Unspoken Tips to Help Anyone Pull Off a Stylish Shoe Look
Shoes are indeed one of the essential accessories and focal points of a look, making you the most stylish or the least. It all depends on how you combine them with your outfit in terms of color, style, or material. 5-Minute Crafts has some unspoken tips to help you pull off a stylish look with your shoes.
1. Apply the S.O.F.A. method to pick your shoe type.
Not everyone has an all-inclusive shoe wardrobe. However, creating an impactful style and honoring your persona with your shoes is still possible if you pick the correct type. In doing so, use the S.O.F.A. method, which stands for ’’Season, Occasion, Formality, Activity.’’
- What is the season: Keep in mind the weather and what time of the year it is. You can’t wear espadrilles in wet weather with rain or snow, and sandals are for warm weather. Snow boots are for winter, boots, over-the-knee boots, and booties are for the fall and winter. Remember that rain boots, sneakers, ballet flats, and high heels are for all seasons.
- What is the occasion: Choosing the right shoes for the right occasion is very important. If you’re going to a wedding, it’s a formal and fancy occasion. However, if you’re going to work, it’s business casual or formal.
- What is the formality level: Ask yourself if it’s fancy, formal, casual, or informal. For instance, flip-flops won’t be okay for a black-tie wedding. Jeans are a year-round outfit you can wear with sandals, sneakers, etc., for a casual look. But, if you want to look a bit formal, opt for pumps.
- What is the activity level: Figure out whether you’ll be on your feet all day long at an event — if the answer is yes, choose a lower heel or flats. You can wear high heels at work while sitting at a desk.
2. Go with contrasting colors.
When picked right, the color of your shoe will pull your look together. You can choose to match your shoes to the color/hue/shade of your outfit, or you can pick a complete contrast for more of a daring look.
3. Stick to one solid color.
- If your dress is one color, pick a multi-colored shoe in the same hue.
- If your multi-colored outfit is comprised of one or 2 solid colors, go with a neutral color.
- You can pick your shoes in one of the colors that matches your dress. You can also have a complete color match to pull off an elevated look.
👠 You can opt for silver, gold, black, nude, or ivory shoes for formal occasions, and pick your footwear in white, black, brown, gray, and tan hues for casual occasions.
- If your outfit has a pattern, pick out one color from the design of your dress and match it to the same color in your shoe.
- If your dress is embellished and you want to elevate your look, opt for matching your shoes with your embellished dress or choose shoes with the same print.
4. Use different shades of the same color.
5. Wear nude or black shoes.
- If your dress is embellished or sequined, pick neutral-colored shoes in black or nude.
- Opt for nudes when nothing else matches, but be sure the shoe’s nude tone is as close to your skin tone as possible. The good news is that nude shoes make legs look longer.
6. Combine with black and white shoes.
When wearing black and white dresses:
- Pick a black boot for a more casual outfit, or minimal black sandals or heels can give you an unforgettable evening look.
- Pay attention to the white tones in your dress and shoes. In other words, when you opt for white shoes, be sure the shades of the whites are the same in your clothing and your shoes.
- Dare to wear black and white shoes. Aim for more of a black shoe if your outfit has more white in it or vice versa.
7. Make your shoes stand out.
If you want to draw attention to your shoes, pull a color from the shoe and bring it into your outfit. Dare to match your clothes to your shoes if you have a detailed pair of shoes with a pattern, print, or bling.
- Try metallic shoes to add extra emphasis or glamor to your look. Metallic shoes are easy to combine with any outfit — you can pair them with denim or leather pants. Remember to avoid metallic accessories when wearing metallic shoes.
- Dare to wear gold shoes with jeans and a white T-shirt, and with a monochromatic or red dress in the evening to achieve a stylish look. Golden tones go well with neutrals, camel, and olive colors.
- Pick silver shoes to go with black and white, pale blue denim, pastel shades, or monochromatic outfits during the daytime. You can combine silver heels at night with a black dress or monochromatic outfit.
8. Know which type of shoe goes well with your dress type.
Matching the right shoe type with the right dress style is essential. In doing so, always consider dress length, height, and occasion. For example, for a dressier look, maxi dresses go well with heels and wedges and match well with flats, like sandals and ankle boots for a casual look. Here are some more tips for you:
- Casual dresses — high-heeled shoes, wedge heels, slippers, moccasins
- Sporty dresses — slip-on, sneakers, flats, platform sandals
- A-line dresses — gladiator sandals, sneakers, lace-up heels
- Flare dresses — pumps, ankle boots
- Wrap dresses — wedges
- Maxi dresses — slip-on sneakers, wedges, flats, sandals
- Mini dresses — stilettos, peep-toes, short heels, knee-high boots
- Midi dresses — lace-up boots, platforms
Bonus: Men’s shoe rules
To complete your look, picking the right shoe color is essential — although to some, it may seem a more manageable task, to so many, it can be a bit challenging. You don’t need to worry, we compiled a short guide here.
- Black shoes go well with formal, ’’getting down to business’’ concepts. Also, pair them with black, blue, navy, gray, or charcoal gray.
- Brown shoes are for more relaxed or flexible events. Experiment with gray, but not charcoal gray, beige, blue, navy, or a few tones of brown. Remember that light brown shoes go well with tan and champagne-colored suits.
- Burgundy shoes have a more playful or creative attitude. Consider blue, brown, navy, tan, or charcoal gray.
- Tan leather shoes. Dare to pair them with charcoal gray or champagne-colored suits.
- Ivory shoes. Opt for champagne-colored or beige suits.