The not-so-handy 9-pack - a review of socks from Costco by K. Bell {UPDATED}

Happy Monday dear readers. It seems like things have returned to normal after the holiday chaos that was the long weekend. I know that I am both breathing a sigh of relief as well as bracing myself for the next round of madness to come. I'm going to enjoy this brief reprieve before I delve into shopping for presents for various family members. If it wasn't a holiday weekend for you, then just disregard everything after the greeting. Now, to the actual topic of today's post: Socks that come in multi-packs.

I've mentioned before that I have a Costco membership. I'm usually there once every 7-10 days to buy some groceries for our family. On one of my most recent visits, I saw some brightly colored athletic socks. The colors made them easy to spot from a distance and upon further inspection, they came in a handy 9-pack. You can see them for sale on Costco's website here and there are more for sale at the manufacturer's site. The ones you see in the picture above aren't precisely -the- colors that I bought, but you get the idea. Part of what I liked so much about the set that I bought from Costco was that it included a red pair, the -perfect- red to go with my red cargo pants. The pack also contained some other bright solid colors and two pairs with stripes. Basically, there may as well have been a flashing neon arrow over the sock display in Costco that read, "Great socks for Zumba here!" They seemed perfect.

Seemed being the operative word here...

So here's the story. I wore them at home to practice on Saturday about a month ago, and I noticed my feet felt a little raw afterward. I chocked it up to my shoes actually. I'd been keeping track of how much I'd worn them and I knew that they'd outlived their usefulness and that it was time for a change. Fast forward to Wednesday night, and I get to class only to find that I had neither changed into athletic socks, nor packed any into my dance bag. Doh! This is why I need to keep an emergency Zumba stash in the trunk of my car. I'd left the house that evening feeling like I was forgetting something... Did I dance anyway? What do you think?

How many votes for "Of course she didn't, because she didn't want to risk getting blisters on her toes."?
And for "Of course she did, because she's a freak about her Zumba."?

This one is a gimme when you think about it...because only someone who is a freak about her Zumba would think she needs to have an emergency Zumba stash in her car. Of course I stayed for class! It would have been worth the blisters, except for that I didn't get any. I was astounded to find that my ordinary pair of everyday socks managed to do the job. I thought for sure I was going to have to wrap my toes in band-aids when I got home that evening and said as much to Jae, but I will take that pleasant surprise and be happy with it.

Moving ahead to Saturday, so one full week later, I put on one of my new pairs of striped socks to practice in. I didn't really notice until I was done and had started to stretch (thank you Zumba fog...), but my feet were sore. I knew it wasn't the shoes this time, because I'd gotten a new practice pair from my "retiree stash". I was pretty sure it had to be the socks. I had to wrap three toes in band-aids and to add insult to injury, the dye from the blue stripe bled onto my skin. Needless to say, I was not happy. I kind of wish I had kept the receipt actually. My every-day socks can get me through a class with no problems, but these, that are supposed to be athletic socks, can't get me through a practice without blisters? Really? Yeesh...

Here's what I like about the socks:
- they are beautiful - I like the style and the colors because they match my Zumba gear extraordinarily well for not being the Zumba brand
- they are soft and feel good on my feet (initially at any rate...)

Here's what I don't like about the socks:
- they don't do the job they're designed to do (moisture control) - at least they don't for me
- the dye bleeds when the socks are wet (in spite of a pre-wash) - that's not cool for a sweat sock

Would I buy these again as athletic socks? No. Would I'd buy them again -at all-? The jury's still out. The bottom line is that I'm going to attempt to re-purpose them as an every-day kind of sock and see if I find them comfortable in that capacity.

The next time I buy socks, I might get some from Zumba.

At the left are socks currently available from Zumba.
At the right and below are some older pairs from previous collections that are no longer available directly from Zumba's shop. I put them up just as examples. Like anything else Zumba sells, they are bright and colorful. The Funk-It-Up pairs actually do have the Zumba logo on them, it's just on the sole of the sock. Hey, it's Zumba, they put their stamp on everything they make. With Zumbawear, I have liked everything I have ever ordered. So, if I extrapolate from that, odds are I'd like these socks. And, at least when buying these, it's only a 3-pack.

Best advice: Beware the handy 9-pack! It's a gamble the first time you buy it. If you discover you like the product, then great! Now you have nine of them! If you discover you don't care for the product, then rats! What are you going to do with nine of them?

I am neither affiliated with or endorsed by either Zumba or K. Bell -- Simply a shopper with an opinion!

UPDATE: It's Dec. 26, 2013, so over a month since I first started using these socks and I've decided I really don't like them at all! They are in the next donation box out of here, mark my words. As an every-day sock, they slide down inside my shoe until the sock is bunched up under my heel. Then I have to wedge a finger in there and pull it up again. Also, they aren't warm! It's winter and my feet and ankles have been so cold the days I've worn these and gone out in them. Okay, even through that, I might have considered keeping them around as "house socks"... But the last straw came today! The pink pair I washed with the other dark colors bled in the wash. And this is -after- being washed twice before so clearly these socks are not color-fast. Thankfully, the Shout Color Catcher (love those!) caught most of it, but not enough of it. My brand new Zumba Instructor tank top was in that load and now I am trying to get pink spots off of it. So mad...I am so mad! I would not recommend these socks.