David Beckham, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Kanye West, the normcore trend – they’ve all done their bit to rehabilitate socks and sandals as an acceptable sartorial pairing. 

Yet a recent poll found that 78 per cent of 45- to 54-year-olds in Britain still feel queasy at the idea of wearing them together. Their popularity is higher among those aged 18 to 24, but not exactly overwhelming – 68 per cent are still against.

Now those renegades at English Heritage are riding to the rescue. Today, they’re celebrating the 1,900th anniversary of Hadrian’s Wall by inaugurating Socks and Sandals Day. 

The Romans wore socks and sandals and it didn’t hold them back – they built an empire. The British followed suit. “Emperor Septimius Severus and his wife Julia Domna set up house in York during his reign, which was 196AD to 211AD. As the imperial family, they were the fashion influencers of their day,” says Frances McIntosh, curator of Hadrian’s Wall. “Why wouldn’t people have taken up socks and sandals? It’s a style that works with our climate.”

English Heritage is encouraging we modern masses to also embrace the look by offering free entry to their Roman sites for socks and sandals wearers. If the UK’s foremost classicist finds himself with unexpected free time on his hands in the coming days (and on the hunt for budget family outings), he knows where to go.

All very jolly. But why does such an innocuous pairing require rehabilitation in the first place? Right up to the 1940s, people wore sandals and socks without a care in the world. It was neither cool nor uncool, it was akin to slipping on a jumper when it’s nippy. 

Perhaps the Second World War changed this. While there is no shortage of documentation of women looking perfectly jaunty in their socks and sandals post-war, perhaps all the austerity and nylon shortages finally got to them. By the late 1950s, socks and sandals had sunk into fashion ignominy. 

Gallery: The hidden secrets in famous logos we see every day (Lovemoney)

Personally, I love a pair of merino wool socks with chunky sandals. But I work in fashion, and Miuccia Prada, the highest authority there is in this particular ecosphere, deemed them appropriate aeons ago. 

Needless to say, the socks should be pristine (pantherella.com does lovely ones from £12.50) and complement the rest of your outfit. Sandals look good when they have a chunky sole and no toe post. That’s it, as far as rules go.

The combination is so practical, so soothing (no need to get hysterical if you can’t get a pedicure) and so utterly butterly British – socks and sandals are perfect for our mercurial summers – I can hardly remember why I ever had doubts.

Or maybe I do: conditioning. For decades, socks and sandals were classified with caravans and camping, beards, geography teachers, Baden-Powell, German obsessions with physical fitness, a timid, belts-and-braces’ attitude to everything, and just about everything else that was symptomatic of post-war decline. 

It’s no coincidence that the concept of “cool” began to take root in Britain around this time. As traditional class stratifications began to break down, a new code was required. Socks and sandals, with their unambitious associations, were the wrong side of history. 

Much of the above – from camping to beards – has since become so embedded in popular culture that we don’t question it. Not so socks and sandals. The opprobrium meted out to them is out of proportion to their perceived fashion crimes. If socks were humans, they’d hardly be miscreants. They’re more Ant and Dec, who, if they stick it out another decade, will go from being slightly irritating to national treasures. Those Romans knew what they were doing.

Sign up to the Front Page newsletter for free: Your essential guide to the day's agenda from The Telegraph - direct to your inbox seven days a week.