Back when I worked on Savile Row, I used to wear a tie every day. In the last 5 years, I think that I can count on my two hands the amount of times I have worn a tie. I put one on the other day and it felt good to do so, even though I was quite warm that day! It’s funny, how I have included myself in this new ‘casual wave’ of dress attire. I always think that I want to dress up and then the morning comes and I think about the fact that I have to shine shoes, move boxes, pack up shipments etc and I think, ‘man I don’t want to dirty my nice stuff!’ So, I just throw on some jeans, a casual oxford shirt, maybe a jacket and a pair of loafers or chelsea boots and that is my typical standard look. I look forward to the day that I actually step away from the day to day of my business and then can wear my suits again, the ones that sit untouched in my closet that are so beautiful and wastefully unworn!!
So here are a couple of looks that I actually took the time to get ‘dressed up.’ I am a Blue type of guy. If I am not wearing blue, I am most likely wearing black. But for the warmer months, I tend to wear brown shoes (often suede) and so I don’t put black on with the brown shoes, but instead my various shades of blue trousers, suits, jackets, shirts and ties.
Looking at these photos, one look is quite ‘Italian’ while the other is more ‘British’ (although to be a true British look, the shoes should have been black!)
The Italian Look:
- Jacket by some Italian brand that I got while at Spiga3 in Gothenburg, Sweden – https://www.spiga3.com/
- Cotton ‘denim looking’ trousers by Ede & Ravenscroft? –?https://www.edeandravenscroft.com/
- Shirt by Tommy Hilfiger -?https://usa.tommy.com/en/
- Tie by Suit Supply -?https://us.suitsupply.com/
- Shoes by J.FitzPatrick Footwear -?https://www.jfitzpatrickfootwear.com/
The British Look:
- Suit by Suit Supply -?https://us.suitsupply.com/
- Shirt by Knot Standard -?https://www.knotstandard.com/
- Shoes by Suit Supply – Direct Link to product
- Socks by Skoaktiebolaget -?https://www.skoaktiebolaget.com/
Part of the reason I started The Shoe Snob was to give guys inspiration on how to wear their dress shoes, but I never really got around to showing this as I was always too busy writing about shoes that I did not actually own. So here is a small start to showing you how a shoe snob wears his shoes. And if you don’t own brown shoes, go and get some! You will thank me later!
A great weekend to all!
– Justin FitzPatrick
About 20 years ago, early in my career as a stockbroker, I learned that one of my colleagues in the office used to own a men’s clothing store, and that store included a shoe department. Alden was his featured line (and that’s when I first learned about that brand). One day when we were chatting on a break (about shoes), he made what seemed like a bold statement to me at the time: brown is the best choice of color for a man’s dress shoes. I disagreed with him then, and will admit that most of my dress shoes are black, but I have come to appreciate that brown shoes can look good with more suit (and dress slack) colors than I used to think.
Thanks for sharing Steve. Black is of course a staple choice for suit wear but brown allows for more versatility in the long run with a mix of dress casual wear
Good tips for fashion lovers. Brown shoes and blue suits with a sunglass makse a man gorgeous looking. But Black shoes is my best.
What else?
Dear Justin,
Bought a pair of brown shoes, and really happy. Thanks for the advise.
Regards.
Greetings, Justin
I recently purchased a pair of brown shoes and am really pleased with them. Thank you for the suggestion.
my pleasure, glad to hear it
Great tips for style sweethearts. Earthy colored shoes and blue suits with sunglass makes a man flawless looking. Yet, Dark shoes is my best.
What a mesmerizing blog, really enlightened me.