Shoes - if you could only have 3-4 pairs, what would they be?

Originally Posted by tim_horton

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Interesting that there haven't been many calls for burgundy shoes so far, since it's considered to be a versatile color that can be paired with the common suiting colors of charcoal and navy.

Though personally I'm not a fan of the color myself, and prefer, say, cigar cordovan over #8 cordovan in just about every situation. It's the kind of shoe color I feel like I should like, but just don't.

In principal, burgundy is the most versatile color, since it can be worn with black trousers, unlike brown, or with brown trousers, unlike black. In practice, I very rarely wear black trousers (when I do, I'm usually on the dance floor, wearing my black dance shoes), so dark brown is practically as versatile as cordovan. However, one of my favorite pairs of shoes are color #6, shell cordovan monkstraps. Color #6 is slightly more red than color #8 and looks better to my eye.

FWIW, both brown and black shoes can be paired with charcoal or navy suits. To my eye, when pairing brown shoes and a dark suit, the lighter the brown, the more casual the look.

Originally Posted by tim_horton

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Interesting that there haven't been many calls for burgundy shoes so far, since it's considered to be a versatile color that can be paired with the common suiting colors of charcoal and navy.

Though personally I'm not a fan of the color myself, and prefer, say, cigar cordovan over #8 cordovan in just about every situation. It's the kind of shoe color I feel like I should like, but just don't.

I love burgundy. I only have one in that color (loafers) and would like to have another (not a loafer).

Thanks for all of the replies so far.

To be fair, there's almost a certain possibility that I will end up with more than 4 pairs.

However, my goal was to figure out which 4 I should start with that would give me the most flexibility. My real fear is that I'll end up buying some longwings and never end up wearing them. (Because in the office they seem a bit too fancy and in casual situations I'd probably fall back on chukkas or something)

Originally Posted by thinman

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In principal, burgundy is the most versatile color, since it can be worn with black trousers, unlike brown, or with brown trousers, unlike black. In practice, I very rarely wear black trousers (when I do, I'm usually on the dance floor, wearing my black dance shoes), so dark brown is practically as versatile as cordovan. However, one of my favorite pairs of shoes are color #6, shell cordovan monkstraps. Color #6 is slightly more red than color #8 and looks better to my eye.

FWIW, both brown and black shoes can be paired with charcoal or navy suits. To my eye, when pairing brown shoes and a dark suit, the lighter the brown, the more casual the look.

Yeah, if I could have only ONE pair, I'd go with burgundy. But two or more, I go dark brown and black and don't look back.

The only 3 pairs you really need.
AE Park Avenue in Black
AE Fifth Avenue in Brown Burnished Calf
AE McCalister in Walnut

And then the next two pairs should be
AE Leeds in Burgundy. If you can afford it in shell cordovan.
AE Bayfield Boots in Brown(For the winter and bus. casual days)

Kind of boring but,

1. Black Cap Toe
2. Dark Brown Split toe blucher
3. Tan Wingtip
4. Oxblood wingtip boots

Quite a challenge, but I'll take a stab at this

Under $300 a shoe is hard, I'm going to go with average of $300 a shoe

1. Ferragamo black cap toe, models can be either Revival or Newlands. You can find these on sale for about $200-225. I've seen them at Nordstrom Rack. You can also find them on eBay slightly used for about $125-150. It's an easy way to get a slightly sleeker toe; better than most of the English makers and any of the Americans. The leather isn't as good, it's OK for the price. They're also still Blake stitched. The next step up, with this kind of sleekness, will be a Crockett and Jones and those will be $200-250 used and much more on sale. You could also look into Bruno Maglis, but I think the Napa leather on those is worse than the Ferragamos. This black cap toe would work for your business casual and work environments, and will double up as formal wear with suits.



2. Ralph Lauren Horatio loafer. Nice casual shoe. I bought one in suede for $120 and one in this mid-brown calf for $75, both on eBay. I think you might be able to find these at Nordstrom Rack as well for around $200-225. This will work for casual wear.



3. Loake Kemptons. Available for about $125 on eBay and maybe $200 on sale? Definitely not very expensive. These should work for both casual wear and, depending on your office environment, business casual.



2. Edward Green Dover. Here is where you splurge after having saved a bunch of money from your other purchases. This will also be your gateway drug into higher end shoes. I think you can find these for ~$500 on sale? These will work for some formal wear, and any kind of business casual or work environment. You could also wear these casually. If you could only own one shoe, this would be it.

Black John Lobb cap-toe City II.
Bespoke Gaziano wholecut in burgundy
Dark brown Jermyn II monks
Brown John Lobb Garnier II

And as a super-sub Austerity brogue John Lobb bespoke Paris.

Originally Posted by lasbar

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Black John Lobb cap-toe City II.
Bespoke Gaziano wholecut in burgundy
Dark brown Jermyn II monks
Brown John Lobb Garnier II

And as a super-sub Austerity brogue John Lobb bespoke Paris.

Methinks you didn't read his post.

Originally Posted by chasingred

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Methinks you didn't read his post.

Oooops...

Sorry ....

EG under $300?

A "minimalist" shoe collection seems silly, and pretty much the opposite of what most of us do here, but I'll play along. Were I to be reduced to owning only 4 pairs of shoes I would own these (which I fortunately already do):

AE Park Avenue in Black Calf.
Vintage Florsheim Gunboat in Burgundy Pebble Grain.
Alden Chukka in Shell Cordovan.
Alden Leisure Handsewn Moccasin in Cigar Shell.

Also a pair of gym sneakers, Red Wing work boots, and Bean boots for snow and rain, but those don't count as shoes.

I'm sad there's no room for a pair of tassel loafers or some suede, but when tough choices have to be made this is where I go.

Originally Posted by Cant kill da Rooster

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You live up to your name.

+1.

Originally Posted by alliswell

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There's nothing more to say. It you're going to have three pairs of shoes, two have to be office-ready, so even broguing is realistically out.

How is broguing not 'office ready'?

1. Black captoe oxfords.
2. Burgundy calf/n. 8 shell full brogues (wingtip or longwing, derby or oxford).
3. Boat shoes in brown.
4. Clarks desert boots in tobacco suede.

3 and 4 are cheap, so you can use the budget for good dress shoes. If you want to save on something go for calf instead of shell for 2.