Lesson 1:
Before we talk about how to match shoes to outfits, it is important to emphasize the word "MATCH". Why? When no matching effort shows, the whole look is out of tune.
Just look at Victoria Beckham: Her wind coat is well cut and classic. So are her shoes. However, the hard coal-like black shoes look heavy against the light color and texture of her wind coat. Furthermore, the warm gold-colored buttons look like a clique of honey bees swarming against her heavy shoes full of sorrow.
Lesson 2:
Now we can talk about HOW to match shoes to complete the outfit instead of ruining it.
Shoes are not supposed to match the top, but the bottom. Otherwise, the whole look appears to be "chopped up". Nicky hilton is "chopped" into three pieces here: the top black part (a Jack the Ripper sweater), the grey middle part (Saran Wrap leggings), and the black bottom part (regulation issue commando boots). Since the color of her pants are lighter than her top, she should, for example, wear a pair of shoes of a lighter grey color than her pants. In this way, the continuation of the color lightening from top to bottom is not disrupted. Unfortunately, Nicky abruptly compressed herself betwee top and bottom with two black heavy-weight bookends: her black top and her black Gestapo parade boots.
Similarly, Kesha should wear a pear of silver shoes to match the lower end of her dress to let the color change FLOW (like a rainbow's chromatic continuum) instead of throwing patches of one color here and there like a child randomly spreading bread crumbs from one end of the table to the other end instead of keeping the bread well behaved on one corner of its plate.
Again, dear Nicky, what you need is a pair of shoes that match your pants, and to let the color continuum of your entire outfit and accessories flow SMOOTHLY. Nicky has already done a good job matching her cardigan with her pants, now she just needs a pair of purple or grey shoes to match her pants.
Victoria's dress is beautiful, but wearing an outfit of entirely one color is "elementary level" fashion style. Since she has a beautiful red leather bag, she can match her shoes with it instead of wearing a pair of BLACK shoes with a BLACK dress to make herself look like a black widow with red blood stain on her hands.
Lesson 3:
Foot Shape VS Shoe Shape:
After you choose the right matching shoes, it is crucial that you double check whether the shoes actually look good on you.
This may sound redundant: Of course I'll check whether I look good in something!
It is actually an easy slip for people to miss. For example:
Kate coordinated her shoes with the black buttons on her suit. However, these pointy Wicked Witch of the West shoes do not match the shape of her feminine feet. Hence, her feet look too wide and flat -- like mini cone-head snow shoes on the red carpet.
Lesson 4:
Finally we have talked quite about the NOT TO's, now let us talk in detail about HOW TO coordinate shoes.
(1) Match your shoes with your leggings/ stockings:
Jameela's outfit is fun, explorative, daring and well coordinated. Her shoes look almost like part of her stockings. There is no abrupt discontinuation in color or texture at all. And her gold necklace matches her yellow jacket, and her red lips match her red lady-bug-like ring and red fingernail polish.
(2) Match your shoes with the details on your outfit (buttons):
Janet's black shoes above match her buttons and clutch easily yet classically. To avoid wardrobe malfunction, it can be as simple as this.
(3) Match your shoes with the details on your outfit (color/texture):
The beige color detail on Jessica's shoes not only match her cardigan and purse in color, but also match them in texture. The dry-grass fuzzy texture of the beige detail on her shoes echoes well the fluffy texture of her cardigan. Meanwhile, the base color of her sandals (black) match her black pants.
(4) Match your shoes with the details on your outfit (patterns):
Kim Kardashian's dress is detailed by the black atavistic abstract patterns echoing decorative geometric designs dating back 4,000+ years. Her black shoes act as the concentrated essence of the black petroglyph mimics on her dress.
Similarly, Michelle Obama's outfit is detailed by the little black squares here and there. Her black shoes match well this detail on her clothes, as well as her black belt / sash.
(5) Match your shoes with skirt/pants (color):
I am just glad to see Nicky not matching her shoes with her top again as we just mentioned above.
Likewise, the color of Odette's shoes match her black skirt. Plus, the straps on her shoes reflect the vertical lines on her skirt. She should get extra bonus points for this!
(6) Match your shoes with skirt/pants (tone):
We don't have to always wear shoes the exact same color as our skirts/pants. What we really look for is not tooth for tooth or eye for eye, but butter for bread and fries for burger. That is, the essence of coordination is echoing with the right parts. Echoing is not limited to patterns and colors, but also tone, because at the end of the day, color is just part of tone. Jennifer's shoes are not grey but a greyish beige color. Since the tone of the color is grey, the shoes match her skirt well, and thus coordinates smoothly with her whole outfit.
(7) Match your shoes with accessories (belt, purse, jewelry, etc):
Lauren Conrad's outfit is one of my favorites so far. I do not know what she is dressed up for -- a party, a date, etc? But her belt, purse and shoes are impeccably coordinated both in color and in material/texture. She did not fall into the stereotypical vanity trap of over decorating herself with more than one flower. Thus, how can anyone not smile at a young female flower awesomely color coordinated to the roots of her toes?
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