Spotlight on: Thought Socks.

We pack a lot of things into our shop, online and in real life. We try our best to make sure that when you visit us you know that you’ll be able to find a gift for pretty much anyone, or even a little something for yourself or your home. We carefully research and hand-pick which brands we stock and ensure that what we offer to you is a carefully curated selection of things we would love and use ourselves or give as a gift to a friend or family member. We also hope that you find something that you wont find in every other shop you visit. We like to be a bit different aswell you see!

But there’s a lot to keep track of! So we thought it might be quite nice to pick out a few of our brands from time to time; and to share a little bit more about them. If you know them already and have bought their products before – from us or somewhere else - then you might just learn something new. And if you have never heard of them or they’re a new-to-you find, then lucky you because you’re in for a treat and you might just find a few extra things sneaking into your shopping basket. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

As part of our ECO & WELLBEING SEPTEMBER we’d love to introduce you one of our very favourite eco brands, THOUGHT SOCKS. We first stocked them a fair few years ago after buying and trying them ourselves and we’ve never looked back! Good socks are one of life’s little pleasures and one that isn’t shouted about enough. There’s nothing worse than having rubbish socks that hole, twist and turn when you wear them or those that make your feet hot and uncomfortable: Life’s too short for awful socks!

So grab a cup or glass of you favourite drink and let us tell you all about the makers and shakers of quite possibly the best socks in the world…

Thought first began many many moons ago across the pond in Sydney in 1995 and was born purely out of a love for natural and sustainable fabrics and also a want to create clothes that were cool in a very very hot country! They were passionate about really showcasing the beauty of using natural fibres in clothing and so didn’t want to over-complicate their designs and actually first began with a very small selection of simple tunic dresses and beachwear made using Ramie and Hemp. These shapes are still part of their collections even now. After their first collection got a lot of attention due to its refreshing approach to sustainability and innovative use of natural fabrics, they decided to pop over to the UK and set-up stalls on Portobello Road in London and soon had an army of smaller boutiques requesting to stock their clothes.

That’s the thing with Thought: They don’t just do socks. Over the years they’ve stretched and grown to include a wide selection of fairly and sustainably sourced clothes and accessories all in keeping with their ethos and say of themselves:

We’re committed to considered design, responsible sourcing, and fostering change. What drives us is our mission to live more thoughtfully – something we hope to inspire you to do too.

We’ve always been a gift shop and whilst we’d love to fill the shop to the rafters with all that Thought create, we know that’s not right for us right now. Socks seemed like a great place to start: Everyone wears socks! And they make a great easy ‘pop-in’ with a card for a gift or even as an extra add-in along with other goodies. And there’s no other socks we’d stock. Thought’s values completely align with our own: They’re good people, making really good products with care and appreciation of the world around us and of those who make their items. They also say:

Small changes can make big differences. We want to share this thinking with others … Educating, supporting, skill-sharing, and partnering with others makes us all stronger.

We couldn’t have put it better ourselves! So onto the SOCKS! Incase you didn’t know: Thought make all of their socks from sustainable organic cotton or bamboo. Their now-famous bamboo socks are designed to let your feet breathe and relax and did you know that bamboo has strong anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties to keep your toes healthy and hygienic. Their organic cotton socks are all spun from the softest GOTS certified organic cotton. This basically means they are made in a factory approved by the Global Organic Textile Standard - the world’s leading processing standard for textiles made from organic fibres. They carry strict high-level environmental criteria along the whole supply chain and require compliance with social criteria too. i.e.: These items are made in audited factories supporting fair and safe working conditions.

WHY DO WE STOCK THEM?

Errrr well where have you been?! Thought are a decent company trying to do their very best in creating products that are beautiful, functional and gentle on our planet and most importantly created with a conscience. They’re one-hundred percent transparent about all that they do and not only that: Like we always tell you when you pop in and see us: We’d never ever stock anything we don’t love and use ourselves. Our drawers are jam-packed with Thought socks at home!

PERFECT FOR…

Absolutely everyone! Who doesn’t wear socks?!?!? A really easy but reasonably priced gift for anyone but especially those passionate about choosing products that are fairly sourced and sustainably made. If we had a pound for every person we’ve converted to Thought socks….

FAVOURITE PRODUCTS…

We love them ALL! But we’re big lovers of a novelty sock over here. There’s something quite nice to know that you can be wearing something quite conservative: Be that a work uniform or suit and tie; and have a novelty pair of socks hidden underneath! We’re big gardeners so naturally are partial to the LADIES ALLOTMENT SOCKS in MUSTARD or TURQUOISE. If you don’t know by now we also nearly always cycle into work these days and so also couldn’t resist adding the men’s BIKE SOCKS IN DUSTY BLUE to the website. For those flower lovers among you we’ve also recently added LADIES BAMBOO FLOWER SOCKS aaaand LADIES BAMBOO ROSE SOCKS too! And for the dog lovers out there we think you’ll really love the MENS BAMBOO DOG SOCKS IN NAVY BLUE.

We could keep on going but we’ll let you be the judge. Over the next few weeks we’re due even more pretty printed socks so make sure to keep on checking back as we add more and more to the website for Christmas! Shop the rest of Thought socks HERE. And shop the rest of our ECO & WELLBEING range HERE.