# When did brown shoes become the thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263 "2018-06-17T15:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/1 "2018-06-17T15:35:53Z")
Guys wear them with black or blue suits. I was always taught that the shoes and belt need to match the suit color, but apparently not anymore. It just looks weird to me. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/2 "2018-06-17T15:39:28Z")
I’ll wear not _brown_ but tan leather shoes with a dark suit. Not even tan exactly, but sort of a reddish-orange leather. They’re about [this](https://www.allenedmonds.com/dw/image/v2/AAXI_PRD/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-allenedmonds-catalog/default/dwa197dd0f/images/shoes/allenedmonds_shoes_yorktown_1012_walnut.jpg?sw=736&sh=736&sm=fit) color, but slightly brighter and more orange-y. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/3 "2018-06-17T15:44:20Z")
[Brown Shoes Don’t Make It](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZLWD75KKGA/new). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/4 "2018-06-17T15:50:50Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Guys wear them with black or blue suits. I was always taught that the shoes and belt need to match the suit color, but apparently not anymore. In my younger days, it was black belt and shoes with a black suit but brown/burgundy belt and shoes with a blue suit. How do you match your shoes to a blue suit? Blue dress shoes? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/5 "2018-06-17T15:57:19Z")
Aye; [blue dress shoes](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&biw=1272&bih=943&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=koQmW9KbH5PV8AOYiKn4Ag&q=blue+dress+shoes+mens&oq=blue+dress+shoes+mens&gs_l=img.3...0.0.0.19419.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c..64.img..0.0.0....0.OBfpqBDIxXg). Own that shit. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/6 "2018-06-17T16:13:04Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > In my younger days, it was black belt and shoes with a black suit but brown/burgundy belt and shoes with a blue suit. How do you match your shoes to a blue suit? Blue dress shoes? Yeah, growing up (and even now), I remember black with black, and then brown with navy, and never black with navy. ---
**Author:** ![ch51](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ch51/32/3111_2.png) [@ch51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ch51)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/7 "2018-06-17T16:47:48Z")
“Yeah, growing up (and even now), I remember black with black, and then brown with navy, and never black with navy.” This. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/8 "2018-06-17T17:12:22Z")
I can’t bring myself to wear brown shoes/belt with non-brown clothes. I do black or oxblood with navy, gray, and black suits. I know brown shoes are officially okay with dark suits, but I just can’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/9 "2018-06-17T22:32:16Z")
Anyone who hates the black/blue combo had better make a strenuous effort to avoid any contact with any police or armed forces personnel. Black fades into the background. In my opinion, the brown/blue combo is an ostentatious attempt to draw attention to one’s shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/10 "2018-06-17T23:38:32Z")
I refuse to own brown shoes or belts. So I wear black with everything. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/11 "2018-06-17T23:42:40Z")
I don’t know or care what GQ says, but my rule of thumb is black for just about anything, but brown is acceptable with earth tones, and you stay like-for-like; dark brown for darker earth tones, lighter brown for tans and such. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/12 "2018-06-18T00:09:01Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Anyone who hates the black/blue combo had better make a strenuous effort to avoid any contact with any police or armed forces personnel. Of course, you could be avoiding wearing it so you don’t look like you’re wearing a service uniform. Same reason I don’t wear a blue polo with khakis 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/13 "2018-06-18T01:33:27Z")
I have brown shoes that I’ll wear with light colored clothes. It’s the brown with black or gray that really stuns me. Bill Maher wears brown shoes all the time and I saw a CNN anchor wearing them today. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/14 "2018-06-18T01:41:44Z")
Coco Chanel, I think, is the person generally noted for breaking the brown/black barrier. You can Google it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/15 "2018-06-18T01:49:11Z")
When you google Coco Chanel’s name and colors all you get are items of clothing for purchase. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/16 "2018-06-18T01:54:56Z")
Brown shoes have always been the thing. Black shoes have always been the other thing. That’s the thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/17 "2018-06-18T12:50:56Z")
“Do you ever get the feeling that all the world is a tuxedo, and you’re a pair of brown shoes?” _—George Gobel on **The Tonight Show** , 1969._ ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/18 "2018-06-20T12:16:06Z")
There was an article in Esquire, circa 1990, about “Comfort shoes.” These are shoes built specifically for your foot’s metrics, with sort of built-in orthotics, and they are freakishly comfortable. In the article, the writer went to a cobbler in Pennsylvania that was heralded as the best source of these shoes. He wanted them in black, but the shoemaker pleaded with him to get brown instead because they showed the workmanship better. To me, brown shoes just _look_ more comfortable. I had some Ecco ankle boots for years and they fell apart on me on an Amsterdam sidewalk–just outside a store that sold Ecco ankle boots. Why defy fate? I bought another pair on the spot! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/19 "2018-06-26T05:10:10Z")
Yeah, I see brown shoes with blue suits more and more these days, and die a little inside. NOKD. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263/20 "2018-06-26T14:37:23Z")
I’m always amused by the demise of fads and fashions I never knew existed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-brown-shoes-become-the-thing/816263.md?page=2)