I Bought a Pair of Those Custom Face Socks You've Seen Everywhere to See If They Are Worth It
I have a dog named Redford. This is a fact that anyone who's ever spoken to me or my boyfriend, Mekae, for more than 90 seconds knows. Last year, to celebrate the dog's first holiday season with us, I wanted to get Mekae a gift that really screamed "I AM A PROUD DOG DAD" without him even having to open his mouth. So I bought him a custom pair of socks emblazoned with our dog's face. It's an objectively cute face, but the sentimentality of it? Truly adorable.
I'm not alone: A search for "custom dog socks" on Etsy returns over 1,300 results, and the search is at an all-time peak popularity, according to Google Trends. The king of custom socks is DivvyUp, a Tallahassee-based company that cranks out socks for cat-lovers, dog-lovers, and regular lovers, so you can get your most cherished family member's face printed all over your feet (just as you've always hoped).
When I first ordered custom socks last year, I ran into a few issues. At first, I went with an independent Etsy seller with 197 reviews and 4.5 stars. Sounded promising, but the $20 socks that arrived were crew-height and had an athletic feel. When I stretched the socks onto my very average size 8 feet, the image distorted and faded so much that you could barely make out Redford's face — a bad harbinger for what might happen on Mekae's much-larger feet.
The second pair I ordered were better: taller, brighter, but still in athletic fabric that made Mekae's feet sweat and smell worse than they typically do. Again, the image distorted a bit when stretched and the socks' performance fabric wasn't smooth, which made the image a little blurry.
Like Goldisocks, the third pair from DivvyUp were just right. A soft blend of polyester, spandex, and nylon, DivvyUp are the only custom socks that maintain a sharp, vibrant image when stretched, and they feel like regular socks, not workout gear. Mekae is a size 12, and Redford's face still looks cute as ever, even when stretched over his clown feet.
DivvyUp makes the ordering process super simple, and they will print up pretty much anything from lizards to birds to horses to your betrothed on your socks. You can add up to three different faces for an additional $6 each. And while other customizable sock brands require you to send a cropped image of your dog on a white background, DivvyUp just asks for any straight-on picture "with good consistent lighting, decent resolution and the entire subject/face inside the frame of the photo." Their designers handle the rest.
Are DivvyUp custom socks worth it?
At $24 a pair with a flat shipping rate of $3, these are not inexpensive socks, but when you get something customized, you typically pay a premium anyway (every pair of socks I ordered along the way were at least $20 before shipping). In my opinion, you may as well pay the extra few bucks and spring for a pair of socks that are actually worth the money.
The socks come in sizes medium and large to fit men's sizes 4-12, and women's sizes 5-10. The company won't send you a preview before your order is shipped, which at first worried a control freak like me, but the final result proved I had nothing to worry about. Because I ordered them at the eleventh hour on December 18, they didn't arrive until mid-January, so don't wait until the last minute to order your custom gift if you want them in time for the holidays.
The cherry on top of the novelty and quality of these socks is DivvyUp's mission: According to the brand's site, DivvyUp was founded with the goal to provide socks to those in need, and for every pair purchased, one pair of socks is donated to a local homeless shelter. It's an amazing gift, and one you can feel good about giving.
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