Other articles by Bonnie Henry:

Bonnie Henry : I might be all thumbs at times, but it doesn't include texting Bonnie Henry : 16 sea battles hard to forget Grandson Hank keeps legacy alive George the patriarch took the reins Bonnie Henry : Amos means Tucson Realty & Trust Bonnie Henry : Pioneer pool builder helped keep us afloat Memories of one of our oldest neighborhoods Bonnie Henry : Summers of old glow in memory Summer memories Bonnie Henry : Kids' book takes wing

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Sock creep.

We were in Costco, where all the fashionable hang out, when I first noticed it.

A young guy — hey, anyone under 40 is young these days — was herding a couple of kids through the crowds.

He was dressed in Tucson summertime classic: wrinkled tee, shorts the color of dirt and sandals.

But between his feet and his sandals were socks, white and short.

As such, they didn't break the ankles — or the Old Guy Fashion Credo. You know, the one that states: A man of a certain age may only wear sandals if he also wears white socks extending halfway up his calves.

The way I see it, the guy at Costco is on his way. By the time he's 55, his socks will be well past his ankles. Like I said, sock creep.

No one knows why men start wearing white socks with sandals about the same time they start paying attention to prostate commercials.

Maybe their feet start getting colder. Bad circulation and all that. Funny though, you'll seldom see older women dressed this way.

And trust me guys, no matter how old George Clooney gets, you will never, ever, see him in white socks and sandals — unless it's in "Grumpiest Old Men."

Even then, it would be hard to imagine. It would also be tough to imagine Clooney in a tank top, especially dining at a nice restaurant.

Somehow that — and the possibility of visible underarm hair tufts — takes away from his bon vivant image.

For years I've ranted about young men and their backward-facing baseball caps, and jeans so loose you have to wade through them.

But during a recent evening out at a fairly nice Tucson restaurant, it was the older guys who looked like their mamas didn't raise them right.

They were sporting tank tops, ill-fitting shorts, hairy legs and even hairier toes. Say, maybe white socks aren't so bad after all.

On our way out, I spied one man who looked like he was wearing a pool robe and house slippers.

Dude.

Meanwhile, their wives were all suitably dressed. Maybe it's the only way they can get the old man out of the house on a Saturday night.

If you are a guy over 50 who doesn't dress this way, don't e-mail me an angry rejoinder. You are to be congratulated. So, no doubt, is the wife who sees that you are appropriately dressed before leaving the house.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Women may race cars at Indy and sit in the boardrooms of the Fortune 500. But I'm willing to bet the majority still buy their husband's underwear, among other things.

And when her mate's wardrobe gets too threadbare not to notice, it's the woman who winds up hauling her man to the mall.

Not long ago I was lurking around a men's changing room — yes, of course, it was my husband doing the changing — when I noticed this exchange between man and wife:

He: "These pants are too loose. They're falling off of me."

She: "So try on that other pair."

He, reappearing: "These are too tight. And too black."

She: "What do you mean too black? Black is black."

He: "Shiny black."

She: "So what do you like?"

He: "These socks. Let's get these white socks."

She: "What will you wear them with?"

He: "I'll think of something."