Ohhhh Portland, how we love your sweet design skills. That is why, year after year, we give the local lads a chance at sock stardom with the Annual Design-A-Sock Contest, now in its fourth year. Not to be confused with our international design contest (which we ran earlier this year), this one is for the locals… because Portland pride runs strong in these parts.

With little over a week to craft and submit 5 unique designs, we expect to see Portlanders all over town with torn-out templates in tow, designing and sketching as they dine over breakfast, commute on the Max, and break for lunch along the waterfront. After all, the Grand Prize Winner will receive a whopper of a check ($500), not to mention bragging rights and TEN brand new, hand-chosen pairs of Sock It to Me socks. Just imagine how colorful your sock drawer will be…

The nitty gritty: Portland residents can find the Design-A-Sock template online at www.sockittome.com or rip-out options in both The Portland Mercury and Willamette Week starting on Wednesday, September 8th. Final design submissions are due by 5pm on Friday, September 17th. Entrants can submit up to five original, not previously published works. Prizes are offered for First Place ($500 + 10 pairs of socks + production of sock), Second Place ($100 + five pairs of socks) and Third Place ($50 + three pairs of socks), with room for “bonus” winners whose designs could be chosen for incorporation into Sock It to Me’s line of socks for men or women. Submissions can be sent via email (designcontest@sockittome.com) or snail mail (Design Contest, 5100 SE Harney Dr.  #1, Portland, OR 97206). For all contest rules and regulations, please visit www.sockittome.com.

Good luck! We can’t wait to see your submissions!

p.s. If you need some inspiration, here are a few submissions that made their way into our hearts earlier this year:

Isn’t our new Vampire Kiss sock kick-A? Apparently we aren’t the only ones who think so. It’s only been around for 2 weeks, and it’s already one of our best sellers! Think it has anything to do with Twilight? Nahhh.

Being a smaller, design-focused indie label, Sock It to Me set up shop in Magic’s POOLTRADESHOW, alongside other labels like Threadless (who brilliantly set up a ping pong table for guests to bank a few minutes of play time) and Maptote (who gave away hearty canvas totes silk-screened with a map of Vegas, complete with notable icons and landmarks).

To aptly capture the scene, POOL is like a massive marketplace of cool. Each wholesaler has a cube where they showcase their stuff, and it’s all about who can pull out the stops and do something radically different with their space, or present their goods in a unique way. We were excited to debut our brand new booth – an ultra lightweight/compact display for the hundred-plus pairs of socks that now don the Sock It to Me name. 

Over the years, we’ve always had our greatest success at Magic. And this year was no different. In fact, it was our most successful show to date. Among the top sellers were the women’s Tree Owl, Dinomite, and Vampire Kiss, plus the vertically striped Rocket Ride and Love Luma. We also sold a lot of the men’s Octosock and Argyle Mustache.

Our newest SITM team member, Matt Stuart, also joined us at the show, saying later that he enjoyed being around the buzz and excitement for our brand. Truth be told, that enthusiasm is something we never tire of. Even though we didn’t see any star sightings this time around, we’re pumped to know that we’re loved and adored by the everyday kind of folk. Celebrities or not, we love our customers just the same! xo

Miss Paris Hilton spotted at Magic

p.s. If you’d like to catch more of the scene in action, take a peak at this scroll of images from last year’s POOLTRADESHOW, plus a few snaps from this year’s show, as well.

So with that in mind, I thought I’d just share some customer photos we have on file. Just because they’re great. We’d love it if you sent us some sock photos, yourself! Just email us. Who knows, you could get some web love, too.

Over the years, we have employed about a dozen designers from our very own City of Roses. Whether it’s pirates or robots, veggies or manatees, the styles are fresh and funky, and some even capture Portlandia culture (like the bikes!). We’re so proud that we thought we would turn the spotlight on these fabulous few for making our style here at SITM really blossom. Make sure to check out all of our Portland-made styles here.

Anna Magruder is an artist and illustrator in Portland, Oregon. In 2009, Anna took a leap of faith and left the routine and security of her graphic design business to focus on what’s become her passion—oil painting and illustration. Her paintings often focus on people and animals and whatever lies between. When it comes to sock design, Anna likes the geeky-chic look that says, “Smart is sexy!” (which is true!), exemplified in her three SITM designs: Space, Octosock, and Mad Science.

Space

Octosock

Mad Science

Brenna Zedan now works as a sock enthusiast at the Portland-based Sock Dreams, but we like to think she whet her sock whistle back in 2006, when she began working with SITM in everything from design to warehouse work to product photography. She has had her hand in more designs than she can remember. Some, like the Dainty Dots and the Monkeys, were Carrie’s ideas that she worked into a format that the manufacturer could use. Other designs include the cool color combos in the Summer stripe and Mermaid stripe, and best sellers like the Ninjas, Whales, Pirates, Ice Cream Cones, Bears with Teeth, and Unicorns (her personal favourtie).

Ninja

Monkeys

Unicorns

Whales

All this to say, we’re finally (FINALLY!) doing a photo shoot. A real photo shoot (as in: not in Carrie’s bedroom with a simple point-and-shoot camera)… with models and fun clothes, plus our very own (and very loved) hair/makeup stylist, Ti Kivett, and the amazing Jared Birt as photographer. Can you sense our excitement? Oh, it’s great.

Our photo shoot space!

What’s more, we are shooting this awesomeness at one of our fave resale shops in town… yes, Buffalo Exchange, a place where all things wonderful hang side-by-side in one huge space of hip, creative expression. We love the look they have, with the exposed beams above and the raw brick matched with a luxe, lime green accent wall (they painted after this picture was taken, on the left).

PLUS we have access to all of their clothes, shoes, and accessories, which means we’ll be able to pull off all the looks we love with just one “shopping” location. [Speaking from someone who has directed other fashion shoots over the years, this makes life a lot easier. And more fun!]

We’re excited to make it happen, and we’re excited to get the photos from the shoot out there into the public eye. We’re shooting next week, so it should be soon! We’ll post a bunch of them on our website, so make sure to check the site often… well, if you’re dying to see them, like we are. Ha

Save the date, all of you fashion folk in PDX! This is a rooftop style event you won’t want to miss.

In fact, we are super excited to be a part of this swanky outdoor benefit event atop the roof of Portland’s Hotel deLuxe on Friday, July 9th. The “Up in the Air” Summer Affair celebrates six months of good work from our local style publication, The Neat Sheet, and we expect a big turnout… especially since it finally got nice and sunny here. From here on out, we plan on being outside at every opportunity! 

So we hope to see you there, Portland. We’ll be the ones wearing the cute knee-highs (which you can buy at the event, btw).

Some details from The Neat Sheet:

What: The Neat Sheet Launch Party + Local Boutique Showcase to benefit Willamette Riverkeeper
When: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, July 9
Where: Rooftop of Hotel deLuxe (729 S.W. 15th Ave.; 503-219-2094)
Price: $10 donation (100% proceeds benefit Willamette Riverkeeper)

PURCHASE TICKET DONATE

Take to the sky this July to party on the rooftop of Hotel deLuxe in downtown Portland, when The Neat Sheet celebrates its official launch, taking pride in their new media endeavor and six months of hard work producing Portland’s only daily fashion + style news source. Together with the powerful marketing mavens of CRAVE Portland and 10 of Portland’s best boutiques, the evening will include a fashion show of summer styles on the rooftop runway, DJ and music, appetizers, cocktails from New Deal Vodka and Deco Distilling (with mixers provided by Vibe), beer from Kona Brewing and more neat stuff.

Alexis Del Cid of KOIN TV will emcee the event, which includes a summer fashion show of styles from local boutiques including Popina Swimwear, Mabel and Zora, Parallel, Physical Element, Idom, Moulé, Lizard Lounge, Solestruck, and Oh Baby. Attendees will also be able to buy raffle tickets to benefit Willamette Riverkeeper, and browse select local indie designer booths while shopping on site for local art, jewelry, body care and more…

… like fun, funky, wear-em-everyday socks!

Sounds fun, right? Oh it is. All you do is show up with your bike, your helmet, and your wallet, with the intent of uniting with strangers and friends over your shared afinity for something random. Be it donuts or sunsets, cowboys or knee-highs, it’s especially fun when there is a dress-code, from prom-wear to no-wear to footwear.

We can’t take credit for organizing this year’s ride for the footwear folk. In fact, we again thank Argyle Amanda for including us in the second annual Hott Sock ride, which met up in downtown Portland and traveled first to Sock Dreams and then to the SITM headquarters. We ordered up a keg of local, organic brew from Hopworks and threw together a hilarious relay race, crafty sock design table, and tons of sock prizes. It was a blast. Check out this video Kisa put together for us. It’s just a lil snapshot of all the action:

Here, also, is the Flickr photo stream of pics taken at the event by BikePortland.org: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikeportland/tags/hotsockride2010/

Can’t wait for next year’s ride. We’re so ready. Mark your calendars!

Plus, we live in Portland, and biking is to Portland as igloos are to the North Pole. They just go together. More than that, biking has become our identity. So of course we were upset when that identity was recently robbed by Minneapolis, who overthrew Portland as the “Best Bike-Friendly City” in Bicycling magazine’s annual list of pro-cycle cities. Well, the 2010 results have only encouraged us Portlanders to do everything we can to earn back our #1 spot next year. Personally speaking, I think it’s time to pull out all the stops and go for fashion bonus points. (Because style wins ‘em over every time!)

Well, I found this flippin gorgeous helmet manufacturer who scored huge in my book for re-thinking a market that so needs some fashion love. I mean, come on, helmets are perhaps the ugliest thing I’ve ever adorned. How do you expect me to wear one without putting up a fight? (NOTE: I advocate protecting the noggin’ at all costs… no matter how ugly it can be.)

So thank you, Yakkay, for creating something pretty for us. I truly adore this helmet, the “Tokyo” style. It’s just precious:

Yakkay - Tokyo

And I also love the ”Paris”… it’s uber hip and sexy, with everyday appeal and wear-ability:

Yakkay - Paris

I would also argue that there is a too-far-gone extreme to this fashion-forward helmet business. It looks something like this. I’m speechless…

From me (Becky) to you (general public), please don’t go too far, like this. But don’t take yourself too seriously, either. Just have fun (in a style-setter kind-of way).