Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette! In today's video, we're going to talk about how
to wear brown shoes, how to combine them and when not to wear brown shoes.
In the 19th century, Beau Brummel set the tone for men's fashion. He was a big proponent
of black eveningwear and so people also wore black shoes. At that time, rules like "No
brown in town" or "No brown after six" just ensured that people dressed in a socially
acceptable way. By the 1930s, Edward, the prince of Wales, became the Arbiter Elegantiarum
and he basically dictated what people wore. If he would wear something, the general public would
pick it up shortly thereafter and he was a big fan of brown slip on shoes. Oftentimes,
he would wear brown and white Spectator shoes and so brown became more acceptable in the
general public. If you want to learn more about history, check out our article on How
to wear brown shoes here.
Today, dress codes are much more relaxed than they were fifteen or sixteen years ago. If
you wear a well-fitting suit today or a combination, you are much better dressed than the average
person. So "No brown in town" or "No brown after six" are simply not valid anymore. What
matters is that you look good. It's much better to wear a well-fitting suit in Brown shoes
than to wear an ill-fitting suit with black shoes in town after 6 pm. Most debonair Italians
I know only wear black shoes for funerals, for weddings and for black tie, white tie
events. Otherwise, they go with brown and so can you. One of the really nice things
about brown leather is that it develops a patina, unlike black shoes. That means over
time, you get this nice look of the leather and it's really pleasant and it's not something
you can achieve with dark shoes. Also, you can really see leather textures on brown shoes
much better such as scotch grain, or pebble grain or suede. With black, they just disappear.
Generally, it is important to keep in mind that shoes with more texture and more broguing
are less formal and shoes that are plain, cap-toe leather Oxfords are more formal regardless
of their color.So, when should you wear brown shoes? Well, Brown shoes could be worn with
almost anything ranging from jeans of cavalry twill to corduroy, flannel and worsteds or
tweeds. Unlike black, brown comes in a variety of shades so you can really create a unique
color palette in your shoe closet. Here are some guidelines on how to wear brown shoes
but keep in mind that it's just that. It's a guideline and it's never absolute. It's
just here to help you create your own look. So first, let's start with business suits.
Three piece business suits, two-piece business suits, solid, small patterns, fine stripes,
Glen plaids, this is what we're talking about here right now. If your suit is black, you
should wear black shoes. When you should have a black suit to begin with, is another question
but don't combine black suits with brown shoes. Just stick with black. For Charcoal suits,
I personally prefer black over brown, even dark brown because I think it just works together
much better. Definitely avoid Tan and you can try it with a dark reddish brown or red
pair of shoes. For mid-grey suits, black works but in terms of brown, you can really start
combining now, you can wear dark brown, maybe burgundy red and you can even try lighter
shades of brown. For dark Navy suits, black is an option but you really want to go with
brown for a more modern look. I think burgundy is outstanding, tan can work, mid brown can
work and it's really all up to you and how much contrast you want to create. For a lighter
navy, I think black oftentimes looks better but again, you can try to ease in with darker
shades of brown, chocolate brown, medium brown, maybe add suede as a texture to counteract
the worsted business suit style and can work really really well. If you wear a dark brown
business suit such as a charcoal brown which we talked about here, you definitely want
to wear brown shoes. Make sure to get a little bit of contrast, can be chocolate brown, medium
brown and since it's business, try to stay in the darker shade of brown area and don't
go with tan. Okay, to sum it up, black remains the number one color for business suits and
when you're in doubt, stick with black. Your first pair of shoes should be a black pair
of cap toe Oxfords, brown also works, stick with darker shades, not so much broguing or
plain leathers and maybe throw in a pair of suede to mix it up and create an interesting
look. Two, casual suits are just bolder and their colors have louder patterns, maybe interesting
textures such as corduroy or cotton linen blends and brown shoes work really well here.
For green suits and jackets, I think brown is the only way to go. Avoid black and I like
suede a lot because it has this really lovely texture that makes things matte but relaxed.
Personally, I combine it with all shades of brown and depends on is it a light green,
is it a dark olive green so you basically pick and choose whatever you like. For Khakis,
dark brown works well or reddish browns or mid browns especially if they're like tan,
khaki, beige and it's really versatile and looks much better than anything black so stay
away from black and try to keep enough contrast between your khakis, your pants and your shoes.
If you have tan colors, what's really great is Cordovan or Burgundy red. In fact. this
is one of those shades which is almost not brown any more but it's so super versatile
and that it shouldn't miss in your shoe closet. If you don't know what kind of pair of brown
shoes you want to get, start with something reddish brown, it will truly go with almost
anything you have in your closet. With white and off-white combinations, I like to wear
tan. Of course, you can also go with darker shades of brown and ultimately, you have to
figure it out. I just find the tan has a milder contrast without blending in and so it looks
really nice. For any kind of brown, casual suits, you can wear only brown and I really
like to wear spectators in white and brown with it, of course that's really loud and
a really strong contrast, you'd have to comfortable with it. If it's too much for you, no problem,
go maybe with a darker brown or chocolate brown but always make sure to create enough
contrast between the shade of brown and your shoes. Three, sport coat and odd jacket combinations
and fabrics with more texture. So if you have corduroy, donegal, saxony, all of these kinds
of rich woven texture and strong fabrics, you are even more casual and so you should
only wear brown, try to go with broguing, suede or scotch grain rather than just plain
cap-toe oxfords because it really kind of works much better with these kinds of garments.
If you have dark or even black corduroy hence, you can wear tan shoes or tan boots and it
creates a really nice contrast and it works surprisingly well. Otherwise, I would say
stick with black but tan for this more casual form of black garment is much better. For
charcoal grey flannels, I think black is better but you can try it with dark brown and see
if it works well together. I think that it can look very nice and it's not too contrasting
but the look overall is very debonair. With mid grey, I suggest you go with burgundy red,
black will work well but since it's more casual, I think this is a much more suitable color
and definitely avoid tan because it's just too strong of a color and it doesn't look
nice with a mid grey. With blue garments, I basically wear any shade of brown. It really
depends on my mood and what I'm going for. Of course If i wear dark chocolate brown,
the whole combination is less noticeable. If I wear a bright tan, it really stands out
more but you can really wear an entire range. So if you really have a lot of blue suits,
it really doesn't matter what kind of brown shoes you wear with them, anything works.
With denim, you should avoid wearing black and most browns work well but I think that
a medium, reddish brown like this one or a burgundy red work best. Make sure your shoes
have some broguing. I think Derby shoes are better than Oxfords and it really works well
together because it underlines the casual character of your jeans with the more casual
look of the shoe. With any kind of green shades, you should go with brown shoes every time.
Avoid black and I think dark works really well. For casual garments, if you want brown
tones, khakis, tans and so forth, you can really play around with brown. I would say
try wearing boots because they add another element of casualness especially with thicker
soles and broguing. Overall, brown is the best shoe color for sport coat combinations
and odd contrasting trousers so to start, I think you should have at least, three pairs
of brown shoes. One would be a burgundy red shoe, can be with plain leather. Then the
next one would be a dark chocolate brown Derby full brogue so you have that and then a medium
red brown, it can be Oxford, may be half brogue and that will cover your entire range. In
the beginning, avoid things like tan, or avoid spectators simply because these shoes only
work with much fewer outfits and in the beginning you want to make sure that you can wear almost
any shoe you have in your closet with almost anything you have in your wardrobe so you
can create a lot of unique different outfits.
Now that you know when to wear brown shoes, the question becomes when not to wear brown
shoes? So, number one rule would be, do not wear brown with any sort of eveningwear, black
tie, white tie or even formal three piece suits that are dark and charcoal. You should
always stick with black. Also if you are at a wedding and if you wear maybe a stroller
suit, when you think about wearing a morning coat, black is the only suitable color. If
you work in a very white collar environment, let's say a traditional law firm, maybe a
bank, I would also say when in doubt, stick with black. if you want to test the waters,
maybe go with a dark burgundy red but avoid really light colors like tan at all costs.
Other than that, brown shoes are a really great investment into your wardrobe because
they're so versatile, they look great with everything, you can create a beautiful patina,
you polish them properly and also think about going with suede because it adds this softer
texture but you should avoid it if in your area, it rains a lot because suede does not
really age well when it gets wet.
If you enjoyed this video, please check out our article about how to wear brown shoes
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