What do you jeans communicate? Ask your shoes
(Published at The Idle Man as "7 Tips On What Shoes To Wear With Jeans")
They are an icon from different ages, and various styles. How to combine them says a lot about you. This guide is a on how which way to know the perfect shoes for each jeans.
In essence, jeans are a pair of trousers. That’s not science. But don’t be so sure, because there is a world hidden behind them. This world contains many countries, many fabrics and many years of studies and engineering. And just like our face, our gesture and our style communicates, jeans also have much to say.
But how do you know which shoes to wear with which pair of jeans? Are skinnys solely designated to trainers or loafers? And what about straight leg? We’ve created a guide on which shoes to wear with which jeans, so you don’t have to worry anymore.
History
Everything started with the emergence of denim. It was the Italian city of Genoa, in which the name jeans derived from. This is because the French called this city Gênes, which sounds like jeans. While in Nimes France, weavers tried to reproduce the jean, and developed a similar fabric: denim, which means “from Nimes”.
At the beginning, jeans were the perfect clothing for miners since denim was the most suitable clothing to withstand water, wind and snow.
The idea that was born as “waist overalls”, travelled from Europe to North America and in 1873, Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss patented these particularly pair of trousers, and even though they weren’t miners, they discovered a denim gold.
Since then, and for more than a century, not only miners but farmers, cowboys, hippies, rockers, soldiers, teenagers, workers, Hollywood icons, men and women started wearing them. And this is how, what seemed to be a simple pair of trousers, turned into an icon. They could say what hour of the day it was, what urban tribe you belong to, or what do you do for a living.
But, despite jeans never going out of style, there is -indeed- some style to keep in mind in order to match them properly with the perfect shoes, especially if you want to give the proper message.
Messages
With that being said, it’s highly recommended to avoid any type of blindly mixing jeans and shoes. Colours, patterns, textures are some of the strategic parts in order to create the perfect message.
Formal
In an imaginary scale of formality, at the top, where you want to say “Hello, this is formality talking here”, you need the most formal jeans with the most common shoes: a brogue. Darker jeans are always much dressier than lighter ones.
And remember these three tips: not too long, tappered at the bottom, well fit in the waist and well fit in the hips (there was a free tip). For shoes, black and dark brown are the ideal couple.
If you still want to give a formal look, but at the same time a message of “not too formal”, keep those jeans and instead wear the Derby shoes or Blucher, which have the eyelet facings stitched on top of the vamp. Elegance and debonair are still present.
If you want to add a message of “hey, I’m the one who brings coolness here”, you can choose a pair of loafer, and play with the light-light, dark-dark or light-dark combination of both. All of them are possible, except for brown shoes and black trousers, because they don’t mix at all.
Casual
For a bit of a casual cool message, the suggested options are slide ons. Comfortable, casual and still stylish. They match with pinrolled jeans and together, they help you to bring the “I am as cool as I am casual” message. Vanguardism increases if you try with green petrol, honey or wine colors. And, using a folded cuff is a positive casual twist.
Finally, if you only want to say “oh, hi, I’m just walking through here” you’ll probably most likely go for the most casual look: sneakers with jeans. If these jeans are with holes or with a lighter wash, they will help you to give that ultra-casual message. And here, everything is allowed.
Who’s Doing it Well
Since jeans do communicate, it’s important to keep in mind what we want to say, in order to “say” it properly.
If we talk about elegance, well, David Beckaham provides the perfect touch with jeans in a stylish way. He’s a sports man, but you find it elegant every time. Even in jeans.
And for a gentleman’s style, without losing formality, we have James Bond wearing jeans. Comfortable enought to combat evil, and confident enought to win every female conquer. It’s not a secret that jeans works perfectly well here.
Final Note
What do you want to say? This is the start of wearing jeans properly. Remember that the message you give is completed by your whole outfit. For example, pairing quality with quality is the clue, such as a tailored jacket for enhanced elegance.
And above all, the main rule is keep it simple. Because, you can behave as a miner searching for gold, as a Hollywood icon looking for fame, as a Latin singer enjoying life or “living la vida loca” or as James Bond, discovering secrets and conquering females. No matter what, focus on what you want to say. After all, jeans are “simply” a pair of trousers and a powerful tool to communicate what your style is.
