brown or black shoes for wear w/ red chinos?

It all depends on the shoes man.

Burgundy.

Brown. Don't think I'd wear burgundy with red trousers...too much red...

As an avid fan of red pants (yes I am THAT WASPy asshole) I find pairing shoes with the pants equally as fun as the pants themselves. Since these are chinos I gather that they are not going to worn in a formal setting. This makes it even easier to mix things up. Here are a few of my favorites to wear with red (or brick in this case) casual pants:

The Easiest Look:
Chocolate Bass Weejuns or something of similar styling and color. Penny loafers are practically horse and carriage with go-to-Hell style and the dark brown color makes for a nice conservative ending to your look.

The WASP Look:
I generally prefer to wear my red pants with tassel loafers. I have a few pairs of Aldens that work well:
--Chocolate Suede-- http://www.northriveroutfitter.com/c...fullsize=large
--Cordovan Cigar-- http://www.theshoemart.com/alden-men...LAID=534237363
--Sand Suede-- just bought these off SF and while they are a little harder to pull off they definitely look summery and different

The Ballsy Look:
This is something that I have only started to embrace recently and generally when I am trying to one-up my friends at semi-formal occasions. However, I can see kicking around in these casually and looking very smart.
http://www.styledrops.com/handbags-42146.html

Again I probably won't get any points for conservatism in my looks but I think these are all solid options for the GTH aesthetic (I'm assuming that's what you're going for by buying red pants in the first place). Sorry for the long post. I often find myself carried away with such topics.

I have a pair of Pantas in red. I plan to do them with a suede - probably a lighter one. Definitely not black, as long as Im not attending a holiday party. As Santa.

Any shade of brown, but I gravitate towards medium-to-lighter shades. Also, I wear beige suede bucks (the ones from Lands' End are excellent for the price) and sometimes leather flip-flops. I would wear blue suede shoes in a heartbeat if I had a pair.

I agree with bourbon and acecow. Definitely go with brown. I have a pair pants in that color and I like a lighter shade of chocolate with my pants. My burgundy loafers are pushing it and they don't really match too well. Also, try non-bulky (if that makes sense) DBs in a sand color. That could be an option as well.

Judging from the photos, the official answer is neither. You wear dirty sneakers, a half-tucked shirt and sweater, and a dopey "Shucks, you mean me?" expression. And you cross your legs like you need to go to the bathroom.

Myself, I agree with the chocolate brown idea.

To me, red pants call for Bucks - white, off-white, or tan.

I remember those - the Zegna fabric, right? They're awesome. I remember being pissed about missing out on them. That's about when I knew I had a problem... Anyway, I'd go brown - preferably suede, but dark brown calfskin otherwise. Not feeling black with this.

^ correct

I have several pairs of shoes that would go great with those.

dark brown suede desert boots
tan suede wingtips
navy suede bucks
brown boatshoes


pretty much can't go wrong with any kind of brown of navy suede.