Shoes are dangerous, financially speaking. Watches are expensive, sure, but it’s shoes that’ll do real damage to your wallet. Buy the wrong the pair, or the right pair in the wrong colour, and you can wave goodbye to hundreds if not thousands of pounds worth of tailoring. After all, not even the finest Savile Row suit can be saved from a seriously misjudged pairing.

“Your choice of footwear can instantly change the aesthetic of your suit,” says Topman personal shopper Frazer Goater, who suggests before doing anything that you invest in a stalwart of the shoe rack. “A pair of black Derbies will provide you with a footwear choice for any suit colour; from grey, black or navy to heavy checks and impactful floral designs.”

What follows is a shoes for suits guide to which other combinations definitely work, and coincidently, which ones definitely do not. That’s not to say though, that there aren’t exceptions in every case. Colour, like style in general, is largely subjective, so it’s important to experiment. Still, to paraphrase one Señor Pablo Picasso, you need to know the rules before you can break them.

Which Shoes Are Suit Shoes?

Time was, selecting a pair of shoes to wear with a suit was as simple as choosing between formal Oxford shoes and slightly less formal Derbies . Now though, in a more relaxed and less rule-bound era of menswear, everything from leather sandals to sneakers can serve as ‘suit shoes’, provided you know which type of suit to pair them with. Still, for the most part, the classics endure: Oxfords and Derbies are the bona fide godfathers of smart footwear, and no man should be without at least one pair of each in his wardrobe. A pair of black Oxfords (elegant, svelte and the perfect partner to a classic dinner suit) and a pair of brown Derby shoes (a handsome workhorse of the footwear arena, versatile enough to be worn to work or a wedding) will stand you in good stead for whatever your calendar throws at you.