Choosing Evening Shoes

Executive Summary about Evening Shoes by About Writer

With such a wide variety of evening shoes to choose from, it can be a little daunting to select the best pair for your outfit. Here is a bit of advice on how to choose the right evening shoes. My first rule when it comes to shopping for evening shoes is a very simple one: only the shoes or the dress should be overly embellished.

Evening Shoes or Dress Shoes

 In short, they’re trying to pair regular dress shoes with an evening dress — sometimes this works, but it often falls short. It’s not the style of the shoe that’s wrong. In fact, evening shoes can be had in nearly every style that dress and casual shoes come in, including mules, pumps, sling-backs, sandals, kitten heels, t-straps, ankle straps, and even flats. Instead it’s the materials and details that make a shoe more appropriate for evening wear.

Here are a few things to look for in evening shoes:

Embellishments: Most heels that feature brooches, rhinestones, crystals, pearls or sequins fall into the “evening shoe” category, while studs, zippers, and heavy hardware are more associated with casual or dress shoes.

Luxurious Fabrics: Though some of the most dynamic evening shoes I’ve ever seen have featured leather uppers, the easiest way to choose footwear that will work for eveningwear is to look for shoes with satin uppers. Just as you probably wouldn’t wear a pair of crystal-studded sandals to work, those chunky heeled pumps that are ideal with a suit typically aren’t dressy enough to pair with that little black dress.

Evening Shoe Colors

As with any shoes, the color of your evening shoes should be based on the color of the outfit you’re wearing. Here are a few basic color suggestions for evening shoes. Black is one of the best choices for evening shoes, partially because we’re so fond of our little black dresses, but also because black works well with so many other colors.

Silver Evening Shoes. My second favorite color for evening shoes is silver. Most medium to dark shades and earth tones look great with gold evening shoes, and a pair of brightly-colored evening shoes serve as a bold accessory for print, gray or black evening dresses.

Comfortable Evening Shoes

If comfortable evening shoes have eluded you, you’re not alone. Due to the fact that they typically have heels and sometimes have skimpy straps and uppers, evening shoes aren’t usually the most comfortable shoes in the world to wear.

Evening Shoes for Different Seasons

If you need just one pair of evening shoes that will work for any season, consider a pair of pumps with a low to medium heel that’s not too skinny. If you’re looking to expand your evening shoe collection, add an evening sandal for nicer weather, taking into account which colors you’re most likely to wear for each season.

Other posts you may be interested in reading: Flat Shoes and BCBG Shoes!