Matching Belt And Shoes

belt shoe combo above the ankles

It’s well known and established to have matching belt and shoes. The fact that you’re even on a fashion blog in the first place means you have some understanding of fashion. Black with black, brown with brown, tan with tan and so on and so forth. I don’t wish to bore you with the basics. With this post I intend on helping you with some tips as to how you go that extra mile and really match your belt and shoes.

2 Essentials – Black/Brown & The Tanned Belt

Black – The black belt is a must. Don’t cheap out here. I have a few black belts but the belt I’ve been wearing for the last year is a beautiful Tommy Hilfiger leather belt. I bought it on sale from House of Fraser for £26.

TOMMY HILFIGER Leather Belt

Black belts go well with everything, mostly because they go unnoticed by many. Having matching belts and shoes in black is the easiest thing to do. People with a keen eye will notice your belt and they will have a new found respect for you when they see the quality of your belt. This is something that has brought about many compliments for me, I recommend grabbing yourself a nice thick, genuine leather belt, preferably with a small designer logo on it.

Brown – There are a hundreds of different shades of brown. Finding one to match your shoes will be difficult. I solved this issue pretty easily. I bought a standard brown belt for £10 from Marks & Spencer. I’ve owned it for ages and it matches loads of stuff. If you put the belt next to the shoes, it would be slightly off but who cares. Not all of us have the money to own fifteen different belts.

John Lewis Reversible Leather Belt, Black/Brown

Tan – If you have a hard time matching brown with brown you will most definitely have a hard time matching tan’s. You can’t really have a tan belt that goes with everything. I wouldn’t advise having a basic tan belt, best thing to do is take your shoes with you when you go to buy a belt and just place them next to each other.

Can You Be Too Matchy?

Matching shoes and belt is a must. It’s never too matchy, don’t listen to anyone who says otherwise. With that being said, matching more than your belt and shoes, like the other types of leather accessories are a bad idea. Wearing leather driving gloves or carrying a leather briefcase that matches your shoes and belt will look far to pretty. If pretty is your thing, go for it.

Extra Tips

Leave The Belt At Home

It’s better to leave the belt at home and go out with your brown brogues by themselves than wear an off belt with it.

Same Store

As with the picture above, many good retailers sell belts that perfectly match their shoes in store. If you’re buying a pair of beautifully blended oxblood/brown shoes and the same store sells a matching belt – buy it! If you let that opportunity slip you may never find a matching belt again.

how to match your shoes and belt

Don’t Buy A Blue Belt

Except if you’re following the previous tip and you are buying that belt specifically to match a pair of bad-ass blue loafers, avoid blue belts. Match tan with tan, brown with brown and black with black or blue.

Always Have Matching Belt And Shoes – You Can’t Afford Not Too.

Matching Belt And Shoes

Get The Look – Issue 1

get the look #1

Since this is the first issue of get the look I thought I would start off with something simple yet beautiful. I will provide three to five different links to products that similar to what the model is wearing in the picture. This should give you enough options to buy things within your price range and also from companies you prefer.

The Look

get the look issue 1 above the ankles

This look is beautifully dapper, the colours are a variety of different blues. The shirt is a cutaway contrast colour, which provides that modern gekko shirt look. The paisley pattern on the tie is simple but goes perfectly well with the shirt. The navy braces are nice and thick, removing that casual look and creating that “ready for work” look.

The Shirt

ASOS Smart Shirt In Long Sleeve With Curve Collar – £22

John Lewis Contrast Collar Stripe Tailored Shirt, Blue/White – £20

John Lewis Fine Stripe Contrast Collar Shirt, Blue – £40

M&S Pure Cotton Winchester Shirt – £45

TM Lewin Slim Fit Plain Blue End-on-End Double Cuff Shirt – £29.95

The Tie

John Lewis Made In Italy Dot Print Wool Tie, Teal – £17.50

TM Lewin Khaki Paisley Print Slim Tie – £20

The Suspenders/Braces

M&S Self Cross Checked Adjustable Braces -£19.50

TM Lewin Navy Pink Spot Braces – £29.50

TM Lewin Navy Braces – £29.50

ASOS Braces – £8

get the look issue 1 above the ankles

Ted Baker Bluez Smart Reversible Belt

Ted Baker Bluez Smart Reversible Belt

Now I’m not normally a fan of reversible belts although I think they are great when you are initially building your wardrobe, i mean you are buying two belts for the price of one. Usually reversible belts look cheap and reversible but oh my, we definitely can not say that about the wonderful; Ted Baker Bluez Smart Reversible Belt.

Two Belts

Ted Baker being the brand they are they have created two of the same belts, one black with brown on the other side and the second belt having two shades of brown. Both of these belts are made out of 100% Bovine leather, which smells amazing! You can literally smell the leather when you hold the belt – perfection. Some “leather” belts are only leather coated, these are through and through pure leather.

They both have this beautiful silver buckle with Ted Baker branded on it so you can show off a little at work.

Black/Brown Reversible

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Dark-Brown/Light-Brown Reversible

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Price

Ted Baker are known for quality and they very proud of being an international fashion brand that has grown massively over the years without an advertising campaign. To be able to shop with them constantly you are going to need to have quite a decent income, definitely a lot more than I can normally afford.

Thankfully I can comfortably afford both of these beauties as they are only priced at £45 each. When you compare that to the price of a leather LV belt going for £180, you realise these Ted Baker belts are absolutely worth it.

Trust me, buy one at least and from the moment you open the packaging and smell that leather, you will be a happy man.

Black/Brown Reversible

Dark-Brown/Light-Brown Reversible

Charles Smith Brown Leather Woven Belt

Charles Smith Brown Leather Woven Belt

Some people call them woven, others braided, whatever you want to call them they are amazing belts. The Charles Smith Brown Leather Woven Belt is no different. The belt comes with a simple silver buckle connected onto a beautiful brown woven leather braid. These belts are the same as your conventional flat piece of leather belts with holes punched in except they are better.

With the Charles Smith Brown Leather Woven Belt you can slip the tongue of the belt buckle between any two strands of the belt. This means you can make the belt fit you perfectly, no need to ever punch in holes yourself using a knife or anything else you’ve tried in the past.

Colour & Price

The colour of the belt is amazing, it goes amazingly well with my shoes and attracts a great amount of compliments my way. If you own a pair of good brown shoes then this is definitely one to go for. It’s currently on sale by Gentlemans Shop for £27 down from £45.

Grab it here.