I’m going to a bat mitzvah in a week, so I bought a dress. It was cute, it fit, it flattered (which is a lot to ask of a dress, I find), so I bought it. It’s navy blue.
So I’m looking for shoes to match. The thing is, there seem to be very few navy blue shoes on the market. What’s the deal with that? Does no-one wear navy anymore? Should I go for cream-colored shoes instead? What gives?
I don’t think so. Navy’s a pretty basic color, so I don’t think it could go out of style.
Yeah, Guin, that’s what I thought. So what’s with the lack of navy blue dress shoes in stores? Or am I just not shopping at the right places?
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen navy dress shoes, actually. Not often, at least. Normally I see navy outfits paired with silver or gold shoes, depending on the other accessories going with the outfit. Cream can’t be all that bad either, depending what you put with it.
There are a lot of different shades of navy blue and it’s difficult to match. Since I’m lazy, I would go for black shoes and hose or maybe a light color such as bone for both shoes and hose. But that’s just me.
Sheeeeeit. Not if you saw me in it.
Go crazy, sis. http://www.zappos.com/n/es/color/27/d/722000224/page/1.html
I frequently get them the next day. Lots of free shipping deals, too.
I have noticed this lack of navy blue shoes, also. I had a really nice pair of navy dress shoes with heels, and they finally needed to be replaced. I am still looking for a truly satisfactory replacement. Even Zappos didn’t have a lot of what I was looking for in navy.
I am not looking for hoochie-mama shoes. Dansko has 1! style in navy, and so does Easy Spirit. I plan to track these down in the fall. Good luck.
Don’t go with the black shoes with navy. IMHO that is tacky. Bone or ivory with light hose would be fine, especially if you have some matching trim or accessories.
All I can say is I feel your pain. I found a nice upscale brand, brand new pair of navy blue slacks last year at Goodwill and bought them. I’ve yet to find a good pair of navy shoes to wear with them, so they’ve been hanging in my closet since I bought them. Perhaps that’s why they were at Goodwill to start with. And please don’t wear navy blue and black together. That makes me cry inside. I’d go with the cream shoes.
My mom told me never wear black and blue together…you’ll look like a bruise.
I don’t think navy is out of style. I just purchased a couple nice pair of navy slacks last Tuesday. I hope they’re not out of style already!
I haven’t worn navy dress shoes in a while. Frankly, I haven’t ever found the right color navy to match my outfits. So I go for the gold tone shoes. That looks a lot better than mis matched navy.
Cream may work, but I’ve never liked lighter tones shoes with darker slacks or skirts. That’s just me though.
I’d like to know myself. I have given up on navy. I like it, I think it’s a very sophisticated color, but good-looking, navy shoes are hard to come by. I finally did end up with a pair, but they were pretty pricy and they only match one item in my closet, and that suit’s too big for me now.
I remember when I was searching for them, all I would find were either very conservative or old-lady type shoes (low-heeled and ugly).
Just to see if I’d still be unable to find navy shoes today, I did a quick search on nordstrom.com. I found these and these. Hmmm. Maybe it’s time to revisit navy after all.
I agree with navy blues being hard to match. I bought a pair of navy shoes to wear with a dress, got them home and they were totally different colours. I ended up with black, because it’s neutral. The Switzerland of shoes.
StG
A navy dress/skirt with navy shoes just seems. . . frumpy? to me. Don’t ask me why, as I have no objection to black on black or brown on brown.
What is quite popular at the moment (well, for the last few years, actually) is to do a neat, bright shoe. There’s a ton of colors that could work well with navy: everything from lime green to a metallic (gold could look good if it was the right shoe).
Also, you can’t ever go wrong with a tan color, as your legs will look much longer.
It may be that you’re having trouble finding navy shoes because it is summer. I predict it will be easier in winter.
I’ve been complaining about the lack of navy accessories for years. I have a pair of navy shoes which I seldom wear because the heels are quite high and I’ve been scouring the city every time I go into Town for a navy handbag. They just don’t exist. I wish brown would just curl up and die and let navy have its day in the sun.
I tried to buy a pair of navy blue pants last week.
Eddie Bauer didn’t carry any in their store, tho they carried them in catalog. Said Navy was not in this year. All they had was a lighter blue.
Found a pair at Talbots Men, which I did not get as they had pleats and cuffs.
I would have thought a pair of flat fron navy pants would have been about the simplest thing in the world to find.
I agree.
(Not that medstar is lazy … I just appreciate her reasoning).
Cordovan with navy, that’s the way to go.
Or, if you find the perfect pair of shoes, dark green or red – and let them be the most aggressive element of the outfit. The matching navy shoes to navy clothes is kind of an 80s notion. However, I think it can still be done in a not-too-cutesy way. My navy kid pumps are Pappagallos that date from the 80s and have held up well. Vintage Pappagallos in navy are available, unworn on eBay and other auction sites.
Definitely not black shoes with navy.
Tabby
Granted, I’m not a fan of navy to begin with, but cordovan shoes? For a guy, maybe, but I’d never do that as a female. I also wouldn’t use dark green or red. That just seems… frumpy (for the green) or trying to be patriotic (for red) cutesy. The green also seems like you’re mixing two neutrals badly; like wearing medium brown shoes with black pants. Ugh.
I agree with Diosa and would do a bright fun shoe that goes with the overall mood/feel of the outfit. That’s if I absolutely had to wear navy in the first place. 