Sometime in the last two years it became fashionable for men to wear brown shoes with blue or black pants. I thought there was a rule against this. How did the new trend start and should it be stopped? – David, Flushing, NY
During the twelve years I lived in London, there was one rule that my banker friends often read to me: ‘No brown shoes in the city’, which means no brown shoes at work. It’s an axiom that has its origins in the Victorian era, when gentlemen spent their weekends hunting and otherwise marching through the valleys of their estates in – yes – brown shoes and boots to match the brown mud.
When they returned to their offices during the week, they traded brown shoes for polished black, matching their belt and shoes, to better continue the unbroken line of their suits – thus signaling their white-collar status. The appearance of brown shoes in the city thus became a statement about both class and country, as other nationalities, especially the Italians and the French, never quite had the same dress code.
But like most dress codes of the past, this one has all but fallen by the wayside, a victim of the mundane Friday-ization of every day and the demise of the suit and tie. After all, if your jacket and pants no longer match, it is less of a problem if your shoes also don’t match. In fact, it makes quite a bit of sense, especially if the atmosphere you’re going for is relaxed.
Compared to the rise of the sneaker as a dress shoe – and not just the sneaker, but the truly strange Frankenstein sneaker – brown shoes can’t seem shocking, but rather established.
Since the menswear shows are happening in Paris as I write this, I thought I’d ask our man on the ground, Jacob Gallagher, what he sees.
“A lot of what would once have been a ‘wrong’ combination,” he replied. “Like black overcoats with blue chinos and brown shoes. These combos are now acceptable because they make you look twice, but they’re not really that flashy.”
So many dress code rules are being broken now, he pointed out, that “dressing in once-verboten color schemes is a neater way to look interesting than donning a panda backpack or a puffer fish shaped like a mutated rigatoni. ” (Those weren’t theoretical choices, by the way; he had just seen them.)
Jacob also blamed social media for the slump, pointing out that lines like “Don’t wear brown shoes with black pants” are pretty much catnip for the Instagram generation. It’s a provocation to the establishment that almost calls for an “eight slide post about why off-color color combinations are actually great because they attract attention,” he said.
That’s the point of even the most seemingly small choices, like brown shoes with blue pants: they draw attention. Someone will probably notice it and comment on it. So you have to be prepared.
At the same time, the more people choose change, the less noticeable the previously unexpected color choice will be. At this point the balance tips in favor of the mix, which is why it can seem confusing. But the freedom to make your own decisions, even if they are somewhat shocking shoe-related decisions, is never a bad thing.
To that point, Guy Trebay, one of our menswear critics, claims that there is only one shoe rule that really applies: “Black for evening, worn with matching or complementary socks. The bare-ankle thing is as stale as day-old sprezzatura.
Speaking of socks, I’ll get to that can of worms another time.
Your style questions, answered
Every week on Open Thread, Vanessa answers a reader’s fashion-related question, which you can send to her at any time e-mail or Tweet. Questions are edited and condensed.
