Brown shoes and black pants - I know I know

I know that this topic has probably been beaten to death and written up everywhere as a fashion no no, but I have been gravitating towards my brown shoes more now than ever. I usually see myself as having good fashion sense, but all the talk about these two colors clashing is giving me second thoughts.

So I own a pair of these John Varvatos dress oxfords that are dark brown (distressed wood) color. I use it as my every day work shoe and will pair it with designer denim or chinos. I don't need to wear dress pants or suits for work and I find these very stylish yet simple. My question is that I have been wearing these with black chinos and denim and was wondering if it's a fashion no-no. I pair it with a matching color belt and usually a plaid shirt for a more casual look. I know that there is not that much contrast between these and black pants, but I find it very complimentary. What do you guys think? I think that the black stitching and sole helps blend the two.


I'm going out to dinner at a nice restaurant this week and thinking of wearing a black designer denim, the shoe above, and pairing it with a nice Boss brown corduroy blazer. Will that work? I just don't see wearing black shoes when I have a dark brown blazer. I love these shoes so much that I'm thinking of getting to boot new york's warwick ash gray / brown oxfords below.


Should I bother getting them or spend the money on a black shoe instead? I only own one pair of nice black oxfords that I usually reserve for special occasions or when wearing a suit, but don't have a pair that I wear regularly that is both dressy and casual like the two pictured above.

Black jeans + brown cord blazer:

You seem to already know that it's a bad idea. Are you just asking people to confirm it?

Not wearing black and brown together is basically style rule #1

Get some grey pants.

post pics of the combo



bkusf said:

I know that this topic has probably been beaten to death and written up everywhere as a fashion no no, but I have been gravitating towards my brown shoes more now than ever. I usually see myself as having good fashion sense, but all the talk about these two colors clashing is giving me second thoughts.

So I own a pair of these John Varvatos dress oxfords that are dark brown (distressed wood) color. I use it as my every day work shoe and will pair it with designer denim or chinos. I don't need to wear dress pants or suits for work and I find these very stylish yet simple. My question is that I have been wearing these with black chinos and denim and was wondering if it's a fashion no-no. I pair it with a matching color belt and usually a plaid shirt for a more casual look. I know that there is not that much contrast between these and black pants, but I find it very complimentary. What do you guys think? I think that the black stitching and sole helps blend the two. 


I'm going out to dinner at a nice restaurant this week and [COLOR=FF00AA]thinking of wearing a black designer denim, the shoe above, and pairing it with a nice Boss brown corduroy blazer. Will that work?[/COLOR] I just don't see wearing black shoes when I have a dark brown blazer. I love these shoes so much that I'm thinking of getting to boot new york's warwick ash gray / brown oxfords below. 

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I have a pair of these myself. They cut at my ankles but are otherwise comfortable enough.
Wear the brown cord sport coat but forget the black pants altogether. Wear any other colour but black pants with these shoes. You already knew that.
Welcome to Styleforum.

Christian B said:

Black jeans + brown cord blazer:

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Why not? I've seen in magazines and it looks pretty sharp. Dark brown cord blazer, white shirt w/ black tie, brown belt, black pants. I'm searching for the pic and I'm just trying to know why this rule is so important. I think it all depends on the shade of the brown and are there any other accents in your atire that supports it.

Liquidus said:

You seem to already know that it's a bad idea. Are you just asking people to confirm it?

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I've read it's a bad idea, but I kinda like the look if done right. Trying to ask if what I'm proposing to wear is a rule breaker.



bkusf said:

I've read it's a bad idea, but I kinda like the look if done right. Trying to ask if what I'm proposing to wear is a rule breaker.

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again, post a picture
so we can see if you're doing it right or not



bkusf said:

Why not? I've seen in magazines and it looks pretty sharp. Dark brown cord blazer, white shirt w/ black tie, brown belt, black pants. I'm searching for the pic and I'm just trying to know why this rule is so important. I think it all depends on the shade of the brown and are there any other accents in your atire that supports it.

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I personally don't like/hate the mix of brown and black. Yes, I actually can cope with a black suit eek done right, but black and brown just don't match at all. Black pants => Black Shoes => Black jacket etc., it's a evil spiral for blackness.



bkusf said:

I've read it's a bad idea, but I kinda like the look if done right. Trying to ask if what I'm proposing to wear is a rule breaker.

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personally, never for me. Im not sure about rules, but it just looks odd



bkusf said:

I've read it's a bad idea, but I kinda like the look if done right. Trying to ask if what I'm proposing to wear is a rule breaker.

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of course its a rule breaker, and it sounds like a disaster.

But if this is what you want to wear, wear it.

Most 'rules' can be broken. Although mixing black and brown can be tricky it can work.

But why bother - do you have a pair of good dark blue denim jeans? Wouldn't they look better?

If you do decide to mix browns with black be sure to carefully coordinate the shades of brown - it's your only hope.

Mixing certain black and brown items is possible, but brown shoes with black trousers is one combination that is unlikely to ever look good.



Sanguis Mortuum said:

Mixing certain black and brown items is possible, but brown shoes with black trousers is one combination that is unlikely to ever look good.

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+1. I'm skeptical that black chinos or denim could ever really look better than their navy or indigo counterparts. But especially not with the proposed brown shoes. Black shoes with brown pants is much more likely to be successful, although still requires care (this is a special case of the "shoes darker than pants" rule, which can also be broken, but only with caution).