I ordered them to solve a practical problem. Then my husband walked into the kitchen and laughed. That was when I knew.

What happened when a woman who only ever bought plain socks bought the ones with a little sloth on the foot, written by a customer, not the shop.

Anne Whitaker · Customer · West Yorkshire · 4 minute read

Last autumn I had the kitchen floor tiles replaced. They are beautiful, and they are absolutely treacherous. The moment the heating goes on and I step onto them in ordinary socks, I slide. Not dramatically, just enough to make me grab the worktop and feel rather old about it. My daughter told me to get non-slip socks. I immediately pictured the sort sold in hospital gift shops: grey, tubular, faintly humiliating. I put it off for three months.

Then my daughter sent me a link. I stared at it for a long moment. There was a small, soft sloth sitting on the toe of the sock, looking extremely pleased with itself. I said "absolutely not." I ordered them the same evening.

The non-slip soles are the reason I ordered them. I will say plainly that they work. I have tested this properly, which is to say I have shuffled across the kitchen tiles in the early morning without thinking about it, and nothing has happened. The grip is quiet, the way good things usually are. You do not notice it is working until you think back and realise you have not grabbed the worktop once.

I wear them all through the house now, not just on the kitchen tiles. On the wooden floors upstairs they are just as steady.

I am sixty-one years old and I have a sloth sitting on my sock. This is not something I saw coming for myself. But here is what I have noticed: it makes me feel briefly cheerful every time I look down. Not in a silly way. Just the way a small, well-made thing can improve a perfectly ordinary Tuesday morning without doing anything at all to deserve it.

My husband walked into the kitchen, looked at my feet, and laughed. He does not laugh at my clothes. He asked where they were from. I told him. He said "good." That is, in this house, high praise.

Sloth, cat, highland cow, red panda, rabbit. Each one is its own small thing, well made, sitting quietly on the sock like it belongs there. I bought the sloth first. Then I went back for the highland cow because my sister has a weakness for highland cows and her birthday is in November. Then I looked at the red panda for rather too long before deciding that was probably enough for now.

Abbey Lane has a site-wide sale on at the moment. The socks are down to £19.95, which is 66% off. I appreciate that that sentence makes it sound as though I am selling them to you. I am, a little. They made a difference to my mornings and I think they might to yours.

A friend who saw them on my feet last week has already ordered the cat pair. She messaged me to say they had arrived and were exactly as described. I said I knew.

The fabric is a soft breathable blend. They are cosy the way a good sock should be, without being the sort of heavy slipper sock that makes your feet sweaty by mid-morning. On a cold November kitchen floor they are genuinely warm, and at the end of the day when I peel them off my feet feel exactly as they should. No complaints there at all.

I have narrow feet and a longish foot. I have spent years buying socks that either bunch up at the toe or strangle the ankle. The Selvine socks are a stretchy knit and they simply adjust. Mine are the UK 2-7 size, which I was slightly dubious about as a catch-all, but they sit properly across the foot, do not gap at the heel, and have not rolled down once while I have been wearing them. I do not say this about most socks.

My sister, who has the highland cow pair, told me the same thing when I asked how hers were wearing. She is a 5, so the stretch has to do more work than it does on me, and they have held up just as well.

Sixty pounds for socks is not a price I would pay, and I am aware that is what the original price says. I did not pay sixty pounds for socks. I paid £19.95 for a pair of animal pattern non-slip socks during Abbey Lane's Anniversary Sale. That is a price I would pay again without thinking particularly hard about it, and in fact I already have.

Sloth

Highland Cow

Cat

Red Panda

The Selvine, against the socks you usually keep meaning to replace

I am aware that writing a proper letter about socks is a particular thing to do. I think the honest reason is that the slippery floor problem felt significant before I solved it, and then I solved it with something that also made me smile at seven in the morning. That seems worth a few paragraphs. Two people from my book group have since ordered after I mentioned them in passing. One has gone back for a second pair.

About the price, honestly

When something is 66% off my first thought is always that the original price was invented. I cannot say that is not the case here, because I do not work at Abbey Lane and I have not looked at their accounts. What I can say is that £19.95 feels like a fair price for what they are, and that I have bought them again at that price without hesitation. The 66% off is why I tried them the first time. The socks themselves are why I went back.

Free UK delivery, 30 days to return them if they are not right. Given how cold the kitchen gets from October onwards, I would not wait too long.

Anne Whitaker

Selvine Animal Pattern Socks

66% OFF

• Five animal designs: Sloth, Cat, Highland Cow, Red Panda, Rabbit
• Non-slip sole, reliable on tiles and wooden floors
• Soft breathable blend, warm without overheating
• Stretchable fit, two sizes: UK 2-7 and UK 8-12
• £19.95, down from £60.00
• Free UK delivery and 30 day returns

See The Selvine Socks66% off · Free UK delivery · 30 day returns

About the writer. Anne Whitaker is a customer from West Yorkshire. This page is an advertisement for Abbey Lane · Free UK delivery · 30 day returns.