Brown pants, black shoes

I realize I’ve avoided talking about my wardrobe on Going Girly so far. I’m mostly just overwhelmed with the scope of the situation. I’ve got loads of jeans that don’t fit right, shoes that are so worn they should be tossed, and shirts that are *almost* flattering. I promise a blog on that is on its way.

In the meantime, I’ve got a nagging question. I have two pairs of chocolate brown pants I love, one dressy, one casual. I don’t have brown shoes that really go with them, aside from sneakers, so in the past, I’ve paired them with black tops and black boots. Yet, at some point I remember hearing that I shouldn’t do this.

So, what should I do? Buy brown shoes? Buy totally different shoes? Keep on mixing the two colors?

I searched the web and found arguments on both sides. The best advice seemed to be along the lines of, “If someone’s going to criticize you for wearing black and brown together, then she has no life.”

What do you think?

July 25, 2008 | Filed Under Blog 

Comments

8 Responses to “Brown pants, black shoes”

  1. Amy on July 27th, 2008 4:26 pm

    Well, if you wanted brown shoes to match the brown pants, you might have some trouble finding the right shade of brown to match the pants. i don’t see a problem with the black shoes/brown pants combo. i think brown shoes that don’t match the brown pants would be worse. kind of like when someone wears a black top with black pants, but the dye that was used for the pants has a green tint and the dye that was used for the shirt has a red tint so they don’t match even though they’re both black. i hate that. why do i notice this stuff? i don’t know, i think i was born that way.

  2. Melanie on July 27th, 2008 5:14 pm

    Amy, that’s a really great point!

  3. Lauren on August 5th, 2008 5:05 pm

    You DEFINITELY should not wear brown pants with brown shoes. Amy is right, you’re not supposed to wear brown on brown. Black is fine, but it might be cute to try a complementary color such as green depending on the tone and style!

  4. Lauren on August 5th, 2008 5:06 pm

    Hey! Show us some pics of these pants!

  5. suki on August 22nd, 2008 9:51 am

    i’m always wearing brown and black together. didn’t know i was committing such a fashion no-no. :/ guess i’m going to keep my eyes here to see what the updates are. i could certainly use the tips! :)

  6. Melanie on August 23rd, 2008 3:30 pm

    Suki, I think the consensus is that black shoes and brown pants is ok. Brown on brown would be bad. That said, I may take Lauren’s advice and try my red patent heels with the dressy brown pants I own. I guess that means I ought to buy a shirt that isn’t black to go with it. Sigh…

  7. Amanda on August 24th, 2008 9:22 am

    Invest in a range of really cheap (Forever 21, H&M, Payless) cute COMFORTABLE bright colored flats. My favorite pair are teal and go with everything black, brown, jeans, khaki and I wear them when I’m not sure if I should go black or brown shoes. PROBLEM SOLVED

  8. Melanie on August 26th, 2008 12:02 am

    Amanda, great idea! I remember Payless shoes being really uncomfortable… has that changed?

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