My black shoe obsession.

Niki Lea

We're on a relatively strict budget at my house right now, so I'm being careful about spending money. But I want to add a new on-trend, dressy sandal to my wardrobe and I found this cute pair at Payless that fit the bill:
http://www.payless.com/womens-.....e#start=11
The only problem is, I don't know what colour to buy! They have them in black, blue, and pink at my local store in my size. Typically, I always buy black because....well, I don't quite know. Virtually all of my shoes are black.
Do I branch out and buy the cognac, just to be different? Or do I stick with black, which I know that I like and will actually wear?

11 years ago

Shopping

10 replies

Latest reply was from Niki Lea

Suzanne (ambergreen)

Veteran

I've been at this spot. There have been times when at least 90% of my shoes were black, but I've tried to branch out from it!

What I do now is check which alternative color *really* works with my wardrobe. If none of them do, I usually avoid buying any of them. Otherwise, I can end up with orphans...or yet another black shoe that has to compete for wear time with all my other black shoes...

11 years ago

rabbit

Veteran

I think I'd look for larger color patterns in your wardrobe and also think about book-ending your hair color. I haven't bought any cognac or tan shoes because it's lighter than my hair, darker than my skin, and I have no leather bags or belts in that color it will go with.

White is a possibility too, but it depends what you would wear it with.
What colors of clothes do you tend to wear on top? On bottom? What bag color do you carry if you do?

11 years ago

Niki Lea

Veteran

Good points, ambergreen.
My workplace is also fairly conservative, so while I would love to purchase the pink or blue wedges they might be a bit OTT for my office environment. But then, I tell myself, shouldn't I just be who I am? And make my workplace culture take a back seat once in a while? It's a fine line.

11 years ago

always trying

Veteran

I am branching out from black. I have usually, until recently, had almost all black and maybe one bone pair for spring/summer in dressy shoes. Now I have navy and pewter. I find the pewter to be a great neutral and works with black also. Since I bought a navy blazer I found cute navy pumps that do not hurt my baby bunioned foot. I am wearing the navy with grey, tan-khake, olive, my purple dress, and whites. So if you already have dressy black maybe something like the blue would work with your wardrobe. I think pink would be limiting. Don't know about cognac either. I get a lot of shoe color inspiration on Pinterest.

Lots of cute sandals on sale this year., so maybe looking around a bit more as sales are starting as summer stuff seems to be plentiful everywhere there will probably be great sales.

11 years ago

Liz

Veteran

Usually, strappy heeled sandals that show lots of foot and toe aren't acceptable in conservative dress codes at all. So if these are appropriate for your workplace, I don't think that whether they're black or brown or blue makes much difference. I'm not sure I'd do them in pink unless you're senior enough to have proven your professional chops.

11 years ago

Niki Lea

Veteran

Liz, thank you. That's helpful advice. I guess my workplace isn't as conservative as I thought!
It's always nice to hear what it's like elsewhere. I'm on an island, so I think our version of conservative is probably more laid back than it would be on the mainland.
I'm giving the blue some serious thought now.

11 years ago

Anonymous

Those are really cute!

I'd definitely vote for something other than black because, if they're the only new shoes you may get for a while, it seems like something that's more different from what you already have would be more bang for the buck. But that's just me. If you really think you'd get more use out of the black than anything else, that's another story.

I really love the blue. The cognac could also be nice, although it seems a little less exciting somehow. But both would go well with black if you have a lot of that elsewhere in your wardrobe too. And I agree with Liz that the pink might be a little harder to pull off at work.

11 years ago

Kaelyn

Veteran

I'd only buy something different if I KNEW I was going to try to wear it. Do you have a few outfits in mind the cognac would look great with, or are you just considering the cognac because you have so much black already? If they won't go with anything, they might just sit there unworn. I've always been a fan of black shoes, too, and one time I bought an adorable pair of grey booties thinking I'd find things they'd go with, but I've only worn them a few times in the three or four years I've had them, while I've worn my black pair of booties too many times to count. But if you really think you'll wear the cognac ones, they could add variety and would look great with any outfits that use brown as a neutral.

11 years ago

Niki Lea

Veteran

Kaelyn, thank you. In fact, I do have outfits in mind for the blue and am only considering the cognac because it's something other than black.

11 years ago

Niki Lea

Veteran

Update: I bought the cobalt blue! So excited!

11 years ago

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