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Third pair of shoes... black longwings?

post #1 of 23
11/21/12 at 4:24am
Thread Starter 
Thinking about buying these from Meermin:



I'll be wearing tan and navy moleskins and grey and brown flannels, basically (these will be for autumn/winter).

I really like the broguing, shape and rubber sole and I think black shoes will be fine to alternate with the brown wingtips when wearing the greys and navys (not with the tan and brown).

I have, basically, two pair of shoes that I'm wearing to work:
Brown suedes and brown wingtips.





Would be a plain toe blucher better (more versatile)?



Anything against... apart from the usual black shoes boring thing, etc?

Thanks.

P.S. My other black shoes are black cap toe oxfords and some casual/ugly elastic side loafers.
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post #2 of 23
11/21/12 at 6:08am
meh, i'd get exactly zero use out of a black lwb or a PTB. Why not more brown?
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post #3 of 23
11/21/12 at 7:51am
I have a pair of black wingtips (which I prefer to longwings) that I get a lot of use out of. I usually wear them at night with casual outfits like jeans, or with charcoal/dark gray trousers.

With your tan and navy trousers, a brown shoe may be better. With the gray flannel trousers, my choice would be the black shoe though I am probably in the minority.
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post #4 of 23
11/22/12 at 3:09am
Thread Starter 
So we're 50/50 on this subject. Anyone have some more insight on this?
Is black really too severe for business casual?

Thanks for the previous answers.
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post #5 of 23
11/22/12 at 7:53am
Personally black long wings make no sense to me. Black shoes are for CBD outfits or evening. Longwings are neither (I guess could be CBD if that's your style, but you've already got cap toes, the ultimate CBD shoe).
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post #6 of 23
11/22/12 at 8:50am
If you can imagine yourself wearing the shoes 2-3 days a week, then I'd say they're versatile enough. I don't think they'd look great with tan, but they'll work with blue, navy, grey, (probably) brown trousers.

Maybe in a Platonic SF wardrobe, black shoe are only for night or CBD. I only have one pair of black (captoe) shoes myself. But honestly, a nice black longwing in real leather, taken care of, is a handsome, masculine, and under-stated shoe that works well for most occasions.
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post #7 of 23
11/22/12 at 9:05am
If you like the look of a longwing, why not save up a little more and get a pair in cordovan, OneShoe style? foo.gif
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post #8 of 23
11/22/12 at 9:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by unbelragazzo View Post

If you like the look of a longwing, why not save up a little more and get a pair in cordovan, OneShoe style? foo.gif

 

Did Foo ever take inclement weather into his decision making process? If so, did he go for cordovan with a dainite sole? If so, just one pair or two - incase it rained / snowed multiple days in a row (allowing him to rest the shoe sufficiently)?

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post #9 of 23
11/23/12 at 9:53am
Thread Starter 
Well, I like the masculine understated thing and if they can work with dark brown flannel pants that'll be a plus... Still wondering.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Makoto Chan View Post

If you can imagine yourself wearing the shoes 2-3 days a week, then I'd say they're versatile enough. I don't think they'd look great with tan, but they'll work with blue, navy, grey, (probably) brown trousers.
Maybe in a Platonic SF wardrobe, black shoe are only for night or CBD. I only have one pair of black (captoe) shoes myself. But honestly, a nice black longwing in real leather, taken care of, is a handsome, masculine, and under-stated shoe that works well for most occasions.
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post #10 of 23
11/23/12 at 12:01pm
The whole "black is only for formal occasions" makes as little sense to me as someone who insists that it's ridiculous to have a brown captoe oxford, since brown is informal and the shoe style is CBD. Personally I like to mix elements of formality with informality, so an oxford longwing or wingtip were fine. While I usually stick to captoe or punchtoe oxfords with suits as a personal choice, the black longwing has a long history in the US of being business appropriate, and because it's a longwing it should dress down nicely as well. It may be because I'm from NYC but I like wearing black shoes in a non-CBD situation, even during the day. smile.gif
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post #11 of 23
11/23/12 at 12:12pm
It is historically business appropriate, in the same way that the glen check suit is historically business appropriate. It used to be more common than it is today, and is now somewhat dandified and old-fashioned as a business item. It definitely works today, but it's not the path of least resistance. Anyway, if you're getting it for the purposes of wearing it with CBD, then fine, just know what you're doing. But for wearing with tan moleskins and brown flannels, it's not that great a choice IMHO.
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post #12 of 23
11/23/12 at 1:48pm
OP consider cordovan Longwings. Much better shoe.
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post #13 of 23
11/23/12 at 3:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by unbelragazzo View Post

It is historically business appropriate, in the same way that the glen check suit is historically business appropriate. It used to be more common than it is today, and is now somewhat dandified and old-fashioned as a business item. It definitely works today, but it's not the path of least resistance. Anyway, if you're getting it for the purposes of wearing it with CBD, then fine, just know what you're doing. But for wearing with tan moleskins and brown flannels, it's not that great a choice IMHO.

I can get behind that, but my main point (which I probably did a bad job of making) was that CBD aside, there's nothing wrong with black shoes in a style more casual than a captoe oxford, any more than there's anything wrong with a brown shoe in a formal style. Especially in an urban environment.
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post #14 of 23
11/23/12 at 4:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tim_horton View Post

I can get behind that, but my main point (which I probably did a bad job of making) was that CBD aside, there's nothing wrong with black shoes in a style more casual than a captoe oxford, any more than there's anything wrong with a brown shoe in a formal style. Especially in an urban environment.

There's nothing "wrong" with them. I'm not citing a "rule" here that I'm aware of, but personally within classic menswear, they should either be business shoes or evening shoes. Evening shoes can be made more casual, for instance in suede or velvet. Other more casual black shoes can look good with jeans in a more SW&D way. But I can't remember seeing black shoes in a business casual kind of way where I didn't think some kind of brown would have been better. Willing to be shown a picture where that is not the case.
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post #15 of 23
11/23/12 at 7:27pm
Everyone should have at least one pair of black shoes. However, I wouldn't go with longwings if it was just one pair. I'd just get a cap toe balmoral.
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