Should You "Match" Sneakers With A Leather Jacket?

 

All right, gents, I received a great question  the other day. It goes like this, “Antonio,  

I took your advice and I purchased a beautiful  black leather jacket.” Congratulations!  

“My question is what shoes should I buy to  match my coat? Should I buy black sneakers?  

Should I buy black dress shoes?  Should I buy black boots?”  

Well, personally, I don’t think I’d go with  any of those. What am I talking about? Gents,  

find out in today’s article.

So, let’s start things off by addressing the  elephant in the room. There is no rule out there,  

no style rule that says you need to match  your leather jacket with your shoes.  

That being said, I do think there  are three guidelines you can follow  

to make that combination look amazing. Guideline number one. Your shoes and jacket  

should complement one another. They don’t need  to exactly match. So, when two items complement  

each other, they naturally enhance each other. This combination right here, they’re not matching.  

You’ve got a dark brown and chocolate with a  suede material. Here, you’ve got a light brown  

with a smoother leather material. Do this work? I  think so. They’re both browns, they’re in the same  

family. There isn’t a whole lot of clash and the  styles, which I’ll get into here in a second, they  

just work. I think this combination is solid. Sticking with a suede theme, I now have an olive  

green. And in my opinion, this complements  it even more. By that little bit of contrast  

and, now, these boots are going to dominate.  It’s a unique color, it’s a unique style,  

Jodhpur style, mixed with this jacket right here,  I think this will be a killer combination.  

Now, what about this combination right here? I  think it’s fine, it’s solid, gets the job done.  

Isn’t going to be anything that really pop, but  right here, the shoes, again, are going to take  

center stage. Classic white, this is a staple in  a lot of young men’s wardrobe and I think would  

actually work great with a leather jacket. So, with all that being said, what was my  

issue with wearing black shoes with  the black jacket? Actually, nothing,  

my issue is with him going out and buying  shoes specifically to match the black jacket.  

I would say look in your wardrobe and see what  you’ve already got in there. I would say when you  

look in your wardrobe, look for gray. If you’ve  got gray shoes, what’s beautiful about these,  

it’s a non-color. It’s going to match any  color out there including black and it’s  

going to work I think as a great combination. Matching a dark brown with black, I think is  

an excellent combination. A lot of people don’t  want to mix brown and black, but when it comes  

to dark brown especially with darker overtones  like this one has right here, I think this is  

going to look beautiful. These boots are going  to be classic just elegant and really subdued,  

but you can see the texture right in here.  This would be a really nice combination.  

Another option is oxblood. Deep maroon colors  like this work perfectly with black. And a  

quick shortcut, look at the sole. If the sole  is black, then it will go with a black jacket.  

And with that being said, if you want to go out  there and buy the black boots pair of chelseas  

like that and you want to wear black with  black, that is a fine combination as well.  

Except for these black shoes right here, and  let me explain. That takes us to the next point,  

pay attention to the style. The style of this shoe  right here is a balmoral cap toe oxford. This is  

a classic dress shoe that has closed lacing. This  is a dress shoe that should be worn with a suit,  

not with a casual piece like  a black leather jacket.  

Now, this next dress shoe style, much more  casual. We’ve got a classic blucher. You can tell  

this because there’s an open lacing system. And  that’s when the back part the quarter of the shoe  

goes on top of the vamp as you see right here.  This is made to be worn in more casual situations  

with odd trousers and a sports jacket or even  with a pair of jeans and a leather jacket.  

So, this combination right here, this blue  suede moto jacket mixed in with this pair  

of bluchers in this dark brown sleek leather,  I think this would be a solid combination.  

A better combination though, those brown  leather sneakers. Remember these earlier?  

They weren’t okay with that other jacket. This one  right here because of the texture because of the  

color difference, I think this is going to  pop. This combination right here is a winner.  

Now, what about these gray  suede chelseas? In my opinion,  

a little bit too much suede even though the  color isn’t the same, but that suede was suede,  

yeah, just not something I would put together. If  you disagree though, let me know in the comments.  

This combination right here, even  though the colors could somewhat work,  

the style is completely off. This jacket right  here, heavier, casual. These shoes right here,  

whole cuts, beautiful classic, made for probably  a more casual suit, but a suit nonetheless.  

Not a suit of leather. Now, this next point I’ve  

alluded to throughout the article, but I want to  be really clear, have one piece that dominates,  

one piece that is going to get the compliments. I love these shoes, I love this jacket, but would  

I wear them together? Probably not, it’s too much.  And these beautiful chelsea boots right here with  

the double monk strap right here, every time  I wear these, I get compliments. Women notice,  

other men notice, people ask me where I got  these shoes. They’re beautiful. I love them.  

And here’s the thing. When I’m  wear them with this jacket,  

the jacket is going to get the compliments. Why?  It’s just a bit brighter. It’s a bit more unique.  

Yeah, you could pull off this combination.  I think it looks good, but I do feel it’s  

wasting some of your best complimented pieces. And that’s why I like to dress well sometimes  

because it makes you feel like a million bucks  when other people notice that you’ve got style.  

So, if you’ve got a few individual signature  pieces, don’t throw them all together. They’re  

competing against each other, not complementing  each other and building each other up.  

And, by the way,  

if you’re interested in getting a suede jacket  made in a unique material, a unique color that’s  

going to help you stand out from the crowd, guys,  you need to check out this project I’m working on.  

I’m going to link to it down in the description. I’m collecting emails and information of guys that  

want to know about this. If I got enough interest,  I’m going to actually talk to a manufacturer,  

look to put out maybe two to three jackets.  But, I want to get you on this email list.  

Guys, I’m not going to spam you. I just  simply want to know are people interested.  

I’m going to be emailing people saying,  “Hey, these are the colors that I can get,  

this is the price point. What do you guys think?” So, if this at all sounds interesting, again,  

I will link to it down in the description. You’ll  be able to go over, enter your email address and  

I’ll update you with more videos and information  about what’s going on with this project.  

So, what video to watch next? How about  my ultimate guide to buying the perfect  

leather jacket? If you’re going to  spend the money, you want to know how  

to find the right leather jacket for you. In this article, I cover everything you need  

to know. Because, yeah, if you don’t follow this  stuff, you’re going to make a mistake and that’s  

what I – I try to educate you here at Blog of Men's Fashion. So, guys, go check it out,