Bijou: yes the refinement is an issue… I know it’s anything goes now buuuutt somehow the tailored navy pant seems refined.
Your pumps look perfect for those pants.

In winter I would wear navy pants with footwear in navy, black, wine, teal, grey, silver ... There are lots of other options too, depending on the colours in the rest of your outfit. Personally, I like to bookend non-neutral footwear with an item in my portrait area (e.g. top/topper/necklace/scarf).

I love navy pants for work and I wear them with navy or cognac boots/booties. Non-matching navies in this context don't bother me. For summer I've worn gold metallic and silver metallic sandals, or light gray sneakers. I've never liked black footwear with navy pants, for myself.

The Cat & KMM: thank you for your excellent ideas. Yesterday I wore said pants with hot pink boots, and a tee with a print that contained both navy and hot pink. It was a little bit out there but overall I thought it was ok?

YES, jussie! What a fab, fun. Interesting and stylish outfit!

Ooh I like the navy with pink! Was just about to suggest sunflower/ pale yellow too (plus orange & purple, if you wear them?)

Other classic pairings are red or white shoes.

Late to this, but I'd say anything goes? I would personally do either black or some shade of brown or taupe. I would probably try to match it to another item, for example my purse, belt or a colour in the outfit, just to make it look intentional.

The Cat: thanks!! I appreciate the feedback.

Zaeobi: gosh pale yellow would be really lovely, and one of my favorite colours too. I don't have any, but what I do have is a pair of orange shoes…. I could certainly give those a try… if I can just come up with something for the top half of my body that could work well. I don’t have purple shoes (I wish!) but I could do my white sneaks. I briefly tried that and didn’t like it, however if I have a white top on it might work better. I’m just conscious of feeling to “uniform-y” in navy and white.

Helena: I totally agree matching it with something else in the outfit is key…. And now that you mention it, maybe I could try them with black shoes?? It’d be such a simple answer and I trust your taste! And a couple of other fabbers said the same so maybe I’ll give black n’ navy a go…. It’s all about trying new things…