More men's fashion advice

[TwinCruiserMom]

What color pants (and socks) can a guy wear with black dress shoes? I would like to pack only one pair of dress shoes per male person in our family (3).

 

So far I think we are ok:

 

Black shoes and....

 

black pants, black socks

greyish pants, black socks

dark taupe pants, tan socks

navy pants, navy socks

 

Now I need to buy a couple pair of dockers type pants. I know navy would go with the black shoes but will tan? Would a darker tan pants work better?

 

Do light tan pants look ok with black dress shoes and what color socks would you wear with them? I really like the lighter tan dockers as they go with polos so nicely, but are they going to look nerdy with black shoes?

 

Thanks for being patient with all these goofy questions :rolleyes: My hubby is an RN and wears scrubs when he works. He puts on dress pants maybe once or twice a year. We go to casual mass at our church and most people where jeans so I am very undereducated in male dress clothes. I am fine at setting up one or two outfits but with 7 outfits needed for each of them (dh and twin ds 12), I am at a loss.

[Cruzfan34]

I had the same questions and the answers I got were....

 

If you're wearing a black suit the socks and shoes MUST be black...otherwise the socks should always match the pants. For example, if you're wearing gray pants and black shoes, you should wear gray socks.

 

If it's very casual, like khaki pants and a colorful shirt, you can match your socks to one of the colors in your shirt. I think black shoes will be fine with the khaki pants, just be sure to wear tan socks. My husband always wears his brown shoes with the khakis, but the black should look ok.

 

In my opinion, this is all too confusing. Just to be safe, I'm making my husband match all of his socks to his pants, lol.

 

Hope this helps.:rolleyes:

[ciderapple]

I wouldn't put black dress shoes with tan dockers/chino type trousers. I think brown smart casual shoes look better with this.

 

I think my DH took his black dress shoes (he wore tux on formal nights), brown slip on smart casual shoes and then his trainers (sneakers) and beach/pool shoes.

 

If you just want to go with the one pair of shoes for evenings then I would stick with trousers that look good with black shoes. I would stick with dark socks too.

 

I'm sure others will chip in with opinions too, try not to stress over it too much. The main thing is that you enjoy your cruise :)

[Sailorgirlseattle]

I'm pretty much with cider apple on this one. I think the black shoes and dark pants are a much better combo, especially on the formal nights. My hubby wears black Doc Martens with Dockers and I like that ok, but that's because they're contrasting enough in style. Otherwise, I think I'd prefer Dockers with any kind of brown shoe ... loafers or even softsided hiking shoes, or reddish dress shoes.

[flag fan]

Black socks work with all colors except a very light tan or off-white (dress pants; white socks with white sneakers or white pants/shorts). Even with tan, you could get away with black socks.

[Herrbeir]

There is a very simple answer to this question. The socks should match the color of the pants. It elongates the leg. A sock of another color would "chop up" the look of the leg.

[caviargal]

I like a sublte pattern in a sock as well to pull trousers and shoes together.

[CDRMark]

The general rule is that socks be the same color as or darker than the trousers.

Obvious exceptions are for white trousers, when white or no socks are the rule

Keep in mind that in some cases NO socks is perfectly acceptable.

In the case of patterened hose, the overall color is what counts, not the design.

Cheers

Mark

[TwinCruiserMom]

Thanks so much for the replies! I think I have the socks/pants color thing down now. Makes good sense.

 

Would anyone pair light tan or dark tan pants with black shoes?

 

Should I just pack an additonal pair of brown size 13 shoes for the dh :eek: ? Those things are huge.

 

I guess I could try to stick to darker colors on the pants but the tan ones look so nice with polos.

[Herrbeir]

I have the same problems. Its going to be tight in the suitcase as it is without my size 12 gunboats. I will probably wear my biggest shoes on and off the ship. I'm packing the brown ones, but I'll think it will be loafers.

[Almost Packed]

my teen has a great quote for nowadays fashion...she says.."black and brown make a frown"

take it however you want. black shoes, black socks. brown pants, brown shoes, brown socks.