I’m re-posting this, one of the very first posts I ever wrote, after dr wende‘s request for more info on matching shoes to hair color. More new stuff added at the end.
If you could only have one pair of shoes, what color should they be? Whatever color your hair is. Of course, I don’t want to become some sort of shoe nazi. The principle I’m suggesting is balance. Simply put, your hair is always part of your ensemble, the very top part. Your shoes can repeat the color, like bookends, without necessarily becoming part of what’s in between.
So, has anybody noticed that I don’t follow my own rule? Well, I always say, “when you understand the rules, THEN you may consider breaking them.” I wear brown. Brown is my former hair color and my eye color and a more practical shoe color than ecru metallic, or whatever color my hair is considered to be now. he hee.
A run-down on common hair colors and what shoes to wear with:
- dark brown or black: you are the lucky girls who get to choose the most socially acceptable shoe color in existence – black! Why not have a pair of black shoes for every lifestyle segment in every season?
- blonde: the point isn’t so much to exactly match your hair, but to approximate it. Blondes also should consider a nude shoe.
- redhead: luggage tan works.
Perhaps that is why the shoe industry has stated as a code, that Black or Brown should be a shoe staple in the wardrobe…most people’s hair either falls into one of those 2 categories at one time or another, unless you are a red hed or a blond and then you still have shades of brown in it. In the Spring there is always the debate about white or bone… Which one would you choose if you had Black hair?
Very sharp observation. I agree.
White or bone? As a rule, white doesn’t look good … really ever. An old trick I learned as a pageant participant (a chapter in my life I would like to forget), is to match shoe color to pantihose (read leg color). This works, but length balancing is slightly altered.
Another option: metallic.
I’ll confess I haven’t read through alllll your archives, so I’m glad you reposted this. I have ALWAYS preferred dark brown over black or even light brown shoes. Now I know I’m not wierd when I thought they looked better.
That said, not everything looks good with brown shoes. So the last time I purchased new everyday shoes I got two pair in the same style – one brown and one black. That works for me. 🙂
Aha! I thought I’d read a long way back, but apparently not far enough.
As with Janel, this may explain my lack of interest in light brown shoes… as well as possibly why I feel somehow ungrounded if I wear something like a totally red (no black at all) outfit with red shoes.
“ungrounded” – that’s a fabulous description!
I really want to work on an index of some kind, so good stuff doesn’t get missed, but that’s just too big of a project for me right now. Picking up the pace on re-posting old stuff, and putting my new intern to work on the categories, is probably the best I can do for now.
Janel – you are right not everything looks good with brown shoes. Someday I’d like to have a wardrobe that would work that way, but it’s not likely to happen. For example, my one pair of brown lizard heels should be enough really dressy shoes for me, but then what would I wear with my two lbds (which I should just replace with something color)? So I bought a pair of gray to almost black degrade patent heels. Between the two, I should be covered.
OK, but has anyone found the perfect *style* of shoe that goes with everything??
With color I’m easy… black. I’m still looking for a fashionable, comfortable shoe. I’ve been wearing black Dansko clogs for a couple years, and they’re not wearing out any time soon. But I’d like something more stylish.
Funny you should post on this today. While waiting outside today, I was looking down and musing about why I wear a particular pair of light brown and dark gold shoes so often–I keep coming back to this particular pair, even though I have a pretty varied selection of shoes to choose from. Part of it is that they’re comfortable while also feminine and fashionable enough for my tastes, but I also seem to think they go with almost all of my non-winter clothes. I looked up, saw a reflection of myself, and realized that my hair is dark gold in bright light or sunlight, and I know it’s light brown in duller indoor light. Another Between My Peers design point–proven! (Now, if only I could find a duplicate of these shoes!)
For questions about the style, the shoes I’m talking about are two tone d’orsay pumps with almond toes and relatively thick heels, about 2″-3″–not chunky heels, but thicker than most pumps’ heels usually are. This won’t be the best everyday style for everyone, of course–in general my style isn’t planned for climbing on the jungle gym with kids–but I’m on my feet a lot, and it still works for me.
Related to Jennifer’s musings on style… I think it depends on your personal style. All my pumps have the same shape (pointed toe, kitten heel), and my two pairs of black loafers have identical profiles… but these work with my particular Wall-Street-Emo-Girl style and would look silly with a more casual, preppy look.
Luggage tan (good call, by the way – I was originally trying to imagine myself wearing any outfit that would go with orange shoes) – this definitely makes sense for me on the casual end of my wardrobe, as exemplified by my favorite sandals this summer, and when I’m wearing more color. But my idiom is heavily dependent on “urbanite black” (on the bottom) for business and more formal attire – despite my coloring, I just can’t get it to *work* for me without a black foundation – which covers me for around 70% of my time, so in terms of life as lived, I get much more mileage out of black shoes.
Regarding shoe style, I agree with the many of you who say that it depends on personal style ! And Mella, I applaud you for understanding your own idiom so well. 🙂
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The shoes and hair – or top and tail as it’s also known as, is especially important for summer dressing, but not as important for winter, when we’re more likely to blend our shoe colour to our trousers.
It’s all about visual grouping – we see the face/head first, our eye moves down the body, and when the shoe colour works with the hair we are drawn back up the body to the face. When the shoe colour is very different to the hair (and unrelated to the clothes), we tend to get stuck on the feet.
If you love wearing red shoes – you will need to wear something red near your face to help the eye travel back up to your face – so why not try a red scarf or piece of jewellery.
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