Answer Angel: $280 for socks?!

Ellen Warren, Tribune News Service on Feb 17, 2026

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Dear Answer Angel Ellen: By sheer chance I was reading something online recently about a man in the news. A photo illustration showed an average looking guy in jeans, gym shoes and a baseball cap. The article mentioned that the guy was wearing Prada cotton socks that cost $280 and Stefano Ricci “solid cotton” boxer shorts that sell for $250.

My question: How can anyone justify spending that much on socks or underpants? How could either of those items be worth that much money?

--Kris T.

Dear Kris: They’re not worth that much. You’ve got that right. There’s no explaining how some people, for whatever reason, spend foolishly on designer labels. That’s why some people drive a flashy $100,000 car yet live in a messy, sparse studio apartment. Sure, the money could be better spent on necessities or charities that desperately need it. Maybe the guy in the $$$ undies also runs a foundation for under-privileged children. But, I doubt it.

And another question about a man in the news…

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Please, oh please explain Timothée Chalamet’s mustache to me! I just saw him in "Marty Supreme" and I could barely watch his Oscar-nominated performance, because I was so distracted by his creepy, sparse mustache. He’s a good-looking guy, but that mustache has to go.

--Maddy G.

Dear Maddy: I agree that it is a sad spectacle, that little wispy thing under his nose. In a YouTube interview clip that I found, he claims — while smiling insincerely? — that his friends and family like it. “But who knows?” he hedges.

The "Marty" role is based loosely on a real table tennis champ, Marty Reisman, who doesn’t have a mustache in most photos I’ve seen. Clearly the actor knows that his not-so-hairy-caterpillar is not beloved by all. He kept it to work on a post-"Marty" project, he said in an interview with "Extra," and “I’m having fun with it.”

Maddy, you and I -- and perhaps Timothée too? -- are on the same page. It’s not a good look.

Angelic Readers 1

Lorie I. writes: “Tell your reader Emma that the best things she can get to prevent frizzy curls are mulberry silk (not satin) pillowcases and a mulberry silk hair bonnet/puff. As a curly gal, trust me when I say I've tried it all.” (amazon.com, bonnet $12.99 and up; pillowcase, $9.99 and up — read the fine print to be sure you’re getting the real, mulberry silk.) Lorie specifically recommends Fishers Finery 100% Mulberry silk pillowcase ( amazon.com, $44.99 and up): “Pricey but worth every penny. For my shoulder length curls, I flip my hair over while seated and pull the bonnet completely over the hair.”

Angelic Readers 2

Mary W. didn’t like my answer to Peter R. who asked if he actually should use decorated bathroom hand towels often set out for guests, especially at holiday time. Or, are they just for show? I wrote that if there’s an option to use an undecorated (plain) hand towel or a decorated paper one, use one or the other --although I did point out that decorated paper hand towels are not very absorbent. Mary wrote, “I feel uncomfortable using a regular towel that may or may not have been used by someone else. I place ‘decorated towels’ (aka: guest towels) out for just that reason -- so that my guests may have their own towel. I expect them to use them and I happily launder them before I put them out again.”

Linda S. handles the issue this way: “Regarding ‘frillyphobia’ or fear of fancy hand towels for a guest bathroom: I bought two packs of 12 washcloths (cheap) at Sam’s Club and put them in a basket for guests’ one-time use. There’s a larger basket on the floor for the used ones. Then I launder them with hot water and bleach. People love the luxury of a washcloth and knowing no one has used it before them.”

Marcia B. has a similar idea: “After many years going to several friends’ homes for functions, they had many linen embroidered hand towels to use and a basket handy to put them in after using. Good idea, but then you have to iron them. A restaurant we frequent has real washcloths as napkins!!! Perfect. Many stores have bundles of six washcloths, some with a seasonal motif. This is what I now have and they are a perfect size for hand wiping. And I put out a basket to put them in after use to be laundered later to be used again.”