How to Wear Bright Shoes

While brightly colored shoes are on the cusp of becoming a trend, it does not have to take a current fashion for you to wear your personality on your feet. Colored shoes show that you are not afraid to experiment with flamboyant styles, and set you apart from every other man who sticks to his safe black or brown shoes.

Beyond sneakers

Sporty shoes are known for making use of color, although often the result is tacky. When you think about colored shoes, you should not be limited to sneakers. Color is most effective where it is unexpected. The most interesting use of color on shoes occurs with classic styles such as loafers and brogues. Espadrilles and boat shoes are a more casual take on the bright shoe look, while boots, especially desert boots, are more of a street fashion look.

Colored shoes don?t need to be casual

A pair of leather brogues is formal, so why would they suddenly be transformed into casual footwear if they were a nice shade of red? You can actually get away with wearing colored shoes in formal situation, provided you choose the right style. In general, color does make your shoes are touch less formal, but not so much that you are restricted to wearing casual shoes for nothing fancier than catching up with your friends.

Don?t match yourself

You find a pair of canary-yellow brogues, and think ?perfect! These will go with my yellow polo shirt,? but you need to restrain yourself from any overzealous matching. As a general rule, you do not need to match the shade of your colored shoes. If your shoes feature several colors, you might want to pick out one of the colors to tie in with the rest of your outfit. However, if your shoes are block colored, you should steer clear of wearing anything in the exact shade.

You don?t need a like colored belt

A fundamental rule of style is to always match the leather of your shoes to the leather of your belt. Rules are made to be broken, especially when you are stepping outside the realm of neutral colors. In fact, when wearing bright footwear, you should not wear a belt of the same color. This is because colored belts which are not juvenile-looking are incredibly hard to come by. Belts are best in leather (or high-quality fake leather), and you would be hard pressed to find a colored leather/leather look belt.

What colors to choose

The trend at the moment is to colors such as deep red, mustard, and forest-green. Blue is always a good option for colored shoes. The best part about choosing a color is that you don?t need to worry about it matching what is already in your wardrobe, so it is difficult to go wrong. A striking look can be created by using contrasting colored laces in your bright shoes, although this flamboyant look should be kept away from formal settings. For example, a pair of blue derby shoes is made more interesting with yellow or red laces.