Best Places To Buy Men's Dress Socks In Chicago

Dress shirt: check. Terrific suit or stylish tux: check. Great tie: check. You think you're ready to attend a holiday charity event, party or go somewhere really nice for New Year's Eve. Oops. When looking through the sock drawer you realize the washer ate the matching dark sock you were going to wear. Or, if a casual sort of guy, you might not have picked up a pair of dress socks since your cousin's wedding five years ago. If you want some good advice on what to buy and what is "in," then it's time to head to a really good men's clothing or shoe and accessories store. By the way, when inquiring about socks at a good men's store, you might want to say hosiery.

Haberdash
611 N. State St.
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 646-7870
www.haberdashmen.com

Haberdash has been dressing guys for success since 2005. Its sales staff is great in helping with choices, an advantage because the store carries an excellent stock of dress socks. It's fine if you know you want black with a solid pattern. But they also have trendy dress socks if you want a pop of color or a fashionable print. Either way, the shop is fun to visit because it's in the historic Tree Studio Building and Annexes that are at the corner of State and Ohio Streets in Chicago's River North neighborhood.

Dei Giovani Mens Wear
181 W. Madison St.
Chicago, IL 60602
(312) 630-9000
www.deigiovani.com

Don't worry that the store is in the process of building its website, its physical location at the corner of Madison and Wells Streets is very convenient to Chicago's finance district and law offices. This is a good place to stop, whether looking for something subtle and more formal such as black with tones of gray or blue or something bolder. You can step up your fashion look here with dress socks in artistic patterns of polka dots, squares or contrasting colors.

Alamo Shoes
5321 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 784-8936
www.alamoshoes.com

In business for more than 40 years, Alamo Shoes has a loyal following. A popular store in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood, Alamo has great customer service and reasonable prices.  It's a good place to go for men's dress socks in solids or patterns., but you might be distracted by its shoe selection. The store is known for caring about a good fit.

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Smith's Men's Store
770 N. Western Ave.
Lake Forest, IL 60045
(847) 234-5866
www.smithsmensstore.com

A longtime Lake Forest men's store, Smith's has been the place to go to find dress and casual wear. The styles have changed, but not its policy of customer service. So you'll feel comfortable stopping by here for quality socks and advice. The store used to carry over-the-calf silk and sheer dress socks, but has moved to wool and cotton blends. It still carries solids but has also gone with the trend for patterns. Its sock brand is the nice Italian Marcolinanai line.

Suited-To-You
Hilltop Executive Center South
1590 S, Milwaukee Ave., Suite 223
Libertyville, IL 60048
(847) 247-1019
www.suited-to-you.com

Sometimes you have to be in-the-know to locate a really good men's store. Suited-To-You is just such a place. Not a storefront, it is in the Hilltop Executive Center on the east side of Milwaukee Avenue at the south end of north suburban Libertyville. The guys who shop here go for quality, so the hosiery is the British brand of Pantherella and most of the stock is a cotton blend. The majority of socks are the regular, just-under-the calf length and in subtle patterns. Appointments are recommended.

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Jodie Jacobs is a veteran journalist who loves writing about Chicago, art, theater, museums and travel. Her work can be found on Examiner.com.