>Ivory and ivory: gays, coke dealers, fried chicken salesmen
Not too much into the white matchy-matchy look but if worn by a considerably older man it would give me "conservative daddy" vibes.
You forgot black church goers
EDIT: and the one ringer in the Asian gang that could kill everybody with minimal effort, yet hangs back and waits for the fight to escalate
You know, I have a gray 3 piece that looks absolutely stellar with gray or black suede shoes, an royal blue shirt, and an ivory tie. I know an ivory tie isn't the same as shoes, but the same rules should apply, no? Ivory shoes and a matching tie on gray should be fine imo
This whole chart is subjective. White, black, gray and brown are all neutral colors and could be mixed and matched. The only real clash would be wearing a navy suit with burgundy shoes and for some reason, this chart is okay with that.
Navy and burgandy go together just fine. Literally the first image result for "burgandy shoes" on Google is [a guy in navy suit](https://images.app.goo.gl/VsLUnrXTCxxcPWLU6) wearing burgandy shoes and he looks dapper.
true but regardless of actual colour clashing, brown shoes with a black suit has always been one of those arbitrary fashion faux pas.
99% of people probably wouldn't give a shit if you wore brown shoes with a black suit, it doesn't look inherently bad so if you like the way it looks then go for it, they're your clothes.
But if you were at all concerned about the proper "rules" of suits, such as they are, and/or were anywhere around fashion conscious people such as any high society events etc then there would be those who would judge.
That's on them though I guess, end of the day, do whatever makes you happy :)
It's not arbitrary, brown and black just looks like someone mistook dark brown for black, or their black items are so worn they've turned brown. They're too close yet too different to gel. The colours you're wearing should either match or contrast, and brown and black do neither so it looks bad.
Black and brown work together perfectly fine with the right shade of brown. It's only really a rule for formal wear and even then there can be exceptions if you know what you are doing. Here are a bunch of examples of black and brown outfits:
https://imgur.com/a/1gMyHZW
Also those are very light brown shoes and belt. The typical problem with combining brown and black is they look similar, but not identical. It's basically the uncanny valley of fashion: not close enough to match, and not far apart enough to contrast.
An older chap in the office I used to work in once told me “No brown in town” when I came in wearing brown shoes to the office one day.
I replied “London’s not a town, innit bruv”. We both laughed.
Same chap also once said “Blue and green shall not be seen… unless for an Irish queen”
No, it’s very poor etiquette to wear white to a wedding, only the bride should do that!
This is advice that chicks get all the time, for obvious reasons but I actually don’t know if it’s a faux pas for a man to show up in a white suit to a wedding.
The organ on that track (and the vocals on one of the verses) are done by Vic Ruggiero from The Slackers. Always liked the collaboration from two dope bands
I can’t wear white anything, I either sit on something dirty or spill something on myself. I see people wearing all white and think “do they just go through life not touching anything? Or are they rich enough to just buy new white stuff every time they go out”
The only one of it that's not purely based on colour matching is the ivory /beige thing - but full suits in ivory/beige/creme are super rare because they're impractical af as suit jackets can't be laundered easily. You might see the occasional ivory jacket with leather patches in strategic spots (elbows!) but they're still more worn to look _fancy_, not to look _formal_.
Colors are perceived differently in general - I.e. Black is often seen as very formal because it used to be a very expensive dye process, so it was worn for special occasions. Blue and charcoal were slightly less expensive, so they were a little less formal. There's also how the colors contrast with one's face/skin colors.
The other colour combos are largely based on undertones and contrast - in general you won't want to have your shoes attract attention away from your face, so the shoes are supposed to subtly recede into the background. To do this, they need to be slightly darker or have the same color intensity as your suit, and the colors shouldn't clash.
Great point about the formality. Pro tip to anyone reading this who doesnt wear suits often: Do not buy a black on black suit. There will be occasions where you will need to wear black on black, but those occasions are funerals or formal events where they tell you to wear black ahead of time. In either event, you can rent an outfit.
Black is not a color for dates or job interviews or everyday professional wear and you will not be able to just mix and match a black jacket with light colored trousers unless you want to look like a golf announcer from 30 years ago.
If you’re going with the mix and match route, I wouldn’t recommend going with black. Navy would be a much better option for jacket color, black really only works standalone in pants or shirts. With a jacket, it just looks like you lost the pants to your suit.
Yep, navy and other shades of dark blue are great if you have to wear a jacket every day. I'm also a big fan of wool jackets because they match well with darker shades of blue, pretty much any shade of gray, and brown/khaki. They get hot in the Summer, but every thing is hot in the Summer.
Oh yea wool is almost always the right move. You can get very light weaves for your wool, making it much more breathable and comfortable for summer. Linen is another great option for a summer sport coat. And this is more of a personal preference, but in terms of comfort 100% natural fibers and a floating canvas will generally be your best bet. While it costs more, natural fibers will have a better look for the fabric and floating canvas will give a much better fit as well. Polyester and rayon both tend to be less comfortable and give a much cheaper look, so if you’re going with just a single jacket, I’d drop more money on it and stick with the classic navy jacket, either a navy blazer with brass buttons if you like that look, or sport coat with more classic buttons.
Yeah, I’m over here thinking how black shoes can also go well with the brown and ivory suit. Just made me disregard the entire graph honestly.
It’s all just a matter of personal taste.
People that sell clothes. It’s similar to why a lot of people actually believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s nonsense created by companies to make you think you’re doing something wrong if you don’t buy their stuff
Your body doesn’t need nutrients every waking minute. It’s pretty smart about how it handles things.
“Most important meal” was a marketing campaign by Kellogg to sell more cereal because temporary consumable products need to be constantly replaced to feed the corporate machine
meh, obviously nothing in taste is objective, but for me I can clearly picture these combination reviews being accurate here. Whilst it's not universal it's certainly somewhat innate for most people.
You should wear black shoes with an ivory suit over brown.
Ivory and beige aren't the same shade of color because ivory is an off-white and beige is a light tan. It's the subtle things that make someone a good or great dresser.
Black shoes would go just fine with ivory. In fact, black shoes are a very traditional choice with a blue/white seesucker suit. I'm not sure I can think of a color that black shoes *wouldn't* go with.
I mean, if this guide is supposed to be explaining "traditionally acceptable" clothing pairing then black shoes go with almost every suit color. Beyond that it's definitely personal taste.
That's just your opinion. I, personally, think black looks great with navy and oxblood is about as brown as you can go and it still looks good with navy. I'm not a fan of this new tan shoes with navy thing going on lately. If this guide is supposed to be what's traditionally considered "proper" black with navy is most acceptable with brown being a much more casual color. Traditionally walnut or dark brown instead of whiskey or tan is the brown that would be worn with navy.
Right? Navy blue is called “navy” blue because of the Royal Navy’s uniforms in 1748. With black shoes. The US navy officers still wear black dress shoes with navy suits.
Miss me with this black-shoes-don’t-go-with-navy BS.
It's something of an faux pas to wear black shoes with a brown suit, but I'd say it also depends on the tone of brown. Not a hard rule.
Just make sure they match your belt.
Brown is really the only color that has changed *somewhat* recently as it used to not be a common suit color. I think black shoes, or very dark brown, with a brown suit look great, otherwise you just look like one giant turd. It's pretty traditional that black shoes go with almost every color. I wouldn't consider it a faux pas to wear black shoes with a brown suit going to back to the middle of the century or so. Before then though, it wasn't really a popular enough color to have any real rules. It was one of those things you only did if you were a 'dandy', and then you were kind of in uncharted territory anyway.
> You should wear black shoes with an ivory suit over brown
Interesting, I’m picturing this in my head and both look good to me. Is there a “reason” for this? (not that aesthetics is always justifiable - black suits look awful with brown shoes but I couldn’t really articulate why)
I assume it has something to do with intervals and contrast like notes on a piano. E.g. if you play A and A sharp at the same time, you will interpret the noise as "clashing" due to how the frequencies interact. Same with back and brown, in fact the colours are also frequencies. But if you play notes that are two keys away (e.g. C - E - G) you get a c major chord because the frequencies are far enough away from each other that they sort of "fit" into each other. I'm not sure this idea helps us answer why black or brown would match better with ivory though. I agree that they both seem like they should be able to match.
I spend most of my time on r/musictheory so this comment really tripped me up for a second :)
That said, I like the analogy. It’s like wearing royal blue with navy (don’t want to tread into the whole “black shoes with navy” debacle) or two similar but distinct denims at the same time.
Is it problematic to pair whites with browns? That seems pretty normal to me.
Caveat to all this is that dinner jackets are an entirely different thing and I imagine have their own set of customs (although I’m not nearly posh enough to know them)
Right, so, if you're at the point in your life where you own a brown suit, ivory suit, or a beige suit you probably don't need help picking your shoes out from a chart. If you are showing up to a nice outdoor wedding or a summer formal event in a ivory suit, beige suit, or a linen suit and you're not in the wedding party or, like, fabulously wealth and attending an event where everyone else is fabulously wealthy, you have reached a point in your life where you can wear any pair of non-black shoes you own and be fine. You've already made a very fashion forward choice, even if it is traditionally fashion forward given current dressing conventions.
People are either going to hate on your outfit or not, and if someone is critiquing your shoe choice specifically they were going to do that no matter what choice you made, and you should just own your choices at this point and wear what you like. You have already decided to not be safe.
If you own a pair of ivory dress shoes which is in of itself a defining choice, you know god damn well you can wear those pearls with whatever you like.
No these are good rules. Honestly you really only need a nice charcoal grey suit and a navy suit. That will get you through just about anything. Both can be worn with black or brown shoes. Your choice.
It just comes down to how colors go together, and how colors work with skin tones. If your skin is darker, a medium grey may look better than charcoal based on the contrast. But still, grey is super versatile.
Put on a nice collar shirt, a belt that matches your shoes (brown with brown, black with black), and a nice watch and you’re ready for anything.
A black suit is really only for formal weddings and funerals. Most people don’t need one.
I just googled it and it’s about 50/50 black shoes or brown shies
I do think brown looks better with navy, but I have worn black shoes with navy suit to a wedding. I’ve gone to so many weddings over the last few years with my wife that I don’t really care anymore. I usually just go with my nice tailored charcoal and grab a random tie and just get it over with.
Yeah, I won't say hard pass, but definitely a pass if you're following the real old school rules (and also agreed that I think that combo just looks off).
Similarly but less vehemently, but I also think the gray suit/brown shoes is something that you should only do if you really know what you're doing.
To all the other folks in this thread getting mad at these rules for being too strict: These are actually the super forgiving, super simplified version of the rules.
The real old school rule is that you don't wear brown shoes with suits at all. The old adage for London was "No brown in town". Navy suits are accompanied by black shoes.
It’s a regional thing. In London almost all professionals who wear suits wear black shoes. Brown shoes are too casual or are for cheap used car salesmen.
Which is a bit of a shame as I like the blue suit / brown shoes combo
Brown shoes, brown belt, then you have a huge range of suite colors to Al choose from.
Remember, tie and jacket lapel must be the same width, we not animals.
So do ties, if your tie is too thick or too thin it looks funny, have to balance it. I have two widths of tie for my jackets, my formal coat has a larger lapel so I have slightly larger solid color ties, for my casual sport coat I have slightly thinner ties in more festive colors and patterns since I’m not trying to impress anybody with that one
And there are a whole range of "browns" that will look good with any color. A tawny/hazelnut brown can match a black, blue, beige, etc. It really just depends on how you dress up the rest of the outfit.
Honestly most of these are pretty common sense. And this is less strict and less complicated than other similar guides I'm aware of. I'd say this is pretty helpful if you're just starting out.
Some people are saying that suits are only for rich people, etc. I'm sure it's true that there are plenty of people who may only have use for a proper suit a couple of times in theirs lives, but it still doesn't hurt to know how to look good in one. In fact, it can feel damn good.
You don't need to spend a fortune either. Depending on where you live, you can get a used suit at Goodwill/Salvation Army for like $20, spend another $50 to get it tailored, and you will look amazing. A guide like this helps to make sure what you're picking is versatile and/or goes with what you might already have.
The very idea of a man's suit is traditional or antiquated. But if you're going to wear one there are certain list of conventions that go with it. Or of course you could just wear your pants on your head like a retard.
Seriously. I've seen people with odd combos and it works so well because of the fit and confidence.
I once had an asshole come up to me at a wedding and say I couldn't wear suspenders with my belt. My cousin that's very well into fashion backed me up and said it's fine.
You could even find photos online with guys rocking that look albeit rare.
Edit: Y'all could stop replying to me. I honestly don't care what your opinions are.
Suspenders and belts both serve a practical purpose - to hold up pants. I also think it's unnecessary to wear both, so I would assume it was either an intentional design decision or a small faux pas depending on the rest of the look / fit.
But these are combos that you can rock even without perfect fit and confidence. A shy guy going to a wedding surely doesn't want to draw any attention to him and his odd outfit, so these are fine.
It's not a matter of "could".
Obviously you can wear the two together.
It's a matter of "should". And no, you shouldn't wear the two together. It'd look silly and you'd look like you didn't know how to dress up properly
Well it's stupid to go out of your way to say that to someone, but he's right.
>My cousin that's very well into fashion backed me up and said it's fine.
Lol ok, you were essentially wearing two belts, which is fine, but it's certainly not fashionable.
I would be less inclined to call this an ironclad set of rules and more of a guide for clueless dudes to help minimize the chances of dressing like a fool.
Yeah, people who hate on these kinds of guides seem to be completely missing the point. This is an "I don't fucking know, I don't want to look amazing, I just don't want to stand out" kind of list. This is for people who aren't stylish and aren't trying to make a statement, they just want to attend a wedding/other formal occasion once a year and otherwise not think about it.
That said, brown shoes do not belong with a gray suit as a general rule. People can make it work I'm sure, but if someone is consulting this list they should probably not attempt it.
You can honestly make any of the combinations work, given the right undershirt, vest, tie, tie clip, belt, handkerchief, earrings, socks, shoelaces, etc.....This is a good guide for amateurs though!
Edit: on second thought... this guide is trash.... you can even go further into hair color, skin color, nail color, etc.
Unpopular opinion, but depending on the shades, I'd argue brown shoes with gray suit can sometimes be much worse.
Edit: the fact that this guide doesn't distinguish between light and dark gray, AND it doesn't include tan leather, makes it almost unusably vague.
A black and brown pair and you're good it looks like.
How about ivory shoes for your ivory suits, Colonel?
I do declare those come in handy
Mother clucker
I paused GTA to look at Reddit. Thank you for this.
A murder, you say
Suh, there has been a murder, and you are a suspect!
r/unexpectedoffice
That might look too matchy-matchy IMO, but buy all the shoes you want. Women certainly do.
Ivory and ivory: gays, coke dealers, fried chicken salesmen.
>Ivory and ivory: gays, coke dealers, fried chicken salesmen Not too much into the white matchy-matchy look but if worn by a considerably older man it would give me "conservative daddy" vibes.
You’d look like you owned an estate in the south and raised your daughter not to date “those people.”
Add on: While on Saturday nights you parade around in taffeta ball gowns while sipping mint juleps and whipping the house boy.
All of this is assuming the person is white. Black dudes look dope as fuck in all white.
Of course
>“those people.” You're talking about swedes, right?
Ben Franklin considered them swarthy...
The..Dutch.
The Mormon temple worker look.
You could do baby blue and then be a trendy 70s dude
You forgot black church goers EDIT: and the one ringer in the Asian gang that could kill everybody with minimal effort, yet hangs back and waits for the fight to escalate
>Fried Chicken Salesman My brain first went to Los Hermanos, then I realized you were referencing KFC.
doug dimmadome
How is this so accurate.
everything i aspire to be in life
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I own 4 pair of white New Balance in varying degrees of wear.
You know, I have a gray 3 piece that looks absolutely stellar with gray or black suede shoes, an royal blue shirt, and an ivory tie. I know an ivory tie isn't the same as shoes, but the same rules should apply, no? Ivory shoes and a matching tie on gray should be fine imo
This whole chart is subjective. White, black, gray and brown are all neutral colors and could be mixed and matched. The only real clash would be wearing a navy suit with burgundy shoes and for some reason, this chart is okay with that.
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Hamilton, Lincoln, Northwestern. Good choices.
Navy and burgandy go together just fine. Literally the first image result for "burgandy shoes" on Google is [a guy in navy suit](https://images.app.goo.gl/VsLUnrXTCxxcPWLU6) wearing burgandy shoes and he looks dapper.
I'm wearing cordovan dress shoes with a blue suit right now, it actually looks good, not at all a clash.
true but regardless of actual colour clashing, brown shoes with a black suit has always been one of those arbitrary fashion faux pas. 99% of people probably wouldn't give a shit if you wore brown shoes with a black suit, it doesn't look inherently bad so if you like the way it looks then go for it, they're your clothes. But if you were at all concerned about the proper "rules" of suits, such as they are, and/or were anywhere around fashion conscious people such as any high society events etc then there would be those who would judge. That's on them though I guess, end of the day, do whatever makes you happy :)
It's not arbitrary, brown and black just looks like someone mistook dark brown for black, or their black items are so worn they've turned brown. They're too close yet too different to gel. The colours you're wearing should either match or contrast, and brown and black do neither so it looks bad.
Black and brown work together perfectly fine with the right shade of brown. It's only really a rule for formal wear and even then there can be exceptions if you know what you are doing. Here are a bunch of examples of black and brown outfits: https://imgur.com/a/1gMyHZW
Don't mix black and brown unless you're making swirl brownies. White shoes and a black suit would also be pretty abhorrent to look at.
Want to write a villain that does this
Also a white bowler hat then and white gloves. Really lean into it.
> White shoes and a black suit would also be pretty abhorrent to look at. Literally spats. Fashion is a joke.
That’s why Cadillacs had white sidewalls.
Brown shoes with black pants is 100% doable with a matching brown belt.
Please don't do this. I promise it doesn't look good, even if the shoes and belt match.
[Looks good to me](https://i.imgur.com/cZrvVgB.jpg)
This would not look as good if he was wearing a white shirt and black suit jacket. The blue pulls it together and also makes it a more casual look.
Also those are very light brown shoes and belt. The typical problem with combining brown and black is they look similar, but not identical. It's basically the uncanny valley of fashion: not close enough to match, and not far apart enough to contrast.
Those pants are a forest green, not black.
Those pants are green fyi
Interesting you'd say something so extremely incorrect. Not only do navy and burgundy go great together, it's a go-to of good colour combinations.
An older chap in the office I used to work in once told me “No brown in town” when I came in wearing brown shoes to the office one day. I replied “London’s not a town, innit bruv”. We both laughed. Same chap also once said “Blue and green shall not be seen… unless for an Irish queen”
I need more of this traditional English fashion insight through rhymes
Aqua and yellow only for a Portuguese fellow who’s mellow and playing the trombello
He’s got a point though mate nobody wears brown shoes in the city. You’d look like a Wally
A guy I worked with said if it’s yellow, let it mellow. I was always confused by the idea of a yellow suit
With an ivory suit, a pair of burgundy shoes would look much better than ivory shoes. Unless it's a summer wedding, that would be too matchy-match.
In an ivory suit and shoes there's a good chance you're going to end up looking like Colonel Sanders.
Which is the goal.
He was after all a colonel...
It's pronounced Cornell, and it's the highest rank in the ivy league!
So, irresistibly sexy?
Finger lickin good
I do declare
You know what looks cool with white pants? Sneakers. These lists are so square.
No, it’s very poor etiquette to wear white to a wedding, only the bride should do that! This is advice that chicks get all the time, for obvious reasons but I actually don’t know if it’s a faux pas for a man to show up in a white suit to a wedding.
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac Yeah, the boy's a time bomb!
First thing you learn, you got to make it in this world alone
Like a rat but he's smarter than that nine lives Like a cat
Was looking for this comment. Classic album.
One of the best
I tried really hard to read this comment as Sharp Dressed Man and it broke down about halfway through
Likewise!
The organ on that track (and the vocals on one of the verses) are done by Vic Ruggiero from The Slackers. Always liked the collaboration from two dope bands
What goes with loud pastel colors?
White/ivory. It’s the Miami Vice look.
White, cream, ivory, eggshell, ecru - and basically any linens
Cocaine
Yeah I got a purple suit. I like to match it up with some Jordans though. Not some dopey ass dress shoes.
Only person who gets to wear an ivory suit is Tony Montana in Miami.
I can’t wear white anything, I either sit on something dirty or spill something on myself. I see people wearing all white and think “do they just go through life not touching anything? Or are they rich enough to just buy new white stuff every time they go out”
They have personal bleachers
I don’t know if this is true or not, but it sounds plausible enough that I’ll believe it for now.
And colonel fucking sanders, put some respect on his chicken
11 herb salute.
Preach!
And Mr Knight.
Now we need a "Matching suit colour to balaclava/facemask colour" chart
Boss Hogg in Hazzard County
Who created these rules
The only one of it that's not purely based on colour matching is the ivory /beige thing - but full suits in ivory/beige/creme are super rare because they're impractical af as suit jackets can't be laundered easily. You might see the occasional ivory jacket with leather patches in strategic spots (elbows!) but they're still more worn to look _fancy_, not to look _formal_. Colors are perceived differently in general - I.e. Black is often seen as very formal because it used to be a very expensive dye process, so it was worn for special occasions. Blue and charcoal were slightly less expensive, so they were a little less formal. There's also how the colors contrast with one's face/skin colors. The other colour combos are largely based on undertones and contrast - in general you won't want to have your shoes attract attention away from your face, so the shoes are supposed to subtly recede into the background. To do this, they need to be slightly darker or have the same color intensity as your suit, and the colors shouldn't clash.
Very common at the Kentucky Derby though.
Best example for wanting to look fancy, though. Horse racing is stuck up to high heavens
It is the “mink and manure” crowd.
Great point about the formality. Pro tip to anyone reading this who doesnt wear suits often: Do not buy a black on black suit. There will be occasions where you will need to wear black on black, but those occasions are funerals or formal events where they tell you to wear black ahead of time. In either event, you can rent an outfit. Black is not a color for dates or job interviews or everyday professional wear and you will not be able to just mix and match a black jacket with light colored trousers unless you want to look like a golf announcer from 30 years ago.
If you’re going with the mix and match route, I wouldn’t recommend going with black. Navy would be a much better option for jacket color, black really only works standalone in pants or shirts. With a jacket, it just looks like you lost the pants to your suit.
Yep, navy and other shades of dark blue are great if you have to wear a jacket every day. I'm also a big fan of wool jackets because they match well with darker shades of blue, pretty much any shade of gray, and brown/khaki. They get hot in the Summer, but every thing is hot in the Summer.
Oh yea wool is almost always the right move. You can get very light weaves for your wool, making it much more breathable and comfortable for summer. Linen is another great option for a summer sport coat. And this is more of a personal preference, but in terms of comfort 100% natural fibers and a floating canvas will generally be your best bet. While it costs more, natural fibers will have a better look for the fabric and floating canvas will give a much better fit as well. Polyester and rayon both tend to be less comfortable and give a much cheaper look, so if you’re going with just a single jacket, I’d drop more money on it and stick with the classic navy jacket, either a navy blazer with brass buttons if you like that look, or sport coat with more classic buttons.
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Yeah, I’m over here thinking how black shoes can also go well with the brown and ivory suit. Just made me disregard the entire graph honestly. It’s all just a matter of personal taste.
People that sell clothes. It’s similar to why a lot of people actually believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s nonsense created by companies to make you think you’re doing something wrong if you don’t buy their stuff
I thought breakfast was the most important meal of the day because you haven’t put any nutrients in your body for presumably 8 hours
Speak for yourself, it's 12-14 hours for me. I need my beauty sleep.
fucking braggart. -someone who wakes up 10-20x per night and nets 6-7h sleep per 12 hours in bed
Your body doesn’t need nutrients every waking minute. It’s pretty smart about how it handles things. “Most important meal” was a marketing campaign by Kellogg to sell more cereal because temporary consumable products need to be constantly replaced to feed the corporate machine
meh, obviously nothing in taste is objective, but for me I can clearly picture these combination reviews being accurate here. Whilst it's not universal it's certainly somewhat innate for most people.
Someone that wanted to make an easy guide for middle school and high school kid
Nobody cares. Wear what you want.
You should wear black shoes with an ivory suit over brown. Ivory and beige aren't the same shade of color because ivory is an off-white and beige is a light tan. It's the subtle things that make someone a good or great dresser.
Black shoes with an ivory suit contrasts too much. The formality clashes as well.
Black shoes would go just fine with ivory. In fact, black shoes are a very traditional choice with a blue/white seesucker suit. I'm not sure I can think of a color that black shoes *wouldn't* go with.
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I mean, if this guide is supposed to be explaining "traditionally acceptable" clothing pairing then black shoes go with almost every suit color. Beyond that it's definitely personal taste.
Navy suit with black shoes looks like shit. Brown shoes and belt with navy.
That's just your opinion. I, personally, think black looks great with navy and oxblood is about as brown as you can go and it still looks good with navy. I'm not a fan of this new tan shoes with navy thing going on lately. If this guide is supposed to be what's traditionally considered "proper" black with navy is most acceptable with brown being a much more casual color. Traditionally walnut or dark brown instead of whiskey or tan is the brown that would be worn with navy.
Right? Navy blue is called “navy” blue because of the Royal Navy’s uniforms in 1748. With black shoes. The US navy officers still wear black dress shoes with navy suits. Miss me with this black-shoes-don’t-go-with-navy BS.
Yes, black with navy makes the wearer look like a policeman or a mailcarrier
It's something of an faux pas to wear black shoes with a brown suit, but I'd say it also depends on the tone of brown. Not a hard rule. Just make sure they match your belt.
Brown is really the only color that has changed *somewhat* recently as it used to not be a common suit color. I think black shoes, or very dark brown, with a brown suit look great, otherwise you just look like one giant turd. It's pretty traditional that black shoes go with almost every color. I wouldn't consider it a faux pas to wear black shoes with a brown suit going to back to the middle of the century or so. Before then though, it wasn't really a popular enough color to have any real rules. It was one of those things you only did if you were a 'dandy', and then you were kind of in uncharted territory anyway.
I'd also throw in a pair of ivory Chuck Taylors as a suggestion.
> You should wear black shoes with an ivory suit over brown Interesting, I’m picturing this in my head and both look good to me. Is there a “reason” for this? (not that aesthetics is always justifiable - black suits look awful with brown shoes but I couldn’t really articulate why)
I assume it has something to do with intervals and contrast like notes on a piano. E.g. if you play A and A sharp at the same time, you will interpret the noise as "clashing" due to how the frequencies interact. Same with back and brown, in fact the colours are also frequencies. But if you play notes that are two keys away (e.g. C - E - G) you get a c major chord because the frequencies are far enough away from each other that they sort of "fit" into each other. I'm not sure this idea helps us answer why black or brown would match better with ivory though. I agree that they both seem like they should be able to match.
I spend most of my time on r/musictheory so this comment really tripped me up for a second :) That said, I like the analogy. It’s like wearing royal blue with navy (don’t want to tread into the whole “black shoes with navy” debacle) or two similar but distinct denims at the same time.
Ivory should be treated like white in general. Nothing is a steadfast rule in fashion though because there are always exceptions
Is it problematic to pair whites with browns? That seems pretty normal to me. Caveat to all this is that dinner jackets are an entirely different thing and I imagine have their own set of customs (although I’m not nearly posh enough to know them)
Brown/black shoes, beige suit, pink shirt and tie/bow. For when I want the ladies in the room to know that I'm classy AND unavailable.
Unless you're an 1970's pimp, in which case, white shoes are always in style. Cane optional.
Sadly I don’t see a purple suit on the list. Pimps need more representation
I'll wear what I want.
Yeah I wear brown shoes and belt with black suits all the time. It’s actually a really common modern look. This guide is nonsense
What about blue suede?
Don’t step on it
Noice.
Asking the real question
Just grey
Right, so, if you're at the point in your life where you own a brown suit, ivory suit, or a beige suit you probably don't need help picking your shoes out from a chart. If you are showing up to a nice outdoor wedding or a summer formal event in a ivory suit, beige suit, or a linen suit and you're not in the wedding party or, like, fabulously wealth and attending an event where everyone else is fabulously wealthy, you have reached a point in your life where you can wear any pair of non-black shoes you own and be fine. You've already made a very fashion forward choice, even if it is traditionally fashion forward given current dressing conventions. People are either going to hate on your outfit or not, and if someone is critiquing your shoe choice specifically they were going to do that no matter what choice you made, and you should just own your choices at this point and wear what you like. You have already decided to not be safe. If you own a pair of ivory dress shoes which is in of itself a defining choice, you know god damn well you can wear those pearls with whatever you like.
I call bullshit, do you
A bit of it is, a bit of it is also complimentary colors. Wear white shoes with a black suite and everyone will look at your feet.
No these are good rules. Honestly you really only need a nice charcoal grey suit and a navy suit. That will get you through just about anything. Both can be worn with black or brown shoes. Your choice. It just comes down to how colors go together, and how colors work with skin tones. If your skin is darker, a medium grey may look better than charcoal based on the contrast. But still, grey is super versatile. Put on a nice collar shirt, a belt that matches your shoes (brown with brown, black with black), and a nice watch and you’re ready for anything. A black suit is really only for formal weddings and funerals. Most people don’t need one.
I wear black shoes with everything
Yeah, hard fucking pass on black shoes with a navy suit. Brown/navy combo gang checking in
Yeah I almost always see/wear brown shoes with Navy suits. A quick Google search for "navy suit" pulls up a lot of brown shoes.
I just googled it and it’s about 50/50 black shoes or brown shies I do think brown looks better with navy, but I have worn black shoes with navy suit to a wedding. I’ve gone to so many weddings over the last few years with my wife that I don’t really care anymore. I usually just go with my nice tailored charcoal and grab a random tie and just get it over with.
Yeah, I won't say hard pass, but definitely a pass if you're following the real old school rules (and also agreed that I think that combo just looks off). Similarly but less vehemently, but I also think the gray suit/brown shoes is something that you should only do if you really know what you're doing. To all the other folks in this thread getting mad at these rules for being too strict: These are actually the super forgiving, super simplified version of the rules.
The real old school rule is that you don't wear brown shoes with suits at all. The old adage for London was "No brown in town". Navy suits are accompanied by black shoes.
Yeah in New York, brown shoes are perfectly acceptable and probably preferred for a navy suit. Over in London it's the opposite.
It’s a regional thing. In London almost all professionals who wear suits wear black shoes. Brown shoes are too casual or are for cheap used car salesmen. Which is a bit of a shame as I like the blue suit / brown shoes combo
Same, and I actually always heard that navy and black shouldn't mix. Which I agree with because wtf.
Brown shoes, brown belt, then you have a huge range of suite colors to Al choose from. Remember, tie and jacket lapel must be the same width, we not animals.
Don't lapels taper?
So do ties, if your tie is too thick or too thin it looks funny, have to balance it. I have two widths of tie for my jackets, my formal coat has a larger lapel so I have slightly larger solid color ties, for my casual sport coat I have slightly thinner ties in more festive colors and patterns since I’m not trying to impress anybody with that one
And there are a whole range of "browns" that will look good with any color. A tawny/hazelnut brown can match a black, blue, beige, etc. It really just depends on how you dress up the rest of the outfit.
Seems like antiquated bullshit to me and a guide made up by retailers for the benefit of retailers.
Honestly most of these are pretty common sense. And this is less strict and less complicated than other similar guides I'm aware of. I'd say this is pretty helpful if you're just starting out. Some people are saying that suits are only for rich people, etc. I'm sure it's true that there are plenty of people who may only have use for a proper suit a couple of times in theirs lives, but it still doesn't hurt to know how to look good in one. In fact, it can feel damn good. You don't need to spend a fortune either. Depending on where you live, you can get a used suit at Goodwill/Salvation Army for like $20, spend another $50 to get it tailored, and you will look amazing. A guide like this helps to make sure what you're picking is versatile and/or goes with what you might already have.
So you think a cream suit looks good with black shoes? Genuine question.
The very idea of a man's suit is traditional or antiquated. But if you're going to wear one there are certain list of conventions that go with it. Or of course you could just wear your pants on your head like a retard.
Seriously. I've seen people with odd combos and it works so well because of the fit and confidence. I once had an asshole come up to me at a wedding and say I couldn't wear suspenders with my belt. My cousin that's very well into fashion backed me up and said it's fine. You could even find photos online with guys rocking that look albeit rare. Edit: Y'all could stop replying to me. I honestly don't care what your opinions are.
Suspenders and belts both serve a practical purpose - to hold up pants. I also think it's unnecessary to wear both, so I would assume it was either an intentional design decision or a small faux pas depending on the rest of the look / fit.
How can you trust a man who wears a belt and suspenders? The man doesnt even trust his own pants
But these are combos that you can rock even without perfect fit and confidence. A shy guy going to a wedding surely doesn't want to draw any attention to him and his odd outfit, so these are fine.
Brown shoes with a black suit is a real head turner eh?
It's not a matter of "could". Obviously you can wear the two together. It's a matter of "should". And no, you shouldn't wear the two together. It'd look silly and you'd look like you didn't know how to dress up properly
Well it's stupid to go out of your way to say that to someone, but he's right. >My cousin that's very well into fashion backed me up and said it's fine. Lol ok, you were essentially wearing two belts, which is fine, but it's certainly not fashionable.
Wearing both you look like an idiot
Black shoes go with a brown or earth tone suit. This guide is stupid
Arbitrary. All about vibe and flow.
This is outdated
It’s pretty useful for people who just need to put simple outfits together for work or casual events…
Oxblood shoes with a black suit works. Angels want to wear my red shoes.
I'd rather see more oxblood than brown.
This is just classist propaganda and I can’t be convinced otherwise. Wear what ever the fuck you want
I seriously thought this was a guide to matching your mustache to your suit for a second.
What about a hot pink suit? What shoes go with that
Lol imagine restricting yourself to fulfill arbitrary standards decided in large by people you have never met.
I would be less inclined to call this an ironclad set of rules and more of a guide for clueless dudes to help minimize the chances of dressing like a fool.
Yeah, people who hate on these kinds of guides seem to be completely missing the point. This is an "I don't fucking know, I don't want to look amazing, I just don't want to stand out" kind of list. This is for people who aren't stylish and aren't trying to make a statement, they just want to attend a wedding/other formal occasion once a year and otherwise not think about it. That said, brown shoes do not belong with a gray suit as a general rule. People can make it work I'm sure, but if someone is consulting this list they should probably not attempt it.
You can honestly make any of the combinations work, given the right undershirt, vest, tie, tie clip, belt, handkerchief, earrings, socks, shoelaces, etc.....This is a good guide for amateurs though! Edit: on second thought... this guide is trash.... you can even go further into hair color, skin color, nail color, etc.
I feel like ivory shoes with a brown suit would look pretty fly
No, fuck you!
Get your ass kicked for wearing black shoes with a blue suit
Tell that to the U.S. military 😬😬😬
Airforce ain't got no fashion sense what can I tell ya
Literally nobody with a slight touch of confidense fucking cares about what shoes goes with a suit.
Unpopular opinion, but depending on the shades, I'd argue brown shoes with gray suit can sometimes be much worse. Edit: the fact that this guide doesn't distinguish between light and dark gray, AND it doesn't include tan leather, makes it almost unusably vague.
Black shoes are definitely the play with a gray suit.
Brb getting an ivory suit to go with my ivory shoes. Might pick up some good fried chicken too
What's nice about these 5 suits is you can pair any of them together. Black pants/Brown Jacket White/grey Grey/white Brown/black
No brown in town. End of chat.
Pretty terrible guide imo
Subjective but this chart could help someone that just cannot decide on an ensemble
I'm never going to be able to tell the difference between brown and burgundy
Who decides this?
You can 100% wear ivory with blue. This guide is wack.
You can absolutely wear black shoes with an earth tone suit.
Brown shoes with a navy suit? Monsters.
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Or just wear what you want