Brown shoes with navy suits for the office. Can it be done? Sure, if the shoes are that dark chocolate brown. Also if the suit is not a wool suit and it’s for summer. Silk (with the exception of a midnight satin or faille silk which has no slubs), Linen, cotton, even mohair/wool blend can all carry a lighter brown show, even if the navy is quite dark. The informality of the fabric invites a lighter shoe. I would even wear spectators or white bucks with those navy fabrics for certain occasions. 

One shoe I would never wear is that color I call, Band-Aid. It has the color of baby poop and it evokes the same stylistic odor. Don’t have a photo handy. I know Iamatt has a pair; perhaps he can lend us the photo? In any case, I wouldn’t wear that color shoe under any circumstance, including avoiding walking over hot coals. There are a few uglier shoe colors and styles but Band-Aid brown is a true stinker.


Now I recognize that there’s a difference between what I like, (Darkest brown shoes)

what I like and other’s don’t like,  (Black suede shoes)

what I hate and shouldn’t be done by anyone and  (Band-Aid colored shoes)

what I hate but can still be done.  (Medium brown shoes with a charcoal suit)

And why don’t I like medium brown shoes with navy wool suits? Someone said they looked like lollipops on your feet, which I thought was amusing and so true. But I don’t like them because they look like you’re trying too hard. I don’t think people can look well dressed if upon entering the room, they look like they want you to stare at their feet! One thing Flusser definitely got right, at least for business meetings, is that you want people to concentrate on both your face and what you’re saying; unless you want them to stare at your feet while you take the lollipop out of the baby’s mouth.