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navy suit, light brown belt & shoes

Cordovan is the way to go. I always look at black or brown shoes with a navy suit and think the wearer must have dressed in the dark. Sort of like wearing black socks with blue pants.

Cordovan is expensive though. Not everyone can afford a pair. Black and dark brown are fine. Black isn't adventurous but it's certainly not wrong.
 
Cordovan is expensive though. Not everyone can afford a pair. Black and dark brown are fine. Black isn't adventurous but it's certainly not wrong.

True that re expensive. I guess I was thinking of the color more than of the actual horsehide shell leather though.
 
I might add that you should wear socks that closely match the color of your pants. It will make the legs appear longer when the socks are visible.
 

Alacrity59

Wanting for wisdom
I know I will be hit on the head for saying this but some shades of oxblood and brown come across clownish . . . black is black you can't go wrong. Then again with good taste the brown done right is all about calm steady professional who will be there like a friend rather than the sharp edged black shoe guy. I hope this is a subtle thing as my formal shoes are black . . .
 
I happened to download a relevant video podcast from the ITunes web site put out by men's.style.com, which if I recall is the GQ web site. The Podcast show is "In the Closet" and the particular episode "Job Interview Edition," dated February 2, 2009.

Their advice for job interviewees: "There are only two colors of suit you can wear: grey or blue, but it should have no pattern ... Wear lace-up shoes, anything lace up is fine, wing-tip, cap toe, or plain. Either black or brown shoes are fine . . . wearing brown is maybe a little bit more of a stylish choice . . . ." Now the guy dressed up to interview on the show is wearing charcoal grey suit, not a navy one, but I would say the shoes his is wearing a pretty much a medium brown. Not too light, but definitely a long way from dark brown. Now one could say that they do not get down into any detail about differences between a navy suit and a charcoal one. But still, if it seemed important I think they would have said something, particularly since they refer to brown shoes as essentially "fashion forward." Also, their emphasis is to dress in way so you seem that you would "fit in" and not "rock the boat." So they are somewhat purporting to set out what would be unquestioned standard stuff to wear.

Now anyone that actually watches this is going to say the guy has no credibilty given the socks he is wearing. He may be joking around on that anyway. I have seen him wear all kinds of different facial hair and including sans facial hair, and the particular arrangement he has here seems a little jokey for a job interview.

I have seen these guys before. They seem to do these with a nice sense of humor and I have not seen them go too wrong to my mind, except those socks!
 
I was told my a mentor back in the early 80's that formal business wear was always a navy or gray suit, conservative in cut and polished black shoes. (Harp Music - Remembering those heavy, leather-bottomed wing-tips).

The exception was the old Boston Brahmins, who always wore brown shoes. Since I was not old or a Brahmin, I opted for the black wing-tips.
 
I was told my a mentor back in the early 80's that formal business wear was always a navy or gray suit, conservative in cut and polished black shoes. (Harp Music - Remembering those heavy, leather-bottomed wing-tips).

The exception was the old Boston Brahmins, who always wore brown shoes. Since I was not old or a Brahmin, I opted for the black wing-tips.

<The exception was the old Boston Brahmins, who always wore brown shoes. >

I had never heard of that! That seems very interesting. The most staid of the staid. One might think they would be closer to the Brits. Any idea what the basis for brown and no black was? A subtle signal so that they would know who was part of the club and who was not? A ridiculous thought as I am sure that this was a group that knew exactly who was who. No need for "gang signs" here.

Ever hear the rule that wing tips should never be worn after 6:00 pm? I would love to know the origin of that one. Wing tips strike me as about as business wear as one can get.

Maybe the idea is that a gentleman does not do business after 6:00 pm!

Is that the way your mentor dressed? My mentor, whom I still miss every minute of my professonal life, dressed in a very specific and expensive way, although I imagine that because he had the same suits for decades (always Oxxford) that his clothing costs were no more than mine. He never wore wing tips. Instead he wore Brit slip ons. And they always shone like a mirror. I could never figure out how he got his shoes to shine like they did and I coudl not do that with mine. It was years before I figured out that he was wearing Church (at the time MacAffee) with a "bookbinder" finish, had an amazing shiine. I know that this finish is a turn off the Andy's Forum folks, but it impressed me at the time! For that matter I have a burgundy pair of Church wing tips in a book binder finish. It has held up and does not look any kind of phony to me!
 
Like the song says:

Brown shoes don't make it.

(Quit school, why fake it.)

Brown shoes don't make it.

Yeah, for sure. How many people these days even recall the satorial column he wrote for the San Francisco Oracle in the heyday of the Haight? As with respect to music and politics, and so many other things, Frank Z took a strong interest in and had very strong views concerning such matters--to the extent of being rather personally condemining of a guy simply based upon what FZ considered to be an ill-advised choice in footwear. But such was the man's passion! We miss you, Frank! We need you here to guide us!

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I wear a navy pinstripe with a pair of Walnut coloured Allan Edmond Dress Shoes and I get lots of compliments on it.

I would not wear tan shoes with a navy suit but I think a medium brown is more than acceptable for Navy, grey and even charcoal. It will depend on your personal style and personality. I aim for a bit more of a European look with my formal business attire.
 
Well looks like we have a definitive answer of sorts. No matter what color shoes one wears with a navy suit, one runs the chance that someone with think that they are the wrong color! I guess the bottom line is to go gray.
 
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