Men's Fashion
Matching Your Dress Shoes And Suits
18/08/2020
As the one-stop destination for luxury menswear, at POLITIX we thought a quick guide for matching your shoes with your suit was in order. For those in hurry, just follow these steps to great shoe accessorising.
Step 01
Understand The Occasion
The more formal the occasion, the more formal the suit... which means the more formal the shoe. It's completely up to you if you want to match your black tuxedo with some white Stan Smith's. But if you prefer a more traditional approach to help you ascend the social ladder, then understand the occasion that you are dressing for.
Step 02
Pick The Suit To Match The Occasion
A correctly fitted suit can make you feel like you are ready to take on the world.
In terms of budget, it's always more cost effective to save money by buying one suit that you can wear for a variety of occasions. A well made and timeless business suit can usually remain in-style and wearable for many years. Allowing you to simply make adjustments with your shoe style, but there will also come a time when you need something a little more upscale. With so many options and styles out there it
can become overwhelming. That's why at POLITIX, we have created a handy suit guide to help you select a suit that will cover you all week round, from boardroom, to a royal wedding and everything in between. A simple rule to remember is wearing suits that are less traditional "business" colours will allow you more options when selecting a shoe colour.
Clockwise from top left - Workwear, Wedding, Weekend Casual and Black Tie.
Step 03
Suit Accessories Are A Must
Select the perfect suit accessories to match your outfit and your shoes: The right suit accessories will add personality to your style, break up the monotony of your office attire, and lift your outfit to the next level. Here are just a few of these wardrobe game changers to think about;
TIE BARS
A simple and elegant tie bar is a functional item that will also add a volume of classic style to your outfit.
CUFFLINKS
You can also add polish and decoration to your outfit with a set of well- designed cufflinks for your dress shirt.
BELTS
The belt is an additional opportunity to match style with your shoe selection. A belt isn't only practical, but will be seen front and centre on your outfit.
TIES
A tie is important. Between the colour, knot type and fabric, your tie can offer you a range of styling options.
Step 04
Select The Shoe To Match The Suit
So by this stage you know how formal the event will be and you've selected a suit to match the occasion. Time to select the shoe.
Black shoes tend to say 'I am a businessman', while brown shoes can float between business and casual easily enough. The style and formality of shoe will also play an influence on your overall ensemble. With that in mind, the shoe rules to follow are actually pretty straight forward.
Wearing a navy blue suit, Then select from brown or black mens shoes.
If wearing the suit for business then black shoes are the best option. Brown is always good if you are after a more casual style aura.
Wearing a light grey suit, Then select black or brown mens shoes.
This suit colouring tends to be a little less formal and allows you to get away with wider options for shoes. Play with the colours to walk seamlessly between business formal to playful night out.
Wearing a charcoal grey suit, select black or brown mens shoes.
Even though black shoes tend to be easy to wear with most outfits, a brown Oxford or Monk Shoe will create a look that is not only stylish and relaxed but also matches strongly with the fabric.
Wearing A cream suit, Then select brown shoes.
Play with subtle contrast between light brown shoes. The pairing of this suit and shoe colouring is a classic spring and summer look. A decorated low heeled light brown brogue or boot can carry you from a formal occasion to your local night spot with style and ease.
Clothes maketh the man - in other words your appearance matters.
This is just a simple guide to help you understand the convention around how to pick which colour shoes to wear based on your suit style. You can always decide to ignore these rules and simply put on those white sneakers. As long as your overall style meets the need for the occasion and you wear your shoes and suit with confidence, your outfit can definitely still work.
