Need help, need outside opinions, please. I have a long (shin-length) skirt that’s solid-colored, in a light brown shade. (Roughly, the Medium Taupe shown here, though a bit warmer, or the camel shown here.)
Anyway, I wound up buying a pair of flats that are aaalllllmost but not quite the same color, and that brings me to my questions:
Is it OK to wear them together? They almost-but-not-quite match. Too matchy-matchy?
1a. If I wear them together, what would I wear on my leg? My instinct is a nude stocking, but I keep hearing more and more often that those are passe and/or for old ladies. (I’m 30!) I have one or two pairs of chocolate-brown tights (ribbed sweater tights) but when I tried them all together the results were … odd. Maybe it’s just because I’m used to dark skirts and shoes with light stockings, and the reverse looked, well, reversed.
Whaddya think, Doper fashionistas? Wanna convince me that the dark-brown tights are OK, or is there some other option - neon purple? - that I should explore? It’s way too cold for bare legs now.
To be totally honest, the length you’re describing is the most universally unflattering length of skirt to exist for women- most folks end up looking dumpy and stumpy in skirts of that length. You either need to be right at the knee (or just barely below it) or long , but I suppose that’s just my humble opinion. I guess it also depends on your age; I wouldn’t flinch seeing a 55 year old women in a skirt like that, but I would be confused by a 25 year old in the same length skirt. Since you’re 30, you really could get away with a more trendy length of skirt (ie: a little shorter, right below the knee).
Anywho, on to the actual questions:
I wear black skirts with black shoes all the time, so I guess it could work. It really just depends on the style of the outfit. It’s a bit hard to tell you whether it would be good or not without pictures.
1a. This again depends on the style of the skirt. If it’s a pencil skirt and you wear it with a funky top, you could wear some crazy color tights and it would look great. If it’s a flowey hippie skirt, it’s going to look really odd with anything other than neutral tights.
Can you describe the skirt a little better or link us to a picture?
Personally, and I know this flies in the face of current fashion (and I just typed “trashion” by mistake; make of this what you will) – I loathe the look of dark tights with light shoes. I think it looks ridiculously tacky and will be one of the many things we look back on regarding this decade that make us cringe (harem pants being #1). So if you’re going to wear those shoes with that skirt, I would suggest just going bare-legged.
I also heartily second Diosa’s opinion that calf-length skirts are an unattractive length for most people, even the tall and willowy. Is it possible to hem the skirt to knee-length?
Also, could you link us to both the skirt and the shoes?
Yeah, link to a picture, with you or the model in it preferable. If you can’t find one like it, try to find a similar Jcrew or Gap one, as they have more normal-ish models so we can see where it falls. I too find the length described odd.
I frankly have no idea what the real life difference is between tights and pantyhose and stockings. If they’re too thin to be pants, all the words mean the same thing to me.
Matchy-matchy is bad. It’s comfortable, but it’s wrong (according to What Not To Wear). I am a person who wears the same 6-8 sweaters and the same 2-3 pairs of pants to work in the winter, and have a similar numbered wardrobe in the summer. I always look very good and professional, and I look good when I go out. I’m by no means super into fashion, but people do often comment that I always look “appropriate” to the occasion. I wear classic stuff - corduroys, khakis, 3/4 length wool and cashmere sweaters. Classic, flattering stuff - but nothing that pushes boundaries. My biggest rule is that I never, ever wear something that doesn’t flatter my body, no matter how trendy it is. As such, I never wore flared jeans and I’ve never worn skinny jeans. I also don’t wear pregnant lady tops, aka empire waist tops. (ETA: I realize this sounded like I wanted to talk about myself. I don’t. I just wanted you to know where I was coming from tis all!)
I get 99% of my fashion advice from What Not To Wear. Matchy-matchy is bad, things have to “go” with one another, like handbags, wallets, shoes, and accessories.
So yeah, matchy matchy bad. Go with something a totally different color on your feet. And dark brown tights are a great color to contrast with the skirt - same color family, not same color.
Wear the shoes with the skirt and find a tight the same colour as the skirt. This will make your entire bottom half appear visually similar and eliminate the weird choppiness with the dark tight.
Make sure you wear a different coloured top though, otherwise you really will be too matchy-matchy - you’ll look like a big, beige blob. Not so good.
I too am very interested in seeing the skirt length - are you very tall and it’s supposed to be floor length? Or very short and it’s supposed to be knee length? Do tell.
Another option is to shorten the skirt to about knee length and get one of the really cute, funky, patterned tights that are popular right now. I would suggest this option works best if you have good legs.
IDK about the OP, but I’m 5’4’’ and fat and have noticed that in almost all the fat girl stores, skirts are the length she references. It’s terribly unflattering, but I’ll be damned if I can buy a skirt at Lane Bryant.
I’ve got a skirt that length, and have discovered that although it makes me look weird and stumpy if I wear regular heels/flats, if I wear a knee-high boot it looks great. This is inexplicable, but true.
I’m 5’9" & just a tad bit too skinny for Lane Bryant. A few weeks ago I was in the mood for browsing, in Downtown Houston Macy’s. The saleslady asked what I was looking for & I said “skirts.” She shrugged her shoulders & almost laughed. But nicely.
Some of the skirts available were Too Long in a bad way–that “Rogue Mormon Cult” look. The rest were the “Trashy Catholic Schoolgirl” type; many young ladies actually wear them over leggings, but I did micro-minis in* my* youth & won’t go back.
It’s not a good year for skirts.
For the OP: I’m a great believer in black tights. Or maybe a bright color! (It* is* a good year for tights. And boots.)
I agree with what everyone’s saying about the skirt length. If I did have a skirt that length, I’d shorten it to mid-knee or wear it with boots. I wouldn’t wear nude hose, ever. Here in Florida, it’s either bare legs or opaque colored tights, so I’d do that.
So now it’s matchy-matchy to wear the same color shoes and skirt? Really? I think that’s nuts. If I wear a brown skirt, I might not wear brown shoes, but I might. So what? Why is that bad?
Just what Stacy London is always preaching - matchy matchy bad, things just have to “go” with one another. Color contrast is good, just don’t go wacky with it.
I believe Stacy is usually talking about accessories though - like don’t match your shoes to your bag to your belt - that’s a very old school way of dressing.
Wearing a pair of shoes the same colour as your bottom (whatever that bottom may be) just elongates the frame. I wouldn’t wear an outfit in all one colour (except maybe black, but even that not so much) but two items the same colour doesn’t strike me as matchy, matchy at all.
I don’t think it is. I match my shoes to my bottom half all the time. Or the top half. The “Stacy London pop of color”…not so much. Although I might, if I felt it worked. Have I muddled this issue up enough now?
I think everybody was right before that black is different. When it comes to brown, I don’t wear my brown skirts with brown shoes-- it looks very. . . dated? Same with navy for that matter.
With a brown skirt, I’ll usually do something like a leopard heel or maybe a bright pop shoe (red, teal, etc.).
You know, I was about to feel horribly out of touch and old-lady-ish and then I remembered that I only ever wear boots and tights when I wear a skirt and the last time I wore matching shoes and skirt was about 1998 so there you go.
I do wear sandals and skirts in the summer and they might match, but to me wearing a bright orange dress with bright orange funky sandals seems different than a navy skirt, tights and shoes.
- that I should explore? It’s way too cold for bare legs now.