Introduction

If there were an agony aunt for men’s style, the poor lady would no doubt be inundated with questions about matching belts with shoes. This simple task seems to vex men nationwide worldwide, let alone the task of co-ordinating these items with the rest of their leatherwear; there are many such items, including watches, gloves, bags, wallets, jackets, and trousers. Maybe not trousers.

However gentlemen, it doesn’t have to be that complicated. To get your leathers right is to build a solid base for your look; everything else can be as wildly contrasting or as perfectly matched as you – within the fashionable sensibilities you have no doubt developed with the help of this fine website – want it to be.

Guide To Co-ordinating Leatherwear

I must preface this whole article by categorically stating that they are simply guidelines. You can choose to adhere to as many or as little as you want – after all, sometimes breaking ‘the rules’ can make a superb statement in its own right. For the beginners, or those that are not comfortable pairing multiple leather items together, hopefully this will nudge you on your way and give you some much needed inspiration.

Belt & Shoes

This is the big one. It’s also the simplest, and it’s also the least acceptable to get wrong. This is what our poor imaginary men’s style agony aunt slaves away clarifying for clueless men. So what’s the golden rule?

Your belt and shoes should be of a similar colour and formality.

The colour bit alone seems to give guys trouble; how matchy-matchy is too matchy-matchy? Can I pair brown with tan? What about these bright blue shoes – am I meant to find a matching belt for these? Rest assured, it’s simpler than you think.

• Match leathers from the same colour family: Black with black, browns with browns, tan with tan, etc. This is the easiest part; if you get nothing else right, get this right. Equally, you don’t need to be too exact, which leads us to our next point…
• Get in the right ballpark: It’s pointless to waste hours and hours hunting for the tone of brown that matches your shoes with utter precision. Not only is this going to be barely noticeable to some, but to others it is bound to look too meticulous; a slight discrepancy is going to give you a bit of cool nonchalance, not scruffiness. Conversely, if you’re too far out you’ll just look lazy; deep brown shoes and a light brown belt, for example, might just end up looking mismatched.
• Don’t attempt to match wild colours: A fluorescent yellow belt could be the perfect statement for you, and you could probably build a good look around it. But to find and wear a matching pair of shoes would be not only difficult but ridiculous. When you have a statement colour, let it breathe; you’re flying in the face of subtleties like this anyway!

So far, so easy. The next bit is the one you’ll hear less of; formality. Just as a tan belt can look out of place with black shoes, an ultra-casual pair of brown suede loafers is going to be ill-matched with an equally brown but much dressier slim leather belt. Similarly, your finely polished oxfords could do without that great big belt buckle.