“Mais pourquoi?” (But why?) the Parisian salesman wondered when I inquired about whether his shop had a particular shoe in black instead of brown.
After a few seconds spent contemplating my moment of weakness, I concurred. Why, indeed? Because brown shoes work with everything, except black tie–something that even the least au courant European man knows. It’s only here, in the style-impaired land of the black shoe, that we wear brown shoes solely with brown or olive garments. Some guys even (shudder) wear black shoes with brown slacks.
As style arbiter Alan Flusser once said, think about the visual effect of laying something on an antique, polished mahogany table. Said object becomes instantly opulent, set off by the table’s deep brown luster. So it goes with footwear. Brown elevates, black dominates. When in doubt, choose brown, but be a man about it, which is the trick to doing anything stylish.
Think of brown as a family of colors, including chestnut, mahogany, caramel and chocolate. Each works, but keep the trouser color in mind. A caramel kick would be too jarring a contrast with navy trousers, which would be better served by chocolate suede. Dark slacks–up to and including black–should take a darker brown shoe.
Match the belt to the shoe color and leather (suede shoes, suede belt), and don’t be shy. It helps to have the sock reinforce the shoe and slacks. With gray pants and brown shoes, choose patterned gray socks with hints of brown. The fact that such a sock will be easy to find should clue you in to brown’s unstinting correctness.
Again, be a man about it. If someone says, “Brown shoes, what’s the matter with you?” just reply, “Style needs no explanation.”
