Wearing black shoes with jeans

April 01, 2024BruceDayne

Wearing black shoes with jeans

Monday, April 1^st 2024Tags:

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This is something I’ve had a few questions about recently - I assume because fashion generally has taken a turn towards black and, combined with the general casualisation going, black shoes and jeans have become a more common styling choice.

So the answer is obviously yes, you can wear the two together. But not as easily as something like brown suede, and not in as many ways.

On Permanent Style we tend to make two things about readers:

1 - They want to appear ‘simply well-dressed’ most of the time, in those words we’ve used so many times. They want to look good but not stand out. On the spectrum of subtle to showy, they lean heavily towards the subtle.

2 - They want clothes that are versatile. This won’t always be the case, but a lot of readers are in the process of figuring out what they like to wear, or upgrading their wardrobe, and in both cases virtually starting from scratch. In such a small wardrobe, versatility is highly prized.

For these two reasons we tend to suggest something like a dark-brown suede loafer or boot as a smart option with jeans.

A brown-suede chukka works with every shade of blue jean, from dark to light, off-white and even black (with a little bit of fading). And then with a big range of smart trousers - greens and tans, grey and navy, cold and warm, muted and strong.

The same goes with what’s worn elsewhere. The knitwear or jacket could be anything from a raspberry shetland to a taupe cashmere, the jacket a cold urban navy or a warm rusty brown.

And when brown suede is worn with those things, the result a classic, traditional look. There’s less contrast - in terms of colour or texture - with the trouser than almost any other type of shoe.

Subtlety and versatility.

Black is different. It’s not great with warm colours, like that rusty brown, and it can make bright colours look cheap.

The colour of jeans has to be more particular: rich blues usually aren’t great and white can look quite stark. The easiest is a dark indigo (perhaps in a colder, greener wash) or a much more faded blue, like my jeans above.

And it makes demands on your other clothes. Wearing a similarly dark navy top, as I am in that image above, can work, as can black itself. Very pale colours are often good, as are some browns or greens. But fewer things work than with brown shoes.

Black shoes are not as versatile.

Nor are they as subtle. Black shoes contrast more with my pale blue jeans - they’re not the normal or expected choice. Of course, that’s why some people find them refreshing, but it suits fewer conservative PS readers.

It's probably no coincidence that classic tailoring is more about harmony and has less of this dissonance.

Black shoes with black jeans is less of contrast, but it’s still slightly more of a look. I like it and I wear it, but the same things apply as above: I wear it less, only with specific things, and when I want a specific look.

How much of a look it is depends a bit on the type of shoe. The suede Sagans (first image below) are more of a look with jeans than the Galway boots (second image).

But still, most of the time I prefer something subtler like Color-8 cordovan.

More casual shoes like boots and loafers are generally easiest, as are derbys. But the material doesn’t necessarily have to be that casual.

While I normally go for my black Utah-leather loafer from Edward Green (a waxed and tumbled material, a bit like a grain), black calf isn’t necessarily bad. It just creates a bit more contrast and probably requires something a little smarter on top.

The only thing to be careful with is black suede, as this is a tricky material in general - the way it sucks the light can make it quite unusual. I’d wear it most in a casual shoe like a derby.

The loafers pictured, by the way, are vintage Ralph Lauren crocodile loafers. Blake-stitched, probably from the late 1980s, I picked them up on eBay having seen a pair on a friend.

They’re not something I’d wear all the time, but the super-low vamp is quite appealing. It might have been good to lengthen the jeans by a fold though, given how low they are. Never mind - something for next time.

Clothes shown with blue jeans: