In a string I can't find now, someone mentioned a device for putting on socks when you can't bend over too far, like after a hip replacement. Here's a picture of one; it works very well indeed.
you pull the sock over the three pronged end until the toe of the sock is at the tip of the gadget. Then you stick your foot in the other end and using the straps pull the sock and the gadget over your foot and up over your ankle. A lot simpler to do it than to describe it. Available at any medical supply place and probably at most drug stores.
Go to Amazon and type sock helper. I bought the one that looks like a half-tube with the ropes and handles. I think $9 and I have used it since hip surgery and I recommend it to everyone who asks Me how I put on My socks( which is quite a few).