Introducing our newest columnist: Emir Aly Crowne, Law Professor at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. Every other Wednesday, Emir will blog here about men’s style in the legal world. His columns will run on opposite weeks from his fellow Style Counsel blogger, Donna Wilson.
For his debut column, our new recruit tackles an age-old style question: Should a man’s belt match his shoes? Emir’s answer:
Yes, and maybe.
The rule, which seems to be widely accepted, perhaps explains why men’s shoes vary in colour from really black to plain black. Undoubtedly the rule has an intuitively correct feel to it — a belt that varies widely in colour from one’s shoes detracts from the overall suit (although one wonders if the rule even matters for someone in a three-piece suit, but that’s another battle for another day). I would like to suggest that the rule can be modified, tastefully.
As long as the belt-shoe colour combination are at least complementary to one another, I see no reason why black shoes couldn’t match a grey belt, a grey shoe (yes, men’s shoes come in colours other than black) can match a black belt and even a burgundy shoe can be worn with a black belt. The key is subtlety. Slight variations in the belt-shoe combination give the impression that you’ve actually thought about what you’re going to wear today…a rarity among men.
In closing, I am reminded of a story by one of my former students, who recently completed his articles at a major Bay Street law firm [they’re all “major”], that a lawyer from another Bay Street firm pointed out to him during a closing that his belt didn’t match his shoes. Gentlemen, fashion advice aside, above all else just don’t be that guy.
This article marks the first for me in a regular series of Style Counsel columns (writing opposite Donna Wilson, who focuses on style tips for women). Having read the fashion advice in the “usual” handful of men’s magazines for the past two decades, I write these columns with the naive ambition of not falling prey to the sometimes pompous objectivity that those writers tend to portray.
Indeed, there will often be times when my “advice” is subjective to my own tastes, and I will make readers aware of this. I will also not pretend that my fashion sense is perfect. You will also never see my columns begin with pompous self-ingratiating comments like “As I sit here in my Hermès socks and Prada shoes….” Give me a break.
If anything, my columns should be used as guides, not destinations. Use them to figure out what works, and what doesn’t work, for you.
Emir Aly Crowne is a Law Professor at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. His legal style column for men will appear every other Wednesday here at lawandstyle.ca.
Photo by Steve Johnson