I agree. Sometimes I am wearing black shoes and will just grab a black bag, but I own pink, green, orange and yellow purses and its fun to throw them into the mix every once in a while. I also had heard a TV style guru claim that matching shoes to bags was out-dated and also I think that’s a little bit out there. Love your blog!

Being fashion challenged, I like the idea of matching the two ( because I get it) The question then becomes…..how do you do the mismatching thing? There must be some sort of helpful rule that could be applied to those of us who need a little assistance along the road to being well put together.

Cheers,
Jackie

I love all the pictures in this blog. It’s fun and challenging to put together outfits with mis-matched bag and shoes.

I love your blog. Thanks for confirming that I can still match shoes & bag once in a while!

I used to feel hung up on the matching thing. But now I just go with whatever and it’s so freeing! I now believe neutrals are neutrals and they will just mix and match together. But if I had a bold color bag, I would still try to go with neutral shoes. great post!

I actually don’t own a black or brown purse, so I definitely fall into category of mismatched accessories and I love that look. I also like when accessories are the different shades of the same color. I have purses in yellow, red, and multicolor. And my shoes also span a spectrum of different colors.

This article came at a perfect time. Thanks as always for the great advice, Angie.

I have a mother who still believes and adheres to the “old rule” that a ladies purse should always match her belt and shoes and her lipstick should always match her nail polish. This was ground into her by my grandmother who would not be seen outside of her home mis-matched. To this day it drives my mother nuts that I dont match my purse to my shoes and LOVE it that way. Good thing we live 3,000 miles apart!

Nice article! More often then not I mismatch my shoes and bag on purpose, but occasionally I will match them too. It primarily depends on the rest of the outfit what will I choose. I do feel more modern when they are mismatched.

I only have 3 handbags, a dark red, pewter, and border collie print Isabella Fiore (which I use on rare occassions in the summer), so I never match (I have tomato red pumps) except when I wear my dark red boots and red bag with everything else black and white.

I’m so bad. I have a Louis Vuitton Damier tate bag and speedy bag, and carry them regardless of what color shoes I have on. I’m sure I’m breaking a lot of rules, but oh well.

Oh–and I have a Marc Jacobs convertible clutch in a crazy geometrical pattern with browns, pinks and oranges in it. I have a hard time finding clothes that won’t “clash” with it. I don’t mind wearing black per se, even though the purse has a lot of brown (it doesn’t look bad), but I can’t wear a patterned outfit without looking like the Joker!!!

Angie, thank you for this post. The rule of no more than two repeated non-neutral colors makes sense. I notice that the matched examples above involve a pattern (blouse and crocodile shoes/fade pattern on skirt) which add interest. I want to copy the creative way the belt is worn on the far right with my too large belts.

I’m so glad to hear you approve of matched shoes and bags, Angie. Although I do try to mix it up a bit, my everyday bag is black and so are MOST of my shoes!

I do tend to match my shoes and bags more often than not. But I do that because most of my bags are either brown or black ( I have one red and one dark green) and most of shoes are the same (primarily black with a few reds and a teal).
What I avoid is matching textures: if I wear black patent heels I would not carry a patent bag for example.
I love to mix a deep dark brown with black though so that is often my variation.

Thanks for your input on this, Angie. I’ve heard lots of snooty modern stylists saying that it’s dated to match shoes and bags, and I disagree. While I don’t purposefully match them, it happens quite a bit because I always have one winter bag and one summer bag (excluding party clutches) that I use until they wear out. My current winter bag is black with cream stitching, and my summer bag is white. So in the winter I end up matching about half the time, since I almost always wear boots and only have those in black and brown. In the summer my shoes never match my bag, because I don’t own a pair of white shoes at the moment. I’d love to switch my bag more often, but that requires more money and a better system of purse organization for easy switching. Someday.

I never intentionally match my shoes to my bag. I like to think of my bag as an individual piece, within reason. If my bag and shoes happen to be the same color–it’s pure coincidence.

Ooh my 2 favourite things bags and shoes! Mine are nearly always mismatched.

Interesting. I have a red patent bag and red patent heels and plan to wear them together when I feel like it. My other winter bag is black, and 3 of my 5 pairs of boots (including my wellies) are black, so I end up matching a good chunk of the time in the winter. I like it both ways–matching and non-matching.

Here’s a question, though–do colours and textures need to match almost exactly? Could I wear my red patent bag with matte leather shoes in a different shade of red? I feel like that might look bad. Then again, I coulde see wearing my blue summer bag with shoes in a different shade of blue. Maybe it depends on the colour somehow.

I’m a sucker for shoes, but I suck at handbags. Definitely my fashion Achilles heel.

Part of the problem is that I carry a laptop to work daily, and I’m not willing to carry two bags, so my default choice is between a nylon backpack (practical, but a nightmare to match) or a rather splendid doctor’s bag in red leather (less practical, but looks good with almost anything).

On reflection, I realize that matching either of these bags with whatever shoes I’m wearing is the basis of a successful outfit. Since per definition they don’t ‘match’ and never will (neither being a classic lady’s handbag) I’m subconsciously mitigating by pairing my entire shoe collection with one or the other. For instance, a good rule of thumb is sneakers, boots or wedges with the backpack; mary janes, brogues or spectator shoes with the briefcase.

So yes. In spite of, or maybe because of, my quirky and eclectic persona, I’m a matcher.

Style aside, I’m glad mismatching is more than acceptable, since I can’t afford a bag to match every pair of shoes!!

Tanya, I feel more modern when I mismatch my bag and shoes too.

Becky, good point!

Brianna, I don’t feel that the textures of your shoes and bag need to match if they are the same colour. In fact I’d probably encourage a mismatch. As far as wearing the same colour in different shades, I’d say you’d need to judge the ensemble from head to toe. Sometimes it will work and sometimes it won’t.

I love patterned bags. I love them too much. I’m a little bit addicted to them. I would guess you can wear any color shoe when you wear a patterned bag – am I correct? I would also like an honest opinion about Vera Bradleys. Are they now considered passe?

With the exception of black, I actually feel weird matching my shoes and bag. I might also match brown handbag and shoes except I don’t have a brown handbag.

I don’t consciously match my shoes & bag, but since my everyday bag is black or brown and many of my shoes are black or brown, I’m sure they match quite often. Lately I have acquired a few brighter colored bags and shoes so they probably match less often. I don’t think having your bag and shoes in the same color looks dated at all, but it’s not a must.

I like that rule of no more than 2 items in the same color. Even that rule is probably not very important if you’re in an all neutral outfit, but wearing too many items in one distinctive color can look silly. Just the other day I saw a woman in an apple green coat, apple green shoes and bag, apple green umbrella, and she was walking a dog with an apple green bandanna! Her black pants and turtleneck provided some, but not enough relief from all that green.

I basically only wear black shoes, so when I carry my dark red handbag I match them to dark red glasses – strange twist on the handbag/shoes matching, but it does seem to work!

I agree, aesthetically, I prefer to mismatch bags vs. shoes. For example, I prefer that one is neutral and the other a pop of color, with the exception of black or brown that can be “popped” with a natural or white color — the
“pop” being based on the contrast in the intensity of black/brown vs. natural/white. Matching bright colored shoes and bags makes them compete and is distracting.

I love both styles… I have a pair of gold high heel shoes I’m planning on wearing with a black dress, what color bag do you think I should wear with it? I’m thinking black because i think gold will be a little much….