The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Wearing, and Caring for Brown Leather Dress Shoes

The post The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Wearing, and Caring for Brown Leather Dress Shoes appeared first on Effortless Gent.

Brown dress shoes in quality leather are a versatile and stylish essential in any man’s wardrobe.

But there are so many options. How can you find a pair that you love, looks great, and fits your budget?

Not all dress shoes are created equal. Just considering they’re leather (or resemble leather), doesn’t midpoint you’re ownership the right shoe… or that it’s going to fit the rest of your getup.

Add to that the massive variety of options misogynist to you.

(I dare you to search for “brown leather dress shoes” and not come yonder overwhelmed.)

So many brands, colors, styles, and prices… how can you be sure you’re getting a pair that deserves a place in your Lean Wardrobe?

No worries. I’m going to help you find and buy the perfect pair of brown leather dress shoes.

Once you understand your options and know what you’re looking for, everything becomes much easier.

 

 

Are Brown Leather Shoes Largest Than Woebegone Leather Shoes?

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Short answer: YES.

Longer answer: Yes, considering 99% of the time, I wear some type of brown leather shoe. Why?

• Brown is richer, increasingly interesting, and increasingly versatile.
• Brown dress shoes can hands be dressed up and down.
• Brown shoes go with just well-nigh any suiting verisimilitude you might wear.

Sure, woebegone dress shoes have their place in your wardrobe. But if you’re only going to have one killer pair of dress shoes, they should be brown. And if you wear leather dress shoes daily for work, I’d recommend you get increasingly than one pair in brown.

Now that I’ve got you convinced, let’s move on to picking out the right pair. Here’s what we’ll be tent in this guide to brown dress shoes.

By the end you’ll be a shoe expert and have found the perfect pair of brown dress shoes for your style. 

Different Styles of Brown Dress Shoes

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Hit the shoe store – online or local – and you’re going to find an enormous number of brown dress shoe options. All kinds of shapes and styles, shades and tones, curves and soles.

Which is right for you? Consider two essential factors:

1. Style – Go with a archetype style and you’ll never have to replace your shoes. They’ll unchangingly be current and will hands match with your trendier items.
2. Formality – Semi-formal shoes are most versatile. They fit in a formal outfit but can moreover be dressed lanugo into a smart unstudied style.

I know what you’re thinking.

“Soo… what exactly does ‘classic’ and ‘semi-formal’ squint like?”

Don’t worry, we’ll go over that.

But as we go through some worldwide dress shoe designs, alimony in mind these two factors. Don’t get distracted by shoes with unconfined style but a formality that won’t work for your needs.

Let’s compare two of the most worldwide styles of dress shoes: oxfords and bluchers.

Oxford vs. Blucher

The main difference between the oxford (a.k.a. balmoral) and the blucher (a.k.a. derby or buck) is how the vamp is stitched.

With oxfords, the eyelets are stitched underneath the vamp. This creates a increasingly formal look. Bluchers have eyelets stitched on top of the vamp and are considered slightly less formal.

See the pursuit image:

The other major factor that determines the formality of your dress shoes is toe design. A plain toe (like in the oxford above) is increasingly formal than a cap toe (the blucher above).

Less formal still are any shoes with broguing – the decorative patterns of holes on some dress shoes. Originally these were made for aeration when your shoes got wet, but now it’s just for looks.

The rule of brown dress shoe formality goes like this:

• Oxford » Blucher
• Plain toe » Quarter brogue » Semi brogue » Full brogue

Oxford and Derby Are Different

Sometimes, unfortunately, Oxford and derby are used interchangeably. This is worldwide in the upkeep realm (just trammels Amazon), but can occasionally happen in tiers vastitude that. The Eastsides from Boss, for example, are definitely Derbies, but are labeled Oxfords.

This is increasingly likely to happen with Derbies stuff labeled as Oxfords, rather than the other way around. It might be worth considering searching both terms, plane if you’ve decided that one style is increasingly your thing than the other.

Loafers

Because of their slip-on construction, loafers are often worn in a wide range of dress codes, including casually, with shorts. Make no mistake well-nigh it though, these smart unstudied staples do fall in the dress shoe side of the spectrum. And they’re definitely good for all seasons (just wear them with thick socks in colder months).

There’s moreover a wide range of loafer styles. Ones with increasingly detailing on it, say an American-style tassel loafer with whinge rolls, are increasingly unstudied than minimal ones, like a whole-cut Venetian loafer.

Most designs will fall somewhere in the middle though, and getting them in brown or tan will indulge you to sport them in contexts as formal as a workbench meeting and as relaxed as a jeans-clad weekend.

(By the way, trammels out our review of the Grant Stone Traveler Loafers when you’re washed-up here!)

Monk Straps

Often considered an essential, Monk strap shoes are secured by buckles and straps. So basically, a whup system takes the place of a traditional lacing system. They can have one strap or two, and plane three.

As always, the increasingly straps there are the less formal the monk. Regardless, they’re increasingly detailed than traditional Oxfords and less detailed than derbies, providing a hardware-infused middle ground.

Speaking of hardware, if you like a workwear-inspired unstudied style, this strapped-in, metal-clad shoe can serve as a visual bridge. This ways you can hands wear your monk strap shoes with a full suit, and plane jeans with a utility shirt.

“So what do I wear?”

For example:

• Ultra formal event? Plain toe oxford is your weightier choice.
• Casual Friday? Bust out the full brogue (or semi, or quarter, whichever you prefer).
• Have to segregate just one? The semi- or full brogue…

…especially if you dress in a smart, sharp, unstudied style, the semi or full brogue is the weightier choice. They’ll go with everything from a navy suit to denim. (More on what to wear with your shoes below.)

Now that you’ve chosen the right style, let’s swoop into all your verisimilitude options.
 

Choosing the Weightier Shade of Brown Leather Shoes

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Wondering which shade of brown is best?

To be honest, it’s a matter of preference. But it moreover can depend on what weightier matches the rest of your outfit, and where you’re headed.

In general, the darker the shoe, the increasingly formal it is.

Keep in mind that there isn’t one absolute, weightier verisimilitude for your shoes (or anything else in life). And one brand’s take on “brown” may be slightly darker or lighter than another’s.

Instead of focusing so much on the specific verisimilitude of each shoe you consider, think of which shade group it belongs to.

For brown, there are three main groups: light brown, standard brown, and burgundy.

Light Brown

This shade group includes:

• Tan
• Cognac
• Walnut
• Neutral
• Bronze

Above is one of my personal favorites, the Allen Edmonds Strand in Walnut Calf.

I love it considering it goes unconfined with nearly everything—dark denim, soot suiting trousers, olive chinos… you get the idea.

All light browns squint similar to this, though they can vary slightly. No worries though; it’s nonflexible to go wrong with such an eye-catching shade.

Standard Brown (medium to dark)

This shade group includes:

• Burnished Brown
• Medium Brown
• Dark Brown
• Mahogany

Darken things up a bit and you’ve got standard brown leather. This is the wholecut oxford in reversion brown from Ace Marks.

Notice how there’s a little visionless brown or woebegone in this pair, expressly at the toe?

Burnished leather gives the shoes an antiqued, buffed, worn-in squint with darker shades of brown at the heel and toe. The darker tones add some dimension to the overall shoe color.

It’s a subtle thing, but at EG we’re all well-nigh the little details, and I like this one.

Even in the world of formal brown dress shoes, you can still find little flourishes of detail that make your shoes stand out.

Burgundy

This shade group includes:

• Chili
• Bordeaux

Burgundy-colored leather looks similar to visionless brown, but with hints of red.

These colors can vary depending on how the light hits them, making these shades some of the richest and most interesting. This is the Kent wingtip in Bordeaux from Beckett Simonon.

Burgundy (also known as chili or Bordeaux) shoes offer a nice volitional to standard brown leather. But depending on how picky you are, it may be challenging to match these shades to your pants.

Charcoal trousers, visionless navy trousers, or muted khaki chinos (not too light) all squint unconfined with this verisimilitude shoe.

The Marrow line: Which shade is best?

Consider the formality of your typical outfits. If you’re mostly formal, darker shades are best. For smart unstudied looks, medium to light brown is best.

Light browns (like cognac and tan) and burgundies can be really eye-catching, which is flipside thing to consider.

Dress Shoe Construction and Materials

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We’ve discussed style and color. Those are factors most guys consider. It’s nonflexible not to, since that’s what you immediately notice well-nigh shoes.

Now it’s time to write the shoe’s construction and materials. These are the details you don’t unchangingly see, but will definitely notice without years of wear.

Make sure you know unbearable well-nigh the materials and construction of dress shoes to make an informed purchase. Otherwise, you’ll waste money and wind up disappointed.

You’ll want to consider:

• the quality of the leather uppers
• the unstipulated construction of the shoe
• and the materials used in the sole

Leather

There are several grades of leather, from top quality to junk.

When shopping for shoes, you want to make sure you’re closer to the top than the bottom.

Here’s a visual of the difference between types of leather and what the names of worldwide leather grades unquestionably mean.

• Full Grain Leather – Full grain leather is top quality. It comes from smooth, untarnished hides that do not have to be sanded down. As it ages, it takes on a rich patina that makes your shoes squint plane better.
• Top Grain Leather – A bit thinner and easier to work with, top grain leather has a split layer. Any minor imperfections in the hibernate have been sanded yonder and the finish leaves it feeling smooth.
• Corrected Grain (or Genuine) Leather – The low-quality alternative. It’s still leather, sure. But it’s made from blemished hides that get sanded lanugo and treated with chemicals. It’s then given an strained grain and stained or dyed to make it squint increasingly like a full or top grain leather.

A few other variations to alimony in mind:

• Shell Cordovan Leather – Made from one specific part of horsehide (not cow) and produced by just a few manufacturers virtually the world, shell cordovan leather is expensive and in upper demand. Its patina is unmatched and, while you’ll pay a premium for it, you’ll have a pair of luxury dress shoes that will stand out every time you wear them.
• Pebbled Leather – The raised texture you find in some leather goods. It can be used to disguise poorer quality leather. Not all pebbled leather is low quality, however (you can have full grain leather with a pebbled texture)
• Calfskin Leather — This variation of bovine leather is often increasingly expensive, mainly considering there’s not as much material per unprepossessing to work with. It’s thinner than regular cow leather, but has a tighter grain and smoother surface, and is uncommonly soft. 
  
  It’s still as durable as full-grain cow leather, but has increasingly tensile strength. This ways it can support a higher maximum topics without stretching. This may be increasingly important when it comes to tons and wallets, but when it comes to shoes, you’re potentially looking at a longer safecracking period all things considered.

Want a pair of shoes that will last you a lifetime? Full grain leather is the right choice.

It’s increasingly porous than top grain leather, so it largest absorbs polish and develops a richer patina. The result is a classic, stylish pair of dress shoes that will unchangingly impress.

On a budget? Tempted to go with corrected grain or genuine leather? Resist the urge.

The chemical finish and low quality material ways it’s increasingly likely to ruckle and crack. You’ll spend increasingly on repeatedly replacing unseemly shoes than you would investing in one pair of full grain leather dress shoes.

But plane the weightier quality leather is no good if the shoe itself isn’t built for repletion and longevity. That’s why the shoe’s construction matters too.

Construction

There are three worldwide types of shoe construction: Goodyear welting, Blake stitching, and cementing.

Each is a variegated tideway to how the leather upper is tying to the sole. The one you segregate will stupefy the visitation and tautness of your dress shoes.

• Goodyear Welting – A leather welt (or strip) is used to stitch together the upper and the outsole. This makes it easy to resole the shoes without rabble-rousing them. The insole and outsole are separated by a layer of cork which conforms to your foot over time.
• Blake Stitching – The upper is stitched directly to the insole and outsole of the shoe. The squint is smooth and streamlined since no leather welt separates the shoe’s components. However, this makes it easier for water to get into the shoe and complicates the resoling process.
• Cementing – A cheap, junior way to make shoes. The glue dries up with time and the shoe’s upper separates from the sole. This method is weightier used on unstudied shoes that are not designed to last increasingly than a few years. Note that some cemented dress shoes can have decorative stitching to make it seem like a variegated method was used… don’t be fooled. To make sure the stitching is authentic, trammels that the marrow and top stitches align.

Both Goodyear welting and Blake stitching have their respective benefits. And both are sturdy methods of construction. Either one will make for a beautiful, long lasting pair of dress shoes that can be recrafted when necessary.

Sole

The sole of your shoe doesn’t get as much visual sustentation as the leather upper, but it shouldn’t be overlooked. A quality sole makes every step you take in your dress shoes better.

These are the most worldwide types of soles used in dress shoes, their differences, and how to segregate the right kind for your footwear.

• Leather – Lowest profile, least weather-resistant. Sleek, handsome, and elegant with a good finger and sound. If you want a archetype pair of dress shoes, this is your choice.
• Dainite – Dainite soles have a lower profile and increasingly polished squint than you get from typical rubber soles. They’re a good compromise if you’re going to do a lot of walking virtually the municipality in your dress shoes but still need a formal look.
• Rubber – Grippy and rugged, yes. Dressy and formal… not so much. Rubber soled dress shoes tend to be thick and protruding – they’re weightier for shoes designed to withstand the weather and grip any kind of terrain.
• Leather Rubber Hybrids – Be shielding with hybrid soles. Functionally, they’re meant to combine the high-traction, shock traction of rubber, with the swish squint of leather, but some designs are largest than others. If you veritably need a pair of dress shoes that are well-appointed and grippy, the weightier weightier are full leather outsoles with a thin rubber cap on the heel and sometimes the balls of your feet.

Again, go with the weightier if you want a quality pair of brown dress shoes that will last for a decade (or more). Leather soles are by far the most professional, formal, and archetype option for dress shoes.

Brown Leather Dress Shoes: Here’s What To Buy

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At this point you’ve learned all the pertinent details well-nigh dress shoes. Now it’s time to segregate the right pair for you… the shoes that will take your professional outfit from unrewarding to dapper.

This ownership guide is based on all the factors above: the style, construction, and quality that make a pair of brown dress shoes worth your money and worth wearing for years to come.

Think of this guide as a jumping-off point to help you find the right pair. Trammels out my suggestions to icon out what appeals to you.

My hope is that these options help you narrow lanugo your preferences and segregate a pair of shoes that work for your style.

But there’s flipside major factor you can’t forget about…

How Much To Spend On Brown Leather Shoes

Time for some real talk.

If you want long-lasting, quality dress shoes from a reputable brand, expect to spend at least $300 (full price retail). There’s a reason a good shoe financing this much: the quality of the material and the quality of the construction (and to some extent, the trademark cache).

Frugal gents, I know this can be hard. But saving a few dollars isn’t worth walking virtually in a subpar shoe. You won’t be as satisfied with your purchase because:

1. Cheap leather dress shoes squint worse the increasingly you wear them, and
2. You’ll have to replace unseemly shoes increasingly commonly considering they fall apart.

Cheap vs Expensive Dress Shoes?

If you’re going to fork out $150 for a pair of unseemly dress shoes, hold out for a bit longer and save up an uneaten $150 to get a largest pair. There’s a big difference between a pair you can buy for $150, and one that runs you $300 .

Cheap leather dress shoes don’t age gracefully and squint terrible over time. But quality, full-grain leather dress shoes squint largest as they age and develop a unique patina. Here’s increasingly info on building a patina over time.

Average the forfeit over the total days you will use this new pair of dress shoes. You’ll find that spending $300 isn’t outlandish, expressly since you’ll be worldly-wise to use these shoes for years, maybe plane decades.

But let’s suppose you do have to replace them. A quality pair can be repaired, resoled, and refinished… all for less than ownership a new pair of shoes.

Bottom Line: Spending increasingly now will save you money in the long term, and weightier of all, you’ll enjoy the wits every time you wear the shoes.

EG Recommends These Brown Dress Shoes

Here are a few brands I own, have tried, and / or often just love. You can’t go wrong with any of these.

I listed shoes wideness the price spectrum that requite you unconfined value for your hard-earned cash.

What if you simply cannot sire a unconfined pair at this time?

Then you’ll have to find a shoe that looks visually similar to the ones I’ve mentioned whilom and do the weightier you can to take superintendency of them.

You’ll sacrifice quality and longevity at lower price points, but if you alimony them wipe and put shoe trees in them without every use, they’ll last a bit longer than if you didn’t superintendency for them.

Remember: Your wardrobe is an investment. Go classic. And when possible, buy good quality once and wear forever.

Shoes are one of the things I encourage you to spend a bit increasingly on. They tend to last longer and squint unconfined throughout the years, thesping you take proper superintendency of them.
 

How to Superintendency for Your Brown Leather Dress Shoes

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Don’t let your shoes go to waste without all the nonflexible work you put into choosing the right pair. You need to take superintendency of your leather shoes.

Fortunately, this part is easy. A few small purchases and good habits will ensure your dress shoes unchangingly squint great.

Shoe Trees

While not in use, your brown dress shoes should be kept unappetizing on their soles, with cedar shoe trees inserted. Do not just throw your trappy new shoes in the closet. Ever.

Shoe trees are molds of the unstipulated form of a foot that help maintain your shoe’s shape and fight the creases. They come in variegated materials, but cedar is the only one you should consider – it’s unconfined at titillating moisture and keeping moths away.

Before you buy, remember that shoe trees are not one-size-fits-all.

• If you buy them too large or too wide, they can stretch and forfeiture your shoe’s leather.
• Too small or narrow, they won’t provide the necessary support and you’ll risk the shoe losing its form.

Try the shoe trees first if possible and make sure they fit snugly in your shoes, but not so tight you have to jam them in.

Shoe Polish

Shine your dress shoes at least once every other week (assuming you use them regularly) to maintain the leather and alimony them in top form.

If you wear these shoes regularly, go over them for a few minutes with a horsehair skim or soft reticulum to alimony them looking smart between polishes.

This simple shoe polish kit from Saphir is perfect for your upper quality leather shoes. It includes everything you need to properly superintendency for your investment-quality dress shoes.

You’re going to want to:

• Lift yonder any dirt or zestless mud with a semi-coarse skim (horsehair, ideally)
• Select and wield the proper verisimilitude polish (brown or neutral, depending on the shade of your shoes)
• Work the polish into the leather with a softer brush
• Finish by going over each shoe with a soft cloth
• Buff out any polish by briskly brushing the shoe with the horsehair brush

I recommend pursuit channels such as Kirby Allison and The Elegant Oxford for spanking-new shoe shine tutorials.

Rotate your shoes

Even shoe trees and regular polishing won’t save your shoes if you never requite them a day off.

Rotating your shoes lets them dry and ensures they last longer. Plane if you only switch between two pairs of shoes, you can potentially double the lifetime of each.
 

What to Wear with Brown Leather Dress Shoes

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You’ve got a killer pair of brown dress shoes that you’re taking unconfined superintendency of. But what should you wear them with to squint your best?

Good news: brown dress shoes are extremely versatile. They go with just well-nigh everything. Here are some examples for both formal and smart unstudied attire, and increasingly proof that brown shoes are increasingly unsteadfast than black.

Related Wares on EG (don’t miss these)

• How To Match Clothing Well
• How To Use Contrast To Create Kick-Ass Clothing Combinations
• Choose The Weightier Clothing Colors For Your Skin Tone
• How To Match Clothes: Quick and Easy Verisimilitude Combos

Suiting

• Gray/Charcoal – Brown warms up the palette. Dark, rich browns squint best.
• Navy/Blue – Any shade of brown contrasts beautifully with a navy suit. Lighter tones – tan, cognac, walnut, etc. – stand out well versus darker navy but moreover work with lighter blues.
• Tan/Khaki – Any shade will work. For a dressier look, segregate shoes one tone darker than your suit.
• Black – Here’s one of the few cases where brown won’t work. Yes, some guys will try to pull off brown shoes with a woebegone suit. But in general, it’s a bad idea.

Chinos & Denim

Brown leather dress shoes hoist your smart unstudied and merchantry unstudied style. You’ll most likely be wearing chinos or denim in these situations. Brown shoes work well with:

• Olive Chinos
• Dark Khaki Chinos
• Medium Khaki Chinos
• Cream Chinos
• Dark Denim
• White Denim

Mix & Match

These verisimilitude combinations are just a place to start – not nonflexible and fast rules. In theory, either brown or woebegone shoes can go with any pant color.

But what looks weightier moreover depends on what shirt you’re wearing (also: what type of shoe, what type of pants, how tomfool you are, etc.)

Want to mix it up and get creative? Try this:

• If you typically play it unscratched (i.e. woebegone lace-ups with visionless denim and a woebegone button-up), try out your pair of brown wingtips with a violaceous shirt.
• Swap out that woebegone sawed-off up for a visionless red / white bengal stripe shirt.
• Swap the visionless denim for an olive gingham.

Lots of options pair nicely with brown shoes. You owe it to yourself to try them out!

FAQ Well-nigh Brown Dress Shoes

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Can you wear brown shoes to a wedding?

Unless it’s woebegone tie or white tie, yes. Just follow the guide whilom regarding the verisimilitude of your suiting.

Can you wear brown shoes with a tuxedo?

The only tuxedo you can pair with brown shoes is a visionless navy one, and the shoes should be, not only the darkest brown, but moreover the most minimal diamond as well. Think, a whole-cut plain-toe Oxford shoe.

Should you match your leather whup with your shoes?

Yes, if you’re wearing dress shoes and a belt, they should match each other.

In Summary: Everything You Need To Know Well-nigh Brown Dress Shoes

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Here’s a quick roundup of everything you need to know well-nigh brown leather dress shoes – both surpassing you buy and without you’ve chosen the perfect pair:

• A shoe’s style, color, and broguing all stupefy how formal they are and what outfits they’ll squint weightier with.
• Full grain leather uppers, leather soles, and Goodyear welting or Blake stitching make for a pair of archetype dress shoes that will last for years to come.
• Care for your shoes – rotate them out every other day or so, store them with shoe trees, and polish them once each week.
• Brown dress shoes go with everything from suits to smart unstudied attire. If you’re feeling unsure well-nigh what to wear them with, match the formality of your shoes to that of your outfit and surroundings.

I hope this guide has helped you find the right pair of brown leather dress shoes.

Make sure they’re quality and unchangingly take good superintendency of them. That way you’ll be satisfied with your purchase and can enjoy investment-worthy shoes for years to come.

What are your weightier tips for choosing brown dress shoes? How well-nigh your favorite styles or outfit combinations? Let me know!

If you have any questions or comments, hit me up on Twitter. You can moreover find join other readers on Effortless Gent’s Facebook page, or DM me on Instagram!

The post The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Wearing, and Caring for Brown Leather Dress Shoes appeared first on Effortless Gent.