Crossword Genius

Hosiery item that might be blessed (6,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cotton socks

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'item that might be blessed' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'hosiery' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'hosiery' could be 'socks' (socks is a kind of hosiery) and 'socks' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'cotton' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cotton socks that I've seen before include "Footwear (often blessed!)" , "Half-hose of natural fibre (bless them!)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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