Quarter socks
Between ankle and crew, clearing the shoe collar without covering the calf.
The length between the two everyone knows.
A quarter sock sits above the ankle bone but below the calf muscle. It clears the collar of a court shoe or a work boot without climbing the leg, which is exactly the gap an ankle sock cannot cover and a crew sock overshoots.
Because it is defined by what it avoids rather than by a landmark on the leg, it is the length most often specified wrongly. A quarter sock that ends where the shoe collar ends will chafe on every step; it has to clear it by a visible margin.
Who orders quarter socks.
Buyers whose end user is on their feet in a shoe with a high collar.
Tennis, basketball and indoor football, where the shoe collar sits high and the sock has to sit higher.
Uniform lists that want a sock more formal than an ankle but cooler than a knee-high.
Workwear programmes pairing chinos with boots, where a crew is too warm and an ankle is too casual.
What to settle before we quote a quarter sock.
The brief is mostly about height, and height is mostly about the shoe.
The shoe it clears. Send us the shoe, or its collar height. Everything else on a quarter sock follows from that one number, and no other length is this dependent on it.
Cuff tension. The cuff sits on the thinnest part of the lower calf, where a tight band leaves a mark within an hour. Looser than a crew cuff, with more of the hold coming from cuff depth than from elastane.
Whether it reads as a quarter. On a shelf, a quarter and an ankle look almost identical in a flat pack. If the two lengths sit side by side in the same range, the packaging has to separate them, not the sock.
Ventilation. Court sport quarters usually carry a mesh panel on the instep. Uniform quarters usually do not, because it shortens the wash life.
Specification.
What applies to every order of this construction. Anything not listed here is set by your tech pack.
| Minimum order | 200 pairs per colour and size range. From 120 pairs on request, at a higher price per pair. |
| Size range | Women 35–40 and men 40–45 as standard, split into more sizes on request. Children’s sizes to your size chart. |
| Sampling | 10 to 20 days. USD 100 per design on a first order, credited against the order if it goes ahead. |
| Production | Delivered within 60 days of sample approval. Urgent small runs in 20 to 40 days. |
| Knitting machines | Our workshop runs 60 knitting machines, from 120 to 200 needles. |
| Yarns available | Cotton, wool, cashmere, silk, bamboo, mercerised cotton, modal, viscose, lyocell, Tencel, polyamide, polyester, acrylic, elastane, copper, silver |
| Branding | Knitted-in logo in up to seven colours a row, silicone print, under-sole transfer print, embroidery, header cards and packaging to your artwork |
| Certification | Facility certified to ISO 9001, 10002, 14001 and 45001. Yarn from Oeko-Tex, GOTS and GRS certified spinning mills. |
Related constructions.
Buyers who brief us on quarter socks usually weigh these against it.
Ankle socks
Finishing at the ankle. The everyday length for trainers and casual shoes.
Crew socks
The standard length, sitting just above the ankle bone. Rib cuff, flat or terry foot.
Sport and performance socks
Zoned cushioning, mesh ventilation panels and arch support to specification.