No-shows have come a long way in the last few years. Fabric, cushioning, and most importantly, heel grip engineering have really changed. For any no-show wearers out there, you’ll know the heel makes or breaks the socks. If the heel can’t be trusted, the rest of the sock could be solid gold and it wouldn’t matter. There’s tons of options here, from expensive to dirt cheap, and you’ll probably be surprised by some of the best.
Scoring: We’re taking a page from our shoe expert Adam’s Review Scale of Excellence (A.R.S.E.). Scores are rated from 1-5, with 5 being excellent.
Also noted are whether or not they “show” when worn with two pairs of common summer shoes: Converse Chuck Taylors, and Boat shoes. Also noted is whether they stay on your feet when you take off your shoes, or alternatively give up the ghost and end up in a crumpled ball. YMMV, of course.
Fit/Sizing Reference: I (Ryan) wear a 9 in most shoes, and my Brannock size is a 9 Left, 9.5 Right. I would say my feet are average to slightly-smaller-than average.
RETURNS NOTE/WARNING: Just a reminder that socks are like underwear. Most socks are not returnable once worn and “tested out,” depending on the retailer. For that reason, we’ll do our best to cover all aspects of size, fit, and note the return policy info we found for each pair. We bought a lot of bloody socks for this post so you, hopefully, can avoid some no-returns mistakes.
You really can’t talk socks these days without leading off with Bombas. They’re changing the game. At $15+ a pair, these Bombas are not cheap. But do they deliver? In a word, YES. They’ve really taken design from the ground up to make some of the most comfortable socks I’ve ever worn, and that no-seam toe is the real deal. In their cushioned performance option, Bombas “upgraded them with special performance yarns that wick away moisture.. and added breathable perforations” that make them workout-ready. There’s also only padding where you need it, so the overall feel is lighter but still cushioned. They claim the silicone heel grips will stay up no matter where you are in your workout, run, or game. Given their 100% satisfaction guarantee (even if you lose them, destroy them, etc.), it’s hard to say they aren’t worth the money.
I was originally going to combine the two Bombas offerings, but they’re different enough that they need to be separated out. Merino wool is a jack of all trades when it comes to moisture wicking and temperature regulation. Flat lock toe seam for comfort, and the merino is the real deal. No cotton in the blend, either. Maybe 2/3 the weight of the Performance variant, if not less? Excellent. And if you’re starting to accumulate quite the Bombas collection? They even tag each style along the ankle band (“MED MERINO,” in this case). Super smart, in case you have the same color in multiple material types.
Smartwool seems to carry two different styles – one thinner, less-cushioned version, and a thicker, cushioned, sneaker-ready pair. This would be the cushioned pair. Arguably the sweet spot of materials, this is one of just a few pairs on our list with no cotton whatsoever. Solid heel grip pad. Only thing to dislike is that the heel does show a little bit on both chucks and boat shoes. That’s a deal-killer for many, being that no-shows are supposed to be, y’know, no-showing.
When you bill your product as “the most perfect no-show socks on the planet,” you’d better be ready to back that up. And to their credit, these are some excellent socks. The designs are fun, and since they don’t show under any of our test shoes, they’re just for you to know about. Strangely, Pair of Thieves had a whole bunch of individual pairs available for purchase not too long ago.. but now, it seems like they’re only offering 3-packs. Tested out a pair in “the grid” design shown above, but those are out of stock at post time. Of note about the single pair was the extremely off-center heel grips. Like, not in a left-foot-right-foot kind of way, either, but not particularly noticeable in daily use. And the pattern, while cool, is nowhere close to what was, at the time represented online. Like, c’mon guys. Perhaps some production issues led them to stop the individual units?
The big question is.. how does Target’s version of the Pair of Thieves sock compare to the direct product? It’s hard to say if it’s the exact same product. The material makeup is virtually identical (more on that in a minute, though), and the feel is just about the same. Now about that material.. in this 3-pack, the packaging notes that “pairs 1 & 2” have a 77%-19% cotton-poly blend, but “pair 3” has an even 48%-48% cotton-poly blend.. yet doesn’t specify which pair is which! Extremely confusing. Given that this was two navy pairs and a light gray pair, I have to assume the gray pair is the even split, though I couldn’t really feel a difference between the 3 when worn. So, while these are a great value, if I’m going by gut feel, I give the slightest edge to the brand pair over these from Target.
Not gonna be winners for most. Stretchy, relatively comfortable, and fits pretty well. But the heels. Nope. The heel on these, at least to me, is a bit wonky, and I don’t trust the gel strips. If I so much as pull gently on the heel, it slides straight off my ankle with no real grab to speak of, which is disappointing. They’re minimally-padded, making them a better option for boat shoes and loafers than athletics.
It’s a shame, too, because I wanted to like these. Reviews are quite solid, but I just can’t recommend something without a heel grip, y’all. Almost exclusively poly construction with a little spandex for stretch, so they were super comfortable when I slipped them on, even with a rangy 6-12 shoe size window. The price was all the way down to $8 for a 3-pack when I bought, but seems to be hovering in the $13s range now for all colorways. I’d prefer the Pair of Thieves trio at that price, but these would probably take it if they had a heel grip. Any heel grip.
Another pair I wanted to like, but the heel was, well, the Achilles’ Heel. While it does provide grip, it’s positioned FAR too low to function properly, almost ON your heel itself rather than on your ankle. Rather than right on the ankle loop, it’s almost an inch below it.. nonsensical, really. Why reinvent the wheel? And it’s a shame, because if the gel was properly placed, these would be an excellent budget option. But as it is, they bunch going INTO my shoes, making for uncomfortable adjusting straight away. Another near-miss.
Oops. Throwing these in here just so you don’t make the same mistake I did when searching – these are women’s, and it doesn’t say that anywhere on the listing. If there are any Dappered ladies out there interested, these don’t appear to share the heel grip issue as the mens’ pairs, so might be worth it!
I just didn’t find anything really remarkable about these socks. The Small/Medium fit me well enough, but a little less snug that I would have preferred, given I’m on the larger end of their 7-9 size chart. The synthetic-forward blend should benefit breathability, but they weren’t exceedingly comfortable, on the thinner side, and with a price per pair not much less than far-superior options. Hard to recommend at MSRP.
One of the surprises of the bunch for me, and I was as skeptical as you may be. Gap? Cotton socks? Bleh. BUT, with a pair currently in hand (in foot?), these are super comfortable, cushion-y, and stay on my heel better than most things I’ve put on my feet for <$10 thanks to the super-wide heel grip. Yes, they may lack the bells, whistles and big tech of other brands, but you get a pretty solid bang for your buck here, especially when they go on sale. Given the cotton-heavy construction, you might want to ditch these on the sweltering-hot days for something with more tech. But for most spring days and cooler summer nights? They’re great.
Well, that’s a mouthful, but in my opinion, these are 1000% worth the money. After wearing them for most of a day with no slip, I thought, how far can these go? So I slept in them. To my utter disbelief, they were locked on my feet come morning. What? How is that even possible? Answer? The Active Grip heel strip. It locks onto your skin and won’t let go. For real. The proprietary “PerformaHeel” shape is 3D knit with dual yarns to provide stretch and integrated micro-cushioning, and it all combines to create a shaped fit that stays put. It really is the best heel shape that I found, with the lowest amount of non-reinforced stitches at the deepest part of the heel pocket. Toes are seamless, and actually shaped differently – they provide a left and right sock (called ErgoToes) so that you don’t continually stretch out certain points of the toe by alternating. Our feet are shaped differently, after all! Definitely the most complete package if you want to go spendy.
One size? I’m honestly not sure who these are for. Ridiculously stretchy. Ludicrously stretchy.
I mean, c’mon y’all, THEY FIT OVER MY STAN SMITHS.
It felt like I was putting on clean-room booties in a chemistry lab. My nurse wife said she might borrow them to use at the hospital. There was no sense of snugness on my feet, and the heels felt like they’d come off at any moment. Most of these socks I gave at least an hour of wear to get a feel for how the heel would hold, how the comfort would mature, but I couldn’t even give these 10 minutes before I wanted them off my feet. Even at the rock-bottom price per pair, skip these.
About the Author: Ryan N. is a professional web developer for (and alum from) the University of Delaware, who keeps a close shave as to not be confused with his strongly-bearded twin brother. He plays guitar and drums, loves going to concerts watching livestream concerts with his wife, and loves being a dad.
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