Matching Shoe and Sock Colors

December 22nd, 2008

The shoe & sock matching thing presents an interesting dilemma for a lot of guys. Here’s a little guide to acceptable shoe/sock/pant combinations in a typical business setting.

Shoe & pant (or suit) combinations

Black shoes

Black shoes can be worn with pretty much any color pants or suit. (From this point forward, just assume that when I refer to pants of a certain color, the same applies to suits of that color as well.)

Brown shoes

Brown shoes are popular with navy pants. Personally I find that combination a bit pedestrian, but I guess there’s nothing wrong with it. Brown shoes with gray pants, however, are pretty cool (just probably not for a job interview).

Brown shoes are also fine with tan pants. Others would debate this, but I wouldn’t wear brown shoes with brown pants unless the shoes are considerably darker.

Never, ever wear brown shoes with black dress pants. Ever. (I’ve seen some girls get away with similar combinations, but haven’t yet figured out a way this could work for a guy…)

There are many shades of brown shoe, ranging from tan to really dark browns that are close to black. Personally I prefer somewhat darker shades with business attire.

Cordovan shoes

You may have also seen burgundy-colored shoes. Usually this color is called “cordovan,” and here I’ll diverge on a bit of shoe-lore. There’s actually a special type of leather called cordovan (or shell cordovan) made from the posterior of a horse. It’s one of the finest shoe leathers available, and you’ll pay top dollar for it. Although known for the distinctive burgundy color, you can also find genuine cordovan shoes in black.

Anyway, most of the cordovan-colored shoes you’ll find are not genuine cordovan leather. I’m not too keen on this color, but go for it if it floats your boat. Cordovan shoes are fine with navy, gray or tan pants. I advise against wearing them with brown.

Black, brown and cordovan are pretty much the only colors of shoes you should even think of wearing with business attire.

Matching the socks

Here’s a little cheat-sheet for the basic options:

Of course there are other ways you can coordinate your socks, but I’ll save that for another post…

Men's Fashion matching, shoes, socks