Our comprehensive guide to matching belts and shoes. What details to look for, how certain belts look with certain shoes, what are casual vs formal belts and more! See our belt selection at: www.thearmoury.com/collection...
A great video and a great approach to mixing and matching. Very enjoyable to watch! Especially in Central Europe and among men, it seems to be widespread that the belt must match the shoe as exactly as possible, preferably made of the same leather. Very nice to see other attitudes!
I feel the same ... I try to match hardware (watch case + belt buckle) and leathers (watch strap + belt + shoes) but I don't think it's essential. I find navy watch straps one of the most useful because it goes with so many of my garments and shoes. Even if it doesn't match the colour of my belt or shoes, it is unobtrusive enough that it doesn't matter.
Thank you for this video; And for taking such a great approach to discussing the nuances of colour, pattern and indeed how to match tones. Having noticed how 'the belt' has been stripped from a lot of outfits (helped by elasticated trousers and side adjusters), I appreciate you brining (back) a passion for belts. I believe a belt offers a natural line to an outfit - brining proportion to upper and lower body, and avoids the gut becoming a focal point when without one. As for a future video; it would be excellent to disucss cuff links. Motif, meaning and how formal it is these days.
Really intresting video. Being originally from Continental Europe (France), what you describe here is the way that I have been accustomed to match my belt. But being married to a British girl means I've got more exposure to the way they do it in the UK, and often they decide to match the belt with their trousers rather than their shoes. The idea being to blend the belt with the trousers and avoid emphasizing the break between the trousers and the shirt. Both work, in my opinion.
I am new to wearing suede lace-ups and loafers. Even though my cafe leather belts match color wise, I feel as though the material contrast is off. So for me, dark trousers pair with dark shoes and belts, and the same with keeping lighter colors together. I plan on purchasing a few suede belts in the future. However, your demonstrations seemed to pair well. Thanks.
If you don't already have a video, one going over color coordinating outfits to show colors is needed. Goes hand in hand with the belt. Light color versus dark color would work in both cases but one is better because of the other things I'm wearing.
Great video as always. For your next Q and A, whats the deal with black suits? How would you wear one? i just acquired my first black suit as my 5th or 6th in my collection and i find it difficult to pair shirts and ties with it.
Black is tough and I will eventually shoot a video about it. I like black as an accent colour, e.g. black knit ties. Re: shirts and ties, white is an obvious choice or I quite like dark denim/chambray shirts with a grey instead of blue tone to them. Other great options: olive shirts and ecru shirts. As for ties, silver, champagne, gold or acidic colours like petrol blue, teal, and things of that ilk.
Great looking shoes, a fine addition to The Armoury. Do you believe an outfit to be incomplete or lacking for not wearing belts? I'm such a huge fan of trousers with side-adjusters that I have barely a chance to wear belts.
Hey @thearmoury @markcho my name is Ash I don’t know why RU-vid gave me this weird username 😂 In my experience I have found unless you are wearing a suit (which I don’t know why someone would as side adjusters are much more elegant) matching your belt to your shoes 1:1 is too matchy matchy. It draws the observers attention to not just your belt but now also your shoes which intensifies the chosen color. I think if your going with all leather playing in the same colour scheme subdues the impact and often for example matching a brown leather pair of shoes with a brown suede belt is more pleasing to the eye due to the break in color/texture. Vice versa for suede shoes. Thanks soo much for answering my question! Really appreciate it ❤
You are correct, 1:1 is quite matchy matchy. Using the same colour twice will of course make the colour more noticeable in the outfit as a whole. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing. You are often better off using a smaller, tighter palette in the outfit overall rather than introducing an additional colour if you split the belt and shoes' colours. You can create a more coherent overall balance by using the same colour twice for both your shoes and your belt. Varying the texture of the two colours as you mentioned is a way to keep that tight palette but add a nice touch of complexity.
The white sneaker is by Moonstar. Unfortunately we're not allowed to sell it in NY because there are already other stockists but if you search Moonstar (or Shoes Like Pottery) online, you should be able find other retailers of the same sneaker.
Hey great topic. I have a pair of brown shoes, one is darker with a chocolate tone. Can I wear these with a navy suit (it's a lighter blue but still dark)? Is the suit color even relevant?
Good question: Colour of the rest of the outfit is always relevant. I don't mind darker shoes with a lighter suit, I find the other way round less appealing.
Even better - use side adjusters and avoid belts and belt loops altogether. Adding a prominent line across your waist tends to attract the eye to the wrong place and to ruin the balance of the outfit.
I usually don’t like belts but in certain instances they’re necessary or even add to the outfit. The point of video is how to wear one not whether to wear one.
