wear any of my other socks now. I even ordered their wool socks and hope they're as comfortable. After reading other reviews, I debated ordering a size up but ultimately ordered my normal size, which falls in the middle of the medium. And I stuck with the medium when I ordered more. I'd definitely order a size up if I were at the upper limit of the size or if I liked socks that were loose the way regular men's sweat pants would be. They do seem to have considerable stretch, but I would imagine they would feel tight with very large, swollen legs, such as with diabetes. In that case, I'd be tempted to order a size up as well. I'm not tiny and am fairly swollen, but not past my ankle and the swelling doesn't encompass the entire circumference of my leg. These socks are a medium weight with some cushion. They won't fit in the trendiest, dressy shoes but my guess is that if you need these socks you have enough common sense or pain to realize you shouldn't be wearing those types of shoes anyway. No heels gals & guys too! All kidding aside, they aren't crazy thick and will fit in most shoes that you would wear for business casual for men and many women's shoes as well. They also work well for sneakers. 3/2019 Update: These socks still look 'like new'. I bought some for my father, and he loves them. He doesn't have any swelling, but he likes that there isn't any seam across the toes. The wool socks, on the other hand, look horrible, and I don't wear them even half as much as these. 12/2019 Update: I bought a size XL in black to fit over a badly swollen ankle after a recent injury. The XL was larger from toe to heel but was no larger in any other dimension. If anything, the XL felt tighter than my usual M, which still fit but wasn't too comfortable after the injury. I thought the XL would be perfect. Silly me! So, the mediums are great, but the larger sizes really ought to be larger in every dimension, not just longer. I still love the socks in the medium, and they still look great.

This product is extremely sturdy, functional and well made. The tops of the socks are loose fit but stay up well. They are comfortable and cushy and are great for every day wear and/or hiking. Great buy!

I am the one who asked whether the Loose Fit socks have true ribbing. Now that I bought some and examined them I have found out that NO, the construction of the "ribbing" part of the stock is NOT true ribbing. But I want to emphasize that these are a very good version of fake ribbing, far better and more comfortable than the common type of fake ribbing. True ribbing is made with regular alternation of knit stitches and purl stitches in the row, and this makes the fabric have stretch even when the yarn has little or no stretch and no elastic thread included. But apparently it is cheaper or easier for manufacturers not to make any purl stitches (not to have to alternate purl with knit in the same row) so almost all socks these days have a sort of fake ribbing which is made with all knit stitches, no purl stitches, and the stretch is provided by including an elastic thread. The reason fake ribbing LOOKS like ribbing at all is due to some of the knit stitches made much larger alternating with some much smaller so the smaller ones recede and the larger ones look like that same type of column that true ribbing has (which in true ribbing is formed by the purl stitches). Fake ribbing is made with all knit stitches whereas true ribbing is alternation of one or more knit stitches with one or more purl stitches; on the right side or outside of the fabric, you will see purl stitches AND knit stitches. Even though these Loose Fit socks have fake ribbing made with two different sizes of knit stitch and no purl stitches, they are MUCH more stretchy and MUCH less binding than usual, they are constructed differently than the usual fake ribbing. The difference between the way these Loose Fit socks fake ribbing is made, and the common too-tight fake ribbing, is how the elastic thread is run. On the too-tight fake ribbing, the elastic thread is very visible as horizontal lines on the inside of the sock because it actually skips several stitches . On these Loose Fit socks, the elastic thread is very thin and it is knitted into every stitch, making the elastic thread not easily visible and never touches your skin. There may also be other important differences that contribute to these being far less tight such as the size of the larger knit stitches are much larger resulting in the fabric diameter being larger, maybe the elastic thread is stretchier. I haven't counted the stitches but it is even possible that there are more stitches in the fake ribbing area of the sock which would also make there be a larger diameter to the fabric in that area. I can't say how long they will last, haven't had them long, but so far we are very pleased with these socks.

OK. As requested, here's an account of my experiments with various recently purchased socks (almost entirely thru Amazon). I think the star-rating system is misleading, sometimes meaningless, so I offer instead what follows. I'm too lazy to write individual reviews: I wore Smartwool socks for many years but I've recently noticed swelling of my calf above the tops of socks that doesn't extend below that level. I typically wear boots. I'm not obese or otherwise large, Nor am I diabetic. A matter or of fluid circulation I guess. I bought some socks which supposedly help to diminish conditions such as mine but didn't actually reduce the swelling very much. They are: Wide Open; Loose Fit Stays Up crew socks (I tried both Merino wool and synthetic versions); Wigwam "My Favorite Pair". All of the above were otherwise comfortable. All stayed up and conformed to the shape of my calf. But none of them are truly 'non-binding'. So I tried socks made by Extra Wide. Due to a mistake in the processing of my order, I received pairs of bariatric socks. They're made for people whose calves are very large because of obesity or extreme cases of swelling. They are quite loose at the top and form a bunched or floppy appearance above my boot. But they eliminated swelling completely. They're very comfortable within the boots. I'll wear them with trousers and also with shorts because the bunched appearance doesn't bother me in the least. What I'd intended to buy was Extra Wide Comfort Fit athletic socks, so I reordered them. They reduce the swelling quite a bit but not entirely. They leave an imprint on my calf, to which they conform. I'll wear them When the bariatrics are in the laundry or when I gotta look non-disheveled. I also bought wide ankle socks to see if removing fabric from the calf altogether would eliminate the problem. Bulinlulu feel very good and are of course non-binding. I can wear them in warm weather or as an inside layer With either of the Extra Wide varieties mentioned above, in which case I get extra warmth and cushioning. I tried Bamboo Viscose ankle socks from Doctor's Select. They didn't feel very comfortable, are too low to wear with boots, and appear to have sizing issues. The fabric is soft and I'll be able to use them for the purpose of staining and polishing surfaces. Toolhacker

They actually stay up all day long. Great product!

Stay up without discomfort or binding

Very soft and not tight.

Ordered six pairs four months ago. 120 days divided by six pairs means each one has been worn twenty days. I like the socks, nice cushioned soles. But wearing through at the heels, have had to throw out a couple socks and more will go soon. Some shrinkage after repeated washings, so if you are near the edge of a size range, consider choosing the next size up. Nicely arranged with those delightful plastic staples that can be removed in 15 minutes with simple tools and not too many holes in the socks.

they really tay up

I bought these for my husband . He wears size 11 shoes. I bought him the large. I washed them but hung them to dry. They are perfect . Other socks were too tight for him .

great

I buy these for my husband. They are great for wide, thick ankles and calves. The cotton ones tend to wear out in the heel. Their wool socks tend to last longer and are equally comfortable.

Its way too constricting by the second wash .I bought the xl mens . Ruined my day . Ouch .