Dressing smart shouldn’t be difficult. Start with a concise yet versatile wardrobe that you can expand upon as the necessity arises. Cover your bases with jeans, khaki pants, and dress pants plus a suit. With shirts all you really need are a few polo shirts, a few button-downs, and a couple dress shirts. What about shoes though? To keep things simple we can boil all your options down to three basic pairs of required shoes that will work with all your clothes. Only three you ask? Let’s just assume that you already have a pair of tennis shoes.
You Ought to Own a Pair of Casual Brown Lace-Up Shoes
The casual brown lace-up shoe is a basic footwear essential. Think something along the lines of casual oxfords, Dr. Martens or Chukkas. These give you a lot of flexibility and can be worn with anything from jeans to khakis or chinos. They are generally low maintenance and keep you looking sharp. Save your tennis shoes for working out and other recreational activities. Dress like an adult when you go out and look like you knew what you were doing when you picked out your clothes.
You Ought to Own a Pair of Black Dress Shoes
Black dress shoes are a must if you ever need to really dress up. Do you work in an office, go to formal events, or plan on attending a wedding or funeral? You will need some black dress shoes. There are a wide variety of possibilities so you can decide if you want laces, buckles, tassels, etc. The only requirements are that they be black and dressy. These are what you will wear with your black, gray, or charcoal pants and suits. Black dress shoes are classy and professional so make sure you have a nice pair in good condition on standby. One extra piece of advice is to always match these up with a sleek black leather belt and dark socks.
You Ought to Own a Pair of Brown Dress Shoes
Brown dress shoes will cover you for pretty much everything else. You can dress up your khakis with a classy brown shoe and wear them with your tan and brown suits. Brown dress shoes are simple and understated so if you want to stand out, try a pair of penny loafers on for size to see if they are more up to your speed. Coming back to belts, you need a nice brown leather belt to go with these shoes and it won’t be the same basic brown leather belt that you wear with your casual brown lace-up shoes. You can go for more variety when it comes to socks; try bright colors or shades of blue.
It’s pretty easy to keep your wardrobe consolidated and manageable as long as you maintain your core components. Three pairs of shoes can keep you going if you have the necessary articles of clothing, socks, and belts. Start with these three pairs of shoes and then from there, feel free to expand your footwear option into uncharted territory.
