belts/shoes for khakis?

May 11, 2008 7:37 PM

What kind of belts/shoes should I wear with khakis (mens)?

What kind of shoes is one supposed to wear with khakis/chinos? Leather soled shoes? Rubber soled shoes? Shiny shoes? Matte shoes? And what belt to match? casual or dress? wide or thin?

posted by puloxor to clothing, beauty, & fashion (9 comments total)

Streamlined sneakers

Casual oxford

Deck shoes

You can even wear flip-flops or huaraches with chinos.

Belt: brown leather, not too dressy, not too thin.
posted by LoriFLA at 8:01 PM on May 11

Basically, nothing too dressy. Certainly not shiny wingtips or shiny anything. Any casual to slightly dressy oxford should do if you are looking for work wear.
posted by LoriFLA at 8:02 PM on May 11

Are you trying to get a reservation at Dorsia?

In all seriousness, khakis/chinos are so versatile that almost any combination of footwear and waist-encirclement will work with them. Your best guide is to look in the mirror. If one of your eyebrows involuntarily launches upwards, like an electrocuted caterpillar, something has gone wrong. But a satisfied nod means you're doing okay.
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:07 PM on May 11 [2 favorites]

You may already know this, but the most important thing, in my opinion, is not what kind of belt or shoes but that they match each other. Brown belt = brown shoes. Black belt = black shoes. Dressier belt = dressier shoes and so on.
posted by Ugh at 8:52 PM on May 11

It depends entirely on how formal you want to be. Basically, what are you wearing with your khakis? Polo/golf type shirt, button down, sport coat? Shinier = fancier. You probably want black or brown, and make sure the belt matches the shoes. This is like asking what to wear with jeans- in both cases, the answer could be almost anything, depending on the context.
posted by MadamM at 9:30 PM on May 11

This really depends on the khakis; are they $20 cardboard ones from Old Navy or are they pretty nice? Either way, I'd say swing by Nordstrom's Rack. For about seventy bucks you could either find some Clarks that could elevate the Old Navy type of khakis or some Florsheims that would look okay with a nicer pair.
posted by TheManChild2000 at 10:33 PM on May 11 [1 favorite]

There are no belt and shoe rules regarding these pants. There should be no should in this question -- you're really asking how to conform to other khaki pants wearers in your community. So go down in the subway or up into the country club or sideways into the laboratory or wherever you want to fit in, beltwise and shoewise, and conduct a survey that will help you conform to what you hope to conform to.
posted by gum at 12:50 AM on May 12 [1 favorite]

While I agree with the comments above that most shoes (with matching belts) are perfectly fit to wear with khaki slacks. I'll risk insulting your intelligence by making a few things explicit.

1) Sneakers, tennis shoes, running shoes, etc. do not look good with full length slacks. The "any shoe goes" view does not extend to them.

2) While any color shoe can be worn with khakis, colors besides brown and black can be hard to pull off. If you know what you are doing, style wise, and you think you look good, then by all means where what you like. But, if you want to play it safe, stick to brown or black.

3) While it is relatively easy to match black shoes with black belts, it's really hard to get matching brown shoes and belts. This is why, as far as style goes, it's expected that your brown belt and brown shoes will not match each exactly. So long as they are both brown and close enough in terms of being light or dark (i.e. both shoes and belt are in the ballpark of being light brown), you will have nothing to worry about.
posted by oddman at 7:03 AM on May 12

Thanks for all the great answers. So it looks like khakis go with anything: casual or dress. I heard you're not supposed to wear dress shoes with jeans, so I just wanted to double check with khakis.
posted by puloxor at 12:34 AM on May 14