Socks for ladies. This may strike some people as the rantings of a madman, but we are of the opinion that high-quality black cotton socks of the sort offered by socked.co.uk look equally fine on female legs as they do on those owned by males of the species.

In fact, in this modern age where sexism is frowned upon, we care as equally about the style and behaviour of gentlewomen as we do for the gentleman. And, in this sense, socks for women are as essential a fashion accessory for ladies as they are for men.

The market for ladies socks is huge and mind-boggling; and the ladies socks page on one major fashion website is longer than the Daily Mail’s sidebar of shame, and scrolls all the way down to the middle of the Earth. Accustomed as we are to the simple black sock, the extraordinary choice made us have to go and lie down in a darkened room for a while.

The consumer will be heartened to learn that many clothing stores in your local shopping centre will sell socks for ladies.

Celebrity Wearer: TV’s Miranda Hart, a sock person if ever we met one