those crazy women

[Joel_Cairo]

What is it with women and black shoes? Seems to me that every female I know who has a StyleForum level of interest in clothing etc. looks down on brown shoes in a big way. In the store the other day, I suggested some nice dark brown flats for the office to my gf (would have been spectacular with the charcoal pants she bought), and she looked at me like I was bonkers. Is the "brown-rather-than-black-as-an-indicator-of-taste" limited to men's attire?

 

[zjpj83]

Sank heaven for leetul gulls...

 

[csheehan]

Many women seem to have a problem with brown and gray (I've seen references to this in 30's Esquires). They also seem to have a problem with the concept of gray as a neutral; as in "most sports coats except gray ones go with gray pants." In the genes perhaps?

Chris

 

[summej2]

No, but I think women have been inundated with the "all black is stylish" pseudo-gospel far more than men. While I think women's style is more about outfits and being "put together" than men's style, women certainly don't need to wear only black shoes.

As a side note, my wife invariably reaches for black shoes first, but her brown Tricker's and Tod's boots are starting to make inroads.

 

[DMcG]

I don't know that my girlfriend has a single pair of black shoes that she wears to the office.

edit: Scratch that. She has one pair of black boots.

 

[heavyd]

babes are marketed to totally differently than men. often we here discuss clothes that look established and historical. women view wearing dated fashion differently, and they are always trying to be current. also, sad to say, they see color differently than we do. only the very fashion forward women know the value of vintage styled attire in the way of a Jackie O / Audrey Hepburn A-line dress or the way Katherine Hepburn wore pants. most of them see the winow at neimans or banana and look at other women and try to keep up...

my babe's idea of style is funky colors more so than unique suits and hand crafted shoes. she doesnt see value in buying top quality on a deep discount since she plans to buy new every season.

and also, they dry clean way way too much for fine clothes... its silly really.

 

[dkzzzz]

Stylish American woman is an oxymoron.
While one can see exceptionally stylish girls on the streets of Paris or Milan or even Bombay and Damask, here in US they dress according to the latest Cosmopolitan magazine recommendations. I go out quite often and see American women dress like clones in those ubiquitous little-black dresses and black shoes as if they all recently graduated from the same suburban beauty-school.

 

[Tomasso]

Originally Posted by dkzzzz

one can see exceptionally stylish girls on the streets of Paris or Milan here in US they dress according to the latest Cosmopolitan magazine recommendations.

Most women, worldwide, are fashionable, few are stylish.

 

[Get Smart]

my fiancee is stylish, and not fashionable....and she only has 2 pairs of brown shoes. Going with her shoe shopping, I've noticed it's hard to find nice looking brown shoes for women. Besides, the appeal of brown shoe patina/antiquing for men's shoes is irrelevant to most women's shoes since there isnt enough leather to develop a patina. The only pair of brown shoes we saw that looked good were some Paul Smith women's brogues, which were just the men's brogues made smaller and more feminine.

 

[designprofessor]

My bet, there's probably a whole other level of interpretation /perception going on here.

She may not be against brown shoes, rather how other women might percieve her choice of pairing brown shoes with a particular outfit. Different set of rules?

My 2 cents...i'm shootin' in the dark here

 

[The Devil's Hands]

Originally Posted by designprofessor

My bet, there's probably a whole other level of interpretation /perception going on here. She may not be against brown shoes, rather how other women might percieve her choice of pairing brown shoes with a particular outfit. Different set of rules? My 2 cents...i'm shootin' in the dark here
It's really as simple as girls R dumer...just kidding.

It's not merely a question of aesthetics. Consider the most lusted after men's shoe:

, By contrast, consider a similarly lusted after women's shoe:

. Would you want to wear something so ornate on your feet (to say nothing of the lift!)? She probably wouldn't want to wear something so plain as those Lobbs either, even if the quality is as extreme as it is. I've always been under the impression that women generally regard shoes as affects, rather than reflections of character. Would you want to wear a solid brown cravat? She probably feels the same way about brown shoes.

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by Joel_Cairo

What is it with women and black shoes? Seems to me that every female I know who has a StyleForum level of interest in clothing etc. looks down on brown shoes in a big way.

I'll be brief: don't know, don't care.

 

[Dragon]

My wife likes my brown (and other colored shoes) shoes, but she views black, lace ups as the ultimate mens shoe.

I think it`s an image thing she has, that men should wear nice, polished black shoes.

 

[LabelKing]

Brown shoes for women are a bit too English country and best left to Trads.

 

[Thurston]

Women with black shoes, black pants, looking at men's clothing in terms of 'outfits'... it goes on and on. As other posters have said, they don't look at wardrobes as collections of classic pieces. They don't have the vision for it. In much the same way, most women can't visualize the finished project based on blueprints that show overhead plan views. They need more detailed, preferably color, renderings. I've also found that many women eschew gray because it is too neutral. Exactly what we like is what they don't get. Women need to see color, flash. You'd be surprised at how many women think a watch on a steel bracelet is dressier than on a nice croc strap.