Matching shoes with belts with suits?

[SylvesterPennoyer]

OK, I know that the shoes should match the belts. That is, brown belt with brown shoes, black belt with black shoes, and burgundy belt with burgundy shoes. The question is, does it matter what color the suit is? Will burgundy shoes and belt go with only certain color suits? Please, if there are any rules here, let me know what they are, so I don't unwittingly make a fool out of myself. THANKS...

 

[Carlo]

Cordovan goes with nearly anything. Black with black and gray, brown,taupe or navy... Brown shoes with taupes and olives...

Once you feel like you have it understood take a trip to Rome/Milan and see your clarity evaporate - the Italians wear brown with anything they damned well please and look great doing it

 

[FCS]

Here's a question from a colour deficient guy. What would you wear with, say, this pair of brown shoes? Almost went for it but I've never wear anything other than black shoes. Another thing is that I dislike earth tones other than grey. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....IT&rd=1

 

[Steve B.]

Better question would be, what color wouldn't you wear them with? I'd even wear then with a black suit because of the patina.

Chuck's entirely correct about the Italians. I've never been there, but I hear they only wear black after 6.

 

[LA Guy]

FCS: The shoes would go with just about anything.

And the Italians pull off the brown thing because they recognize that they look good and don't need any rules to tell them so. They have confidence. I say, play to your strengths. American guys are often insecure about their appearance. On the other hand, they do belligerence well. So wear brown shoes with any suit other than black (which should be a clubbing or evening suit anyway). And if some Wall Street type looks askance, look at him and say, "Hey, whatever. You're an I-banker/lawyer/other corporate stooge. You've forfeited your right to comment."

 

[FCS]

Thanks for the response, Steve and LA Guy. In general, can you wear brown shoes with black pants, no jacket? How about mid-shade blue and dark burgundy / purple pants?

On a side note, any guess how old the EG was and whether it was a good value at that price?

 

[VWpete]

If you like it, do it.... I wear brown shoes (Purple Label monkstraps and Bastianelli antiqued boots w/ black/ charcoal) all the time and get a ton of complements on it.
Pete

 

[friendlyone]

Brown shoes make for a much more casual look. If that's the look you're after, then you can wear brown with anything. One could even argue that you should wear brown with everything, if only because brown shoes are always better looking than their black counterparts, imo.

But all rules have their exceptions: if you are going for a NYC all-black or heavily black look, the shoes should match the outfit.