Fashionable or Frumpy?

So I've been reading a few other fashion blogs, including The Style Rookie, written by 13-year-old fashion icon Tavi Gevinson - and what a lot of people are wearing are sandals with socks! My initial reaction? Ew. But some people are really pulling this look off! If worn right, it looks grungy but almost hipster. I can't decide what to make of it. I think that maybe if I owned exactly the right shoes and exactly the right socks and I wore it with exactly the right outfit, the look might work. But I just don't seem to own the right things! Check out these pics from other blogs... what do you think about this new trend?