Hello! I wanted to write this post to announce that Dandy Puppeteer has recently changed sock manufacturers and will be updating our sock designs going forward. I wanted to give insight into sock manufacturing and give context to why the change happened.
Sock Manufacturing
To manufacture socks is a very expensive process. Generally, sock manufacturers use high-powered automatic machines that knit socks on their own. They produce massive amounts of quantity in a short time frame and they tend to be within a standard size range. This means that for a small fashion brand like mine, where I’m often ordering less than 100 pairs of a single custom size and color with complex artwork, there’s not a lot of manufacturers who want to work with such a small business when they can produce bigger quantities for more money in the same amount of time. So sock making becomes a product often out of reach for small businesses without a lot of financial capital. So far, I’ve done 3 sock pre-orders and none of my pre-orders have broken even on upfront production costs so every time I make socks, I am paying a lot of upfront costs on my own. Dandy Puppeteer is very much an indie shop and only run by one person.
Backstory
Back in October 2023, a customer reached out to me regarding their pair of socks from the previous silver thread sock bulk order. Their pair was regarded as defective and as a result, I posted PSAs about it on social media to alert of the potential defect others might experience. The defect could be described as excessive silver loose threads that appeared after wearing the socks. Like with all socks, pilling and thread pulling is normal due to the friction of the socks against feet, shoes, and general movement. This defect however, was very extreme and affected only the silver thread. I proceeded to repeat my initial stress tests on some of the remaining inventory.
With all my products, I generally try to go through stress tests, meaning I try testing the sample/product to see the range of damage it’s able to tolerate and if this limitation can be controlled. When it comes to socks, my stress tests involve extreme long-term stretching, noting where pilling happens most, how the design warps, and so on. During my final stress tests of the final samples of my silver socks, I deemed there was within an acceptable range of loose threads after normal wear. My old manufacturer and I talked about it extensively and my manufacturer promised additional steps taken to reduce the issue further. However, with the discovery of this defective pair, I did further tests of the bulk order and found inconsistencies in the quality of the socks. Some would be totally fine after wear & extreme stretching, while others would pull the silver out immediately with the same tests. It would be completely random and as this defect can only appear after wearing, there was no way for me to confirm the full extent of the problems and quantity of the affected pairs. And when communicating this with my old manufacturer, we were unable to reach an amicable solution. They essentially took issue with me choosing to use silver thread in the first place, that I should have already known it would be a difficult material for socks.
Despite my proof and many photos showcasing that the quality was not consistent on the many pairs I tested or my samples, we could not reach an agreement for compensation or remaking them. The unwillingness to work with me or acknowledge the problem completely broke my trust with them. And unfortunately, this also meant I had to regard the entire rest of the bulk order as unstable because the problem can only appear after wearing them. I decided to stop selling them and ended my partnership with this manufacturer.
This caused my shop massive financial issues. I’ve been transparent about how expensive producing socks are. In addition to customizing the size to specifications that will cover a wide range of sizes, I also pay for minimum order quantities of each size and of each color. This is thousands of dollars and as mentioned above, my pre-orders have never broken even. I am still recovering from this situation but I did not want to give up on making socks, not when I can see how important it has been for everyone to finally have inclusive legwear for fashion.
It took many many months and new samples, along with failures and sometimes being ghosted. But I fortunately have found a new manufacturer to make my sock designs going forward. Their communication is great and quality is excellent, they’re very skilled and recreating my artwork more accurately, as well providing good color options. The material percentages have changed but results in a bit of a more durable sock. The size range is very similar to the previous socks we have released but with a more notable difference between Size 1 & Size 2 as we’ve increased the length of Size 2 from 55cm to 80cm to accommodate taller heights. I’m really happy with this new manufacturer and new socks so I hope you will all enjoy them too.
So what about the silver socks?
I want to remake all of the silver thread sock designs but this time I will be proceeding with normal color thread in the designs. This new manufacturer is capable of making metallic silver lurex thread socks but after testing samples, I just think the silver does not add anything anymore and there is still some pilling like what happens with other metallic thread socks. I want to prioritize design integrity so the socks can last a long time and many wears. I’m starting with the most popular designs first so Glorious Funeral has been remade first as Glorious Funeral Resurrection OTKs. These are now available to purchase in the shop. We had a few hiccups of production issues with them (some that resulted in unexpected under the knee socks aka Glorious Funeral Casualty UTKs) but I’m overall very happy with the new manufacturer and quality. I will try to remake RIP Dandy next for Halloween and then proceed down the list of previous designs as I acquire the funds to do so. While my crowdfunds this year have gone well, the money is used for production costs. This year hasn’t been good for sales in the shop and combined with the previous financial hit of the unstable bulk, I just can’t afford to remake them all just yet so thank for you for waiting.
The previous silver thread socks will be relisted for discounted sale sometime in the future and clearly labelled as potentially defective. So if you like the designs but want something much more affordable and shiny than the remakes, they’ll be available.
What about Candy Shoppe OTKs?
I’ve moved around a lot the last 2 years so the remaining inventory of the first bulk product of Candy Shoppe OTKs I produced was in storage. I’ve now settled into a permanent address once more and since then, have recovered my inventory. So Candy Shoppe OTKs are finally restocked! However, once sold out they will be gone forever as I will no longer be working with the old manufacturer for the stated previous reasons. Any new diagonal stripe socks I design will be a different construction and fit, along with a different product name. So if you liked the Candy Shoppe OTKs, please make sure to take advantage while they’re still here in this form. Again, they will be restocked but will never be remade.
In conclusion
I’m terribly sorry if the original sock batch caused any issues for anyone. I’m still learning about manufacturing processes and how to advocate for myself. More than anything, I care about designing quality products with a high standard. I sincerely want there to be more size inclusive options for lolita socks so I will continue to develop better quality and interesting designs. Please look forward to them. Thank you!
