In the Navy

I recently had a Navy Blue conundrum: Exactly what color shoes to wear with navy blue? (Don’t know what the deal is with avoiding that color suit all these years.) Google was no help at all as totally conflicting advice – aside from universal agreement not to wear blue shoes with a blue suit.

So I asked colleague Nancy, who spent years in fashion (including shoes) at Neiman Marcus before her association exec career. She didn't hesitate to give this advice, with certainty:

If you wear navy pants with a light shirt - brown shoes
If you wear navy pants with a dark shirt - black shoes

If you wear a navy blazer with lighter pants - brown shoes
If you wear a navy blazer with dark pants - black shoes

She added this: “I would put a reminder that your shoes and belt should always match in color. If you are wanting to make an accessory pop (such as great shoes) then it would be OK to wear a dark shoe with light pants otherwise you would want to wear shoes that match as close to the pant color as possible.”

Being in the navy is one thing ... Might be a few more years before I work on making accessories pop.

Thanks Nancy!