The Groom’s Shoes

In our world of decreasing conformity it still baffles me that when men have the opportunity to be themselves, on what may be the most important day of their life, the large majority continue to wear the ‘uniform’ that has been created by social standards. Now don’t be mistaken, there is nothing wrong with wearing the ‘black suit look’ with a pair of tux shoes when you are getting married but when you are wearing it because you think that that is what you are supposed to wear, it then becomes a misrepresentation of what should be. And that is: you should wear the what you feel like so long as you are respecting the elegance of the ceremony. You will see what I mean with the picture below. Respecting the elegance of the ceremony does not mean that you can’t have a beach wedding where everyone is in sandals and linens, but rather the idea of not wearing a suit or tux with a pair of stupid-ass sneakers like the d-bag below. It’s like when 50% of my friends wore their Nike Jordan’s to Prom our Senior year. Granted they were high schoolers so it was not so bad but when you are a grown man doing that on your wedding day, PLEASE, spare yourself the embarrassment.

What inspired me to write about this topic was the fact that I will be getting married in one week and when my fiancee and I started to plan our wedding, the first thing that we talked about was how we did not want to look like every other Jack and Jane who wears the standard wedding attire. While I have a good idea of what I think that I am going to wear it is not yet completely finalized and am still having trouble picking out which of my 20+ dress shoes I will use to liven up my outfit. Can you guess what color I will wear?? I have everything but orange and pink shoes and don’t have my blue shoes on me so that leaves a lot of options. Who can nail it?

Let’s take a look at some people who decided to go against conformity and create something unique on their big day.

Left Picture: Can’t say that I am fond of the lady’s shoes but I like the fact that she is wearing a red dress, something that is at least different. The man’s shoes on the other hand are great!! And his matching of shirt and suit to the color of the shoes is promising.

Right Picture: Red shoes by the lady is always pleasant. Something about red shoes, I just love, especially on a woman!! The man is taking baby steps to pushing the envelope which I can appreciate. Looks like he has the ‘black suit look’ but at least the shoes are not just black or black patent.

Left Picture: I love the lady’s shoes, they remind me of a pair that I bought for my fiancee. The man, while I try not to pair navy and black, is close to the norm but far enough off to be appreciated. While the shoes have patent and are black, what I like is the fact that they are half velour. The socks speak for themselves.

Right Picture: Yellow is another color I love to see on a woman’s feet, it just jumps out at you and says, “Notice me!!” This guy is totally breaking all of the rules, which I love. Gray suit, colorful striped socks and tan shoes. What a combination!

I never thought about this idea until I saw this picture but I find it to be intriguing. Not really pushing the extreme with the suit or shoes but I very much appreciate the bright, bold yellow sock that matches the bride’s shoes. The only thing that is discouraging is the fact that not many people may have been able to notice his socks unless he was wearing a suit that was hemmed a little higher which I am hoping that he did considering they coordinated that on purpose. I hope not to offend people regarding their ‘big day’ but more invite them to be more thoughtful, innovative and really to just be themselves and not some picture that someone else has planted in their mind. I will post pics of my outfit next week, be on the look out!!!!