If you've read Marie Kondo's bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (or even if you haven't, TBH) you know that she has a lot of ~thoughts~ on the importance of folding your clothes properly.
So when she came to NYC recently to promote her new TV special, Tidy Up with KonMari, we asked her to show us exactly how the famous folding happens.
We started with socks, since sock drawers can so easily get out of control, and because some of her books' most memorable passages are about the mistreatment of socks.
Of socks, Kondo writes:
"The socks and stockings stored in your drawer are essentially on holiday. They take a brutal beating in their daily work, trapped between your foot and your shoe, enduring pressure and friction to protect your precious feet. The time they spend in your drawer is their only chance to rest. But if they are folded over, balled up, or tied, they are always in a state of tension, their fabric stretched and their elastic pulled. They roll about and bump into each other every time the drawer is opened and closed. Any socks and stockings unfortunate enough to get pushed to the back of the drawer are often forgotten for so long that their elastic stretches beyond recovery. When the owner finally discovers them and puts them on, it will be too late and they will be relegated to the garbage. What treatment could be worse than this?"
And in her second book:
"Some people think it doesn't matter if they wear socks with holes in them or tights that are pilled, but this is like declaring 'today doesn't really matter.' Your feet bear your weight and help you live your life, and it is your socks that cradle those feet. The socks you wear at home are particularly important because they are the contact point between you and your house, so choose ones that will make the time you spend there even more enjoyable. Balling your socks and stockings, or tying them into knots, is cruel. Please put an end to this practice today."