Boardroom Merino Dress Socks Review
The second item in our Boardroom series - today we look at the dressier side of travel socks.
Boardroom Merino Dress Socks Review Introduction
Boardroom socks - we are back one more time with another product to check out. As we told in our previous article (Boardroom No show Socks Review) - this is an American company, family owned by long time textile experts, and they are only focusing on dress socks. Clever name, eh?
For me, I’m interested in their merino line because that's pretty much all I use these days in my socks. Including dress socks. And for travel, it's important for me to have a pair since I tend to go to fancy dinners and bring shoes. I’m not going to rock my no show runner or hiker socks with dress shoes, come on folks. Let’s adult a little!
This is my review of the Boardroom Merino Dress socks. I went with patterns because I like a little fun in my dress socks. Something I picked up in England. Those folks are serious about their fun dress socks. When your team performs the way theirs does in the Euros, you need to get your fun somewhere I guess. Whoa, too soon? (I kid, a few of my closest friends are in England and that was for them. I’m a Patriots fan so I can’t really talk right now).
As always for full transparency, Boardroom did reach out to me to ask if I wanted to review these. However, this is not sponsored and I received no money to publish this. I do use affiliate links which help to support the site if you decide to use them to make a purchase, but you’re under no obligation to do so and there’s no additional cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Boardroom Merino Dress Socks Overview
Up Close with the yarn.
Won’t have a ton to go over here but we do want to cover off on the basics and material makeup.
But, these are merino, mid-calf dress socks meant for the business set. That said, they are fine with sneakers if that’s your jam, too.
Materials from their site:
67% Merino Wool / 30% Nylon / 3% Spandex
Made for size 8-12.
They retail for $17.99 USD as of November 2024. I’ll note that these do have a 90 day return policy.
Merino Dress Socks Features
This might be one of the quickest sections we’ve ever done, but hey so goes the world of socks. One thing to note is they do have a lot of colors and also patterns, which I appreciate in my socks. I like patterned dress socks a lot.
-Made in USA
-Luxurious Linked Toe (would appear to be by hand or at the very least an upgraded process as it’s very clean).
-Reinforced Heel and Toe
-Colorfast
-Mid-Calf Length
The Good
Fit and finish is a clear positive point on these dress socks. In terms of the merino’s feel itself, I do think these best my Darn Tough dress socks. It’s a richer and softer feel, and the choice of elastics is less … stiff? Not sure how to describe that but you know it when you feel it. They are comfortable socks.
Good compression, especially on the top which means they stay up. This is subjective though and I did find it a little tight, so YMMV here and see how you feel if you never skip calf day. I mostly only felt it in extended wear.
Patterns and color options. Match with your ties. Have fun. Or get wild and contrast with your other accessories. Now also with a houndstooth and herringbone print that looks great, too.
I do like that there are multiple length options.
Merino performance. I put these through the gamut. Daily work drivers for multiple days. Traveling in sneakers. A wedding. A trip to London to wear with my English brogues. They performed just how you’d want merino to perform. Per usual though, no need to stretch wears out TOO long. Feet can be gross and you don’t want to risk athletes' foot because you wore one pair of socks for 8 days+ without washing. As I like to tell the yoots these days - just because we CAN do something, doesn’t mean it’s APPROPRIATE. That concludes another episode of “Soapbox, by Always Wander.”
The Bad
I do think the size 8 cut off is unfortunate, but they have to draw the line somewhere. Size 7 seems to be a more universal spot, so I’d like to see them offer that (or smaller wink wink).
As mentioned above - the compression strength might be a BIT too much for some. But again, this is going to be impossible to nail for every calf type under the sun. Since I refuse to engage the What-About-Me-ers that reply to every Instagram ad with a complaint that doesn’t fit their personal use case - I’ll say it here: if you are an outlier that is not a brand’s fault. I am short. I would love if, and I lobby for, brands to make shorter inseams. But it doesn’t mean I blame them if they don’t. It’s more expensive to keep all these different patterns around and to cut every size under the sun. This is a me problem. So, don’t get mad at the brand, but this might affect you.
I mentioned this in my previous review, but with it being merino and having to measure against competitors, I’d love to see them revisit their warranty. It’s a very generous return policy, but a warranty is something to think about.
The Performance
This is merino so let’s chat performance for a bit. These dress socks are above the threshold that I consider “good enough’ for a merino blend in terms of merino %. Non-scientific and heavily anecdotal, but I think 70% is a good place to draw a line in the sand. These meet that mark.
I wore these in many scenarios and while I didn’t wear them for 7 days straight, as I don’t consider these socks daily drivers - they were great in the scenarios I did wear them. They made it through a full day of travel from London with a nice early start. Nearly 12 hours with no smell the next day. Very personal as we always say, but they worked well for me. I think if you’ve had good experience with merino, you will have good experience with these.
A big differentiator is the feel of the yarn and I found these softer than Darn Tough, which is my gold standard from a quality standpoint. So good performance there too.
Final Thoughts On My Boardroom Merino Dress Socks Review
So now having given multiple versions of Boardroom socks a look - I’ll repeat what I said in my first article. I’m sold. The merino Boardroom dress socks are very good quality socks with a lot to offer in terms of colors and designs.
In fact, I’m now making these my Best Dress Socks for Travel.
The high merino count, color and pattern options (their options are quite classic without being garish or having patterns like mountains and such), and softness of the yarn itself - really made these the best I’ve tried as of Nov 2024. Most merino performs similarly, so you need to decide based on feel and patterns.. Fit is up to you, but I think they universally did a good job on the first two points.
You’ll need to consider the sizing options if you’re smaller, and also the compression strength at the top. But otherwise, I highly recommend you give these a look. They are the best I’ve tried to date and I like being able to support another local business (as far as being a resident of the US, that is).
As always with the indie brands, I’d suggest buying directly through their website for best service.
Wander more - and wander smarter everyone.
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Head on over to our Travel Clothing Reviews page for more reviews like this or more travel friendly clothing reviews like the Lulu Lemon Commission Shirt review or check out my Best Socks for travel article (spoiler, these are now on that list!).
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