What Shoes To Wear With Jeans: A Complete Guide To Not Putting A Foot Wrong

Tips July 1, 2022 Editor's Picks, Featured Articles, Men's Style, SEO Leave a comment 0 Views

Chinos, joggers, and cargo pants have all taken pride of place in our respective rotations, but jeans are still the go-to, go-anywhere overlays for most men’s getaway sticks. For all but the most formal office and life events, denim is a no-brainer. You can not be wrong. Can you?

Oh, you can. You really can. And one of the most precipitating stumbling blocks for plants is selecting shoes with the totally wrong DNA for the jeans in question. Wear them with fancy shoes and you’ll look like you’re going to a bad nightclub. Wear them with flip flops and, at best, you’ll look confused. These are just the two ends of a wide range of missteps.

Corresponding to what shoes to wear with jeans doesn’t have to be an unnavigable minefield. Just follow the right directions. This is FashionBeans guide to which pairs go with what, well, pairs.

What shoes to wear with jeans

If you’re looking for the best shoes to wear with jeans, here’s our complete roundup of all acceptable pairs of shoes with your favorite pair of denim.

Derbies With Jeans

The function of jeans has changed since they were invented, or at least patented, in 1873. Today, the closest many of us come to manual labor is hammering a keyboard. But wherever they fall on the broad spectrum of denim formality, jeans are fundamentally still workwear: practical, utilitarian, not smart. So even if you wear leather dress shoes to work, there is a strong risk of incongruity between, say, a sleek, polished Oxford and a rugged selvedge.

You could perhaps wear Oxfords with smart jeans: slim black jeans worn without cuffs (which break the line and therefore have a relaxed effect, as they do on the seam.) But derbies, which usually feature a thicker profile, are a better bet to counterbalance denim.

Black derbies in particular are still towards the smart end of the even wider spectrum of shoe formality, so they might look a bit muddled with mid-blue jeans: you’d be almost safer to go to the stonewashed extreme. and distressed to compose subculture overtones. .

Oxfords with jeans

They’re considerably more formal than the trainers most of us wear, but brogues are nonetheless a relatively casual smart shoe to wear with jeans, if not a contradiction in terms, originally designed for farmers to yomp through muddy fields. This is why they are generally more suited to rural tweed weddings than sharp urban nuptials, and business casual rather than corporate boardrooms.

As a general rule, sleek, low-detail brogues will be more formal; large perforated pieces will be more relaxed. Color is another factor that affects which jeans your brogues will or will not work with, fading from black at the formal end and gradually becoming lighter towards the other.

After a failsafe combination? While relatively laid-back beige brogues don’t suit a smart navy tailoring – please stop doing that – they pair nicely with smart-casual indigo denim. Bonus points if the tint of the shoes brings out the seams of the jeans.

sneakers with jeans

Unless you try really hard, it’s almost impossible to go wrong with minimalist sneakers.

when it comes to shoes to wear with jeans. Sleek, understated styles go with just about any variety of denim except, that is, the rightly maligned boot cut jeans.

If you’re really determined to stumble, then the silhouette is where you can come for a crop. This is usually more of a concern with lighter canvas styles which may lack the weight to counteract heavy-duty jeans, whether straight or wide. Conversely, the combination of long, thin high-tops and tapered or skinny jeans can give big feet a clownish look.

With a pair of white sneakers, the main consideration – assuming you want to incorporate them into more formal cuts – is keeping them clean. (The same applies to any shoes you wear with jeans, but it’s less noticeable with non-white pairs that didn’t start out that color.) Skip the stain protectant and keep those sneakers shiny white.

Penny Loafers with Jeans

Another style of shoe to wear with jeans that looks like cash with almost anything, including denim: loafers are an adaptable Ivy League staple that’s even found new currency among sneakerhead streetwear fans.

Pay attention, spirit. Penny loafers’ low vamp (it’s the section of the upper that covers the front of the foot) combined with a wide leg opening can make your feet look oddly chunky. So opt for tapered and cropped or pinned jeans.

Monk Braces With Jeans

The monk straps burned bright colors during the mid-to-late naughties social media-focused “hashtag menswear” phase, then seemingly disappeared. However, they remain a solid shoe option, combining some of the formality of an Oxford with a dash of a sword. Indeed, the material gives them a certain relaxed quality that coordinates well with riveted denim.

Again, silhouette and color are the primary considerations. There’s something inherently right and slightly Italianate about a mid-brown dub-monk with a pair of mid-light blue jeans: close your eyes, and you could almost be a latecomer for a street-style photographer in Pitti Uomo .

Don’t sleep on texture either, as replacing the sheen of leather with the nap of suede will take them a notch less formal. (Do spectra have notches? Steps?)

Chelsea Boots With Jeans

Suffice it to say that the now established principles of silhouette (big is more casual than sleek), color (tan is more casual than brown is more casual than black) and texture (suede is more casual than leather) all apply here.

It’s worth pointing out that sleekly profiled black leather Chelsea boots can be almost as formal as Oxfords, so they’re likely to clash with straight-legged (and lace-up) indigo denim. Step up to eleven in black or gray skinny jeans, and suddenly you’re in a band.

The kicker with Chelsea boots is the heel: if it’s stacked like Bruno Mars’ bodyguard, then that dizzying preciousness will only really pair with the kind of tight denim that helps you hit those high notes. On the other foot, a crepe sole takes away some of the delicate side, making them more appropriate with a pair of distressed jeans.

Tops with jeans

You’ve saved some money, lined up around the block, and finally got your hands on the last drop. So it seems a shame to cover your tops with your kecks. The answer is obvious: no.

Assuming you don’t want to buy shorter jeans just for the days when you might be hitting the b-ball field, or hemming an existing pair (professionally, or with a pair of scissors if you like that frayed look), roll Simply put them on just above the top of your sneakers. Never more than twice or the resulting thickness will completely kill your vibe.

Chukka/Chukka Boots with Jeans

As in a suit, the more you have (vest, top hat, etc.), the more formal it is. The reverse is also true, the less there is, the more the – guess what? – less formal.

Suede chukka boots, in particular, feature a softer upper and sole than other shoe styles, but they’re still sturdy. Not surprising for the shoes worn by British soldiers in North Africa during World War II.

Capable of taking a kick and looking their best, they can be worn with everything from shorts to suits in the right circumstances, but they’re almost always a great style of shoe to wear with jeans, smart or casual. Due to their versatility, there’s no real hard and fast rule, but rolling them up to flash a covered ankle is strongly encouraged.

Work/Hiking Boots With Jeans

If thanks to the ebb and flow of trends, it is possible to buy refined versions at exorbitant prices, work or hiking boots naturally fall into the camp of the casual lumberjack. For that reason, it makes sense to play workwear when it comes to shoes to wear with jeans, whether indigo or stonewashed, in a way that suggests you’ve done a day’s work in your life.

Chunky boots also provide ballast for wider-legged denim; Jeans that are too slim or skinny, on the other hand, will contrast too harshly, which might just be the effect you want, but won’t fool anyone into thinking you’re really a DIYer or outdoor enthusiast.

Also, unless you prefer the stacked skinny look, your jeans will need to be shorter or rolled up: if you want to give off maximum vintage vibes, try an oversized single turn-up.

Dad Sneakers With Jeans

The unlikely resurgence of dad sneakers (if they were ever cool) has been accompanied by a similar shift in denim, that their chunky complete. So why break with normcore?

Sneakers with jeans are a yes in our book.

To finish off the latest dad DILF look, in case you were wondering, go for the kind of jeans you grew up in watching your old man wash the car. It’s straighter, wider and with a higher waist, preferably in stonewash. cool dad.