Why Brown Shoes Beat Black in Menswear Today (& How to Wear)

About this video

The Gazette team provides a comprehensive guide to brown shoes, exploring their history, versatility, and proper styling. They explain how the rule ’no brown in the city’ originated in 18th-century class distinctions and evolved throughout the 20th century, ultimately becoming outdated. The team argues that brown shoes are exceptionally versatile and recommends specific shades and styles for different formal and casual occasions.

Key takeaways

• The Gazette team traces the ’no brown in the city’ rule to historical class divisions where wealthy men wore brown shoes for rural activities and black shoes exclusively for city wear, a distinction that lost relevance after WWII rationing and the 1960s style revolution
• The Gazette team argues brown shoes offer three key advantages: color versatility that coordinates with more garments than black, visible design details that showcase shoe craftsmanship, and natural patina development that gives shoes unique character over time
• The Gazette team recommends dark brown dress shoes with business suits, medium brown shades with casual blazers, and lighter tan or suede options with unmatched separates, while advising against brown shoes only with black-tie, white-tie, and morning dress codes

Episode details: published September 22, 2023 · 304K views · 20:29 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The style guidance summarized here is the Gentleman’s Gazette team’s own teaching and opinion, presented for education; product recommendations are theirs, not ours. Summaries are written by Self Growth Videos from each video itself.

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