Over the past couple of years you might have noticed the uprising of gray dress shoes being introduced by many of the well known Italian fashion labels such as Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Ferragamo etc as well as some of the other more ‘racy’ labels from other countries like Paul Smith from England and Magnanni from Spain. While many colors are introduced into a line to be a taste of something different, I feel like gray has become a reoccurring statement through each season as a color that could be in substitute for the commonly used black. And why would it not?
Top Shoes: Aldo Brue
Left Shoe: Magnanni
Right Shoe: Edward Green
Gray is a color that has been used throughout all of fashion’s history as a staple color in the wardrobe but has just recently made it’s way into the likes of the shoe world. I really can’t understand why it took so long. It is not a bright nor racy color, on the contrary it is quite conservative and could easily be used to substitute brown and black shoes considering that there is not much that a gray shoe would not work with. It is such a neutral color that it’s contrast against pretty much all other colors, that you find suits in, would provide a nice balance to the look of your outfit. To give examples of how to pair gray shoes with several outfits I have added some pictures below.
Although it is hard to see the contrast due to my lack of photography skills and not knowing how to properly use a sophisticated camera you can get the idea of how easily it is to substitute a black or brown shoe with that of a gray one. Hopefully you can see that on the left side I paired it with a black suit and on the right side with a navy suit. The only downside to getting gray shoes is finding a nice belt to match them. That, unfortunately, is something that has not caught on yet. You would think that makers would want to make belts to match their unique colored shoes or that department stores buyers would have better communication with each other to make sure that if the shoe department was buying a certain color shoe for the season than the furnishings department would follow suit and get a belt to compliment the shoes. But apparently this simple communication is too hard to ask for.
So above are the shoes that I was wearing, as you can see they are more of a dark gray which made it hard to see the contrast between them and my black and navy suits. For those wondering, they are a model by Ferragamo that is about 3 years old now. Whats also nice about this particular model is the fact that because it is a slip-on it’s much easier to also pair with a simple, casual outfit which I also posted below for you to see just how easy it is.
This outfit is really as basic as it gets and they still go great together. Many people only think that dress style shoes can only be worn for dress type clothing but I think if paired right, a dress shoe can look very sharp with casual clothes. Like I always say, if you don’t own a gray shoe than you should be thinking about getting one to compliment your wardrobe. You see here how simple it is to add to your existing wardrobe so you would not even need to get anything else to go with them!
I'm glad you highlighted the glory of gray. Along with navy blue, it's the only "alternative" color that I dare wear. IMHO, gray and navy blue were made for suede, especially wingtips.On a side note, do you feel that Ferragamos are a tad too fragile for regular wear? They are supremely comfortable, especially the loafers, but I find that the leather is often too susceptible to nicks and scratches in a big city.
Aldo Brue, booked-marked for richer days lol, those are fresh!!
Benjy – Yes and No regarding the Ferragamos. In the past Ferragamo made 3 distinctive lines each with it's own name: Studio, lassic Ferragamo label and Tramezza. But now they just all fall under the classic Ferragamo label and the only way to tell the difference is by knowing the difference in the leathers or by the price points. So yes i think that the lower end stuff is not that great quality wise but the higher end products are actually made pretty well using pretty durable leathers. But yes I do too love gray and blue suedes shoes and always love a beautiful wingtip!
I'm a big fan of gray shoes as well. Although, the pair I own are a shade similar to the Edward Greens. Do you have any trouble matching a shoe that light to suits/pants?
Anonymous – No I don't have a problem matching. I usually enjoy a bit of contrast anyway so something light paired against a dark suit is something that I am used to.
Strange, my question didn't show up. What color belt would you suggest wearing with gray bucks/bluchers/or any pair of gray shoes for that matter? Would brown work? Most of the stuff I've read on the net says that black is the best, so I'm hesistant to grab a pair of gray bucks :/ don't really like black
Anon – What about finding a gray belt??? That's what I use…but if not gray, then I would say to match the color of the sole…, or you could simply just match your trousers…there is no right or wrong really…-Justin