Are suede dress shoes okay with suits?

(duplicate)

With a country suit. Most traditional suits and the environments where they are worn make suede shoes not a good idea. The man in the picture would be inappropriately dressed in most circumstances. (Also because his suit jacket is too small.)

...and there is too much break in his trouser legs.

I thought the contemporary consensus was that suede shoes were acceptable for business attire. However, I think a darker suede would have better complemented the ensemble in the photo.

The shoes are the least of his worries. Jacket is too short and too tight, trousers taper too much and bunch up at the shoes and he looks like he slept in the suit. The suede shoes are nice, but not paired with that suit. They would look better with a country tweed or glen plaid suit, or navy blazer and charcoal trousers.

 

Lol, fail. :D

 

After giving it some thought as to why, it seems that the real problem isn't the suede, it's clashing colors.

All the cold and metallic blues and grays, and then a bright brown shoe, it just looks out of place. I guess if he wore less metallic colors, and something in his attire echoed the earthy tone of the shoe (such as a similarly brown suitcase, and maybe a patterned tie with warm, earthy colors), it may possibly work.

But with this "cool as steel on ice" corporate terminator color scheme, nothing would cut it except shiny black shoes. Any brown would look silly.

It seems to me that this an "it depends" sort of answer. I'm an attorney, and I wouldn't dream of suede in a business setting, much less in court. But I wouldn't have any problem with it in other situations.

Even though it is currently popular, suede does not give off the same 'vibe' as polished leather does. Without the added sparkle of polished leather shoes a suit can look 'let down'. Not that it can't be done - but like the example you give - it often fails.

As for what is considered proper - I say not with a suit in a business setting. Fine with an odd jacket and trousers.

Provided that they are dark in colour like chocolate brown and the cut and style is classic. So I would not wear a suede desert boots with a suit but I will wear a slim cut suede oxford.

Its not the material I think that makes or breaks the combo but the colour coordination.
Edited by kaizo - 1/5/13 at 6:24pm

There's a great picture of Cary Grant sheltering from the rain. It's black and white so you can't see the colours but it looks to be a medium gray suit with perhaps snuff suede shoes. It can be done but as noted above, comes with risks. IMO it's best with more casual, less corporate suits, or summer suits, eg seersucker with bucks (which are kinda like suede), or navy linen with navy or snuff suedes.

I like to wear my suede dress shoes with flannel suits.

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