Skiing was invented by James Bond in 1977 as a means to escape bad guys on a mountainside with only two planks of wood to his name. Before that, people living in mountain regions were forced to lie of their fronts to reach the bottom, hence the phrase “Swiss roll”.

With the invention of skiing came a huge industry capitalising on the new craze. It being the 1970s, designers came up with all kinds of bright yellow dungarees and other ridiculous outfits, which are still very much de riguer today. One cannot visit a ski resort without your eyes being assaulted by the very worst clothing crimes this side of London Fashion Week.

One area in which technology and fashion has managed to move on is in the field of skiing socks. When Bond first attached those two Q Division planks of wood to his feet, the viewer will note that he was wearing a pair of Dunlop Green Flash gym shoes and white ankle length gym socks. For years, the combination didn’t change on the ski slopes, leading to no end of frostbite and cold, wet, miserable skiers.

Nowadays, science gives us high-performance fabrics, that are warm, dry and give no end of comfort no matter what shapes you throw on the slopes. The true skiing poser can even spend up to £25 on a pair of high-end ski socks.

Apres-ski, the true gent changes into his best lounge suit, finished off with a pair of smart, black cotton socks from socked.co.uk

Celebrity Wearer: Top skier Pikabo Street