3 Reasons Why You Should Stop Buying Black Shoes
When I was younger, my friends always had white sneakers, but it didn't take more than a day or two before that crisp white was splattered with grass stains, mud, and things of the like. My mom figured if she bought my brother and I black shoes it could spare her a couple months (sometimes longer) before having to buy us a new pair. With this same mindset, to this day, I still opt to buy black shoes above any other color. If you're like me, and want to break the habit, here are three reasons why you, too, should stop buying black shoes and introduce more color to your shoe collection.
1.You can pair them with all black
Most of the time, we won't buy something if we can't think of what we already have that it could pair well with, and by "pair well" we're usually focused on colors. You might pick up some blue shoes, and then put them back while thinking, "I don't have anything blue to wear with these shoes", or " I don't have any color that could go with these shoes". But who says the colors have to match shade-for-shade?! Just throw on an all black outfit, and let those colored shoes get the limelight they deserve. And, if you want to add a little flare you can accent the outfit the with an accessory that's the same color as the shoes, d'you see what I just did there? 😉
2.You can pair them with all denim
If you'd prefer to skip the all black option mentioned above, then you can opt for a denim day. Any colored shoe goes well with an all-denim outfit. As long as all of the denim pieces (top and bottom) are the same shade, denim can definitely work as a unified color the way that an all black everything outfit works. The easiest way to get all of your denim shades to match is by wearing a denim dress, or a denim jumpsuit. And again, you can add a light spark by wearing accessories that are the same color as the shoes.
3.You can pair them with their color family
Another alternative is to pair your colored shoes with an outfit according to a color wheel. It's much harder to match shades so that they are exactly the same, but working around the shoes' color using a color circle will give you more options to work with. You can use the wheel to make either analogous, monochromatic, or complimentary -- among other-- pairings. See the explanation for each color harmony below.
A Quick Lesson on Color Schemes:
An analogous match is when the colors are next to each other on the color wheel. Here are two examples of analogous pairs, get the idea? The match doesn't always have to consist of 3 colors, it can range from 2-3 colors. Try to avoid a peacock look by sticking with just 2 colors.
A monochromatic pair is one that stays within the same hue (or in laymen's terms, the column of the color wheel) of one color. See the example below, and remember that you can choose a color from any row, as long as it's within the same monochromatic family/column.
A complimentary set is made up of colors that are across from, or opposite, each other. It's easier to create a a complimentary pair with two colors than it is with three or more colors, so keep it simple.
There you have it! Save the black shoes for the funeral, and don't think twice about those (insert color of your musing here) shoes. Whether you choose to pair those colorful shoes with all black, denim, or monochromatically, those shoes are sure to go unnoticed. These 3 tips can also be applied to shoes with a pattern, be it polka dot or leopard. Now that I've equipped you with these tips I hope you won't be that parent who chooses black shoes for their children, get them started on the colorful path.
