I notice black shoes are not really looked upon with a lot of enthusiasm here. Since shoes are hard for me to find, I try and go for the most versatile color, and sometimes this means black. I'm not afraid of color by any stretch. It's just that if a pair of shoes comes only in black and some other colors that don't work in my wardrobe (like olive green or brown), I'm inclined to go for black and I feel silly rejecting a perfect pair of shoes over color. Some shoes also look better in a more muted color to me, and black has the bookending effect on me since my hair is black.

When is black okay and when is it just sad and boring? How can I make my black shoes NOT look sad and boring?