What kind of Dress Shoes to Choose?

A good pair of quality leather shoes give any wearer confidence because as the saying goes “Like white shirts, delicate watches and coattails, the very lack of practicality is what makes them dressy.”

You Must Consider these Four Factors in Dress Shoes:

1. The shoe is made of quality leather (e.g. calf, veal, and etc.)
2. Soles should be made of leather not rubber. (leather soles are considered superior to rubber soles)
3. The soles are stitched and not glued.
4. The stitching should be neat and subtle.
5. The lining (the inside of the shoe), should be made of real and not synthetic leather.

If you follow these four, your off to a good start. Here are images to clarify!

People will argue that rubber soles are more practical than leather soles and this is true. Rubber soles have more traction and work well in the rain. Leather soles have less traction and can get ruined by water but leather soles mold to your feet and can sometimes be very beautiful.

I would never skimp out on the quality of shoes. It is better to have a good pair of quality shoes then having to buy another pair every year.

The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

~ Captain Vimes ‘Boots’ Theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

The next criteria in choosing a dress shoe is the style.

For business and formal wear, simple is always best. An oxford or a cap-toe oxford (seen below) is probably the best kind of business shoe out there.

Color?

If it’s your first pair, always get black because the color black is the most versatile that goes with almost every color of suit you can wear.

When you get more seasoned in the field, try to opt for dark brown or burgundy. I find that dark brown shoes add a bit of sophistication to the wearer and the color brown highly compliments grey, charcoal, and navy suits.

Finally, never wear brown shoes with a black suit.

Here’s a color chart courtesy of realmenstyle.com