How to wear men's shoes

How to wear men's shoes is not just a question of color, but of style and type of shoe

Many customers who come to our shoe store in Florence, Italy, ask us "how do I wear these shoes?". We found ourselves replying in 90% of the cases "with anything you like". We do not reply like it out of laziness, though.

There is no universal rule on how to wear men shoes does. And above all, it is a matter of personal taste!
We can only give some general advice, then in case if you want you can ask other specific questions.

Let's start by defining two large categories of shoes: shoes with leather soles and shoes with rubber soles.

The first are elegant shoes (aka as dress shoes): elegant shoes have a leather sole.

And that's all, folks.

If the sole is made of rubber they are more casual, you cannot change this rule. Just as there is nothing you can do if at a ceremony the etiquette wants the black dress shoe or at the most blue dress shoe. Then you can wear what you want, you can even wear a brown shoe, cognac brown, brandy brown, and go on with all the distillery browns, but the golden rule is: a ceremony equals black dress shoe with leather sole.

Then if you want to know if you need cap toes, wingtips or plain dress shoes, eh that depends on how you are dressed and the role you have in the ceremony.

Elegant (dress) shoes also can be worn into informal situations and with a more trendy clothing, for example a fabric trousers and a jacket are fine. I remember once a well-groomed English young man with a wonderful beard, he walked in the store here in Florence. He just simply tried this black derby shoe with a leather sole, he had a pair of jeans on and he was fabulously nice dressed just as that!

The elegant black shoes are reserved for business suits and formal and more elegant situations, with equally elegant outfits. They are fine with black, gray and blue clothes. But nothing prevents you from wearing a classic shoe with a fabric trousers in an informal situation.

In other words: just do as you please.

Casual shoes are instead shoes that mostly have a rubber sole or leather and rubber sole. casual shoes have of course a more informal style. More...casual. Obviously.

Here, with casual shoes, there is a new whole universe of possibilities that opens up. We can not give exact rules, nor a magic color circle to follow, just some suggestions. Here there are:

1. avoid too many different styles together. Worked shoes tend to be better on plain clothes (a bit like when you say to avoid rows and polka dots all together);
2. avoid too many different colors. You can wear the shoes in the color you want, as long as you have the same color somewhere else in your clothes or accessory:  in the shirt or in the belt, or in the scarf, jacket, hat, and so on). If you have a very colorful outift, then try to wear a more sober shoe (black or brown).
3. be comfortable. Wear comfortable shoes, or shoes in which you feel at ease. Always. The safe and confident stroll of those who are comfortable and happy is an element that confers elegance and style.