Wearing shoes a shade lighter than trousers

When I wore this new linen jacket from Sartoria Salino for the first time, I initially paired it with dark-brown loafers. The trousers were a dark grey/brown after all, and the default for sartorial dressing is generally to have shoes that are darker than the trousers.

But that looked a little dull. Without a tie or a pocket square, or a stronger colour or pattern in the jacket or shirt, there just wasn’t much going on. So I tried a pair of lighter-brown shoes instead, and the contrast created a pleasing point of interest.

This is not to say that it was a new discovery. But in the same way as you might try on one or two neckties before settling on one for the day, I tried a couple of shoe options, this was the more satisfying, and I thought it was worth relating as we haven’t covered it specifically on PS before.

I have written about the traditional rule of shoes being darker than trousers, and as with all such guidelines, it contains some useful truth. A darker shoe is smarter and more formal, and so it’s a good choice with suit and tie for example.

But with a sports jacket and trousers, the rule is less applicable. It’s usually what I start with – the default – but it’s also an option to play with. And of course once we get into more casual clothes like jeans, the rule is barely relevant.

As with many rules it’s also best thought of as a spectrum rather than a binary choice. Small contrasts between shoes and trousers can be interesting, but big ones are often garish.

To describe that spectrum:

A black shoe would have been clearly darker than the trousers (though not really in keeping with the warm browns in the jacket).
A dark-brown shoe would have been about the same as the trouser (with a little contrast created by the difference between shiny leather shoe and matte wool trouser).
A mid-brown shoe like the one I chose is just one shade lighter than the dark brown, and works well.
A much lighter brown, approaching tan, would probably be too great a contrast and could look garish.

So it’s a range. Start with just one shade lighter and see what you think. Remember it’s always a question of your own choice – these thoughts and conventions are simply useful advice: information than can inform a decision rather than the decision itself.

Another example I like of a shoe that’s lighter than the trouser is dark-brown suede under charcoal trousers. Perhaps flannels, with a boot or a loafer.

Oddly I can’t find an example of this on PS – although readers, you often have a better memory than me so let me know if you can think of one. The effect is similar to the combination above however, of the faded black jeans with brown-suede boots.

Only wearing black with charcoal trousers would be rather limiting, and a dark-brown suede can be a nice point of interest in the same way as the first example. Keep in mind that texture is relevant as well – brown suede shoes are easier with casual flannel trousers than smart worsted.

The jacket is my second from the Florentine tailor Vittorio Salino, who is actually about to come to London for the first time – he’s asked to use the PS showroom, and will be there from October 31 to November 2.

I’m pleased with the jacket, which Vittorio now cuts a little slimmer than the first one he made for me. We had one fitting in Florence back in June, and that was strong enough to go straight to the finished piece.

Oddly when the jacket arrived the sleeves were both about 2cm too long, but everything else was perfect. Still, not a hard thing to fix and clearly a result of some small miscommunication rather than a technical fault.

Vittorio is a very good tailor, and I think his style will suit people looking for something less structured than most English houses, but not quite as soft and round as the Neapolitans.

The material, meanwhile, is the ‘Mildmay’ linen from Maison Hellard, part of their Carnet de Voyage bunch in which the different cloths were designed with various friends. This one was designed by Manish.

I really liked the cloth when Manish showed it to me – a nice biscuity linen that’s like option five in our ‘If you only had five jackets’ piece. It’s the kind of colour I wear more than paler ‘oatmeal’ these days, although oatmeal is arguably smarter.

The Mildmay actually has a pink thread weaving through it, and my only concern was that the pink might be too unusual. Made up, though, it’s barely noticeable.

The linen does have a little bit of a sheen, and I think this makes it a touch smarter – I’m not sure I’d wear it with jeans, even in a more casual make. I had thought of the jacket as a summer equivalent of my Campbell’s tweed, and in many ways it is, but it’s not quite as casual as that one.

This is actually one of the hardest areas for tailoring materials – summer cloths that go with very casual things like jeans. Coarser linens can be good, but they’re usually not offered by mills. Cottons can be good too, but they’re quite particular. It’s why my J Mueser jacket gets so much interest I think.

This Hellard linen is fairly soft and creases quite easily, but in my experience so far I still wouldn’t say it’s a solution there. Perhaps it’s not helped by the fact most of the colours in the bunch are quite dark or cold. If anyone’s tried another option that they like in this regard, please do shout.

Clothes shown:

Sartoria Salino bespoke jacket in Maison Hellard ‘Mildmay’ cloth
Simone Abbarchi bespoke shirt in Thomas Mason beige/white stripe ‘Journey’ cotton
High-twist grey/brown trousers from Perro (now defunct)
Charcoal over-the-calf socks from Anderson & Sheppard
Belgravia loafers from Edward Green (more on them here)
‘California’ sunglasses from EB Meyrowitz

Sartoria Salino UK prices: