Some people think that socks are only for comfort and warmth. But other people think differently about these foot dressings. These people are the people who make socks unique.

Some argue that the Out-of-Door Academy has a dress code that blocks a student from showing off their style. But the one clothing item of the dress code that is completely open to anyone’s style is something that provides us warmth and protection: socks.

In the fall of 2012, the President of Student Council decided to take an initiative to make sure that a person’s true style could be preserved for at least one day of the week through the most unrestricted part of the dress code.

Zach Lang ‘13 liked the idea of wearing funky socks because he was very out going. So he decided to wear funky socks for one day of the week, on Friday, but sadly, he was one of the few people to actually wear funky socks on Friday.

“During my presidency of student council I started wearing funky socks and it became my thing, so I got some of my good friends, mainly Brandon Place, Evan Wilson, and Ashtin Frank to wear funky socks with me. My friends and I liked to get socks that had crazy stuff like sharks, tacos, bananas, and hams on them, and we quickly got addicted to buying and wearing funky socks.” Zach said in a recent online interview.

But, however, most of the ODA community had yet to learn about funky sock Friday.

Enter Katie Lang: Zach’s younger sister by two years, who would also become president of Student Council.

Katie Lang made the funky sock Friday a social movement by giving people funky socks to wear on Fridays. Thus when she gave people funky socks, others started to notice their cool socks and made funky socks more popular with the school.

“I still wear funky socks to this day,” says Katie in an online interview.

As it turns out, Katie started this movement at the right time.

Believe it or not, ODA is not the only stringent environment that celebrates every Friday by wearing crazy socks. And this environment may have an even more orthodox milieu than the Out-of-Door Academy will ever have in its time.

This “place” is called Wall Street.

A recent article posted on Business Insider wrote about this “phenomena.” It turns out that the man who started it, Joshua Weiner, a real-estate pro, got the idea to wear crazy socks every Friday from his high school that had a dress code that limited the students there only to suits and ties.

“(it’s) a work hard, play hard social movement,” Weiner said to Business Insider.

There are even companies that specialize in the selling of “colorful socks.”

SockItToMe is a company that specializes in the sales of funky socks for people in strict business environments. In 2013, SockItToMe posted that they sold more than $5 million dollars worth of socks, which is a 40% sales increase from 2012 when they sold $3.5 million dollars worth of interesting socks.

After SockItToMe’s success with funky socks, other major apparel companies like Gap have even stated that they wanted to get a share of this new trend.

But will the funky socks trend continue at ODA?

Katie and Zach Lang have both graduated now, and currently there is only one Lang left at the Out-of-Door Academy.

Her name is Rebekah “Bekah” Lang, a sophomore, and some say it is her legacy to keep the funky sock Friday tradition afloat.

“I am unsure of the future of funky socks because I don’t know if the younger grades will keep up with the tradition of wearing funky socks every Friday,” Bekah says.

But she did show some hope for the tradition.

“I am optimistic that some of the new freshman embrace the idea of wearing funky socks every Friday and I hope these younger generations might keep the idea alive after I am graduated,” Bekah stated rather cheerfully.

“I like the idea because my brother made it, and I also like it because it is becoming more popular around the campus,” Bekah stated rather simply.

So will the funky sock Friday legacy live on? Will the Lang Legacy continue?

“I don’t even own a pair of funky socks,” says Matteo Romano, a sophomore.

But on the other hand, there seems to be some students at ODA who actively support the funky sock tradition zealously.

“I own twenty pairs of funky socks and wear them everyday,” says Zach Poole, a junior.

Will socks be a lasting trend at ODA? Maybe only time and cotton will tell.