029: Why Navy Suits with Light Brown Shoes Is A Horrific Combination

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But here's the crazy part, man. Back when I was wearing light brown shoes with a navy suit, that was before I really stepped up my menswear, stepped up my shoe game and all that stuff. So most of the guys who are arguing with me, saying that I'm wrong about this, the funny part about it is, and I put everything on this, I bet everything I have, those guys aren't wearing nice shoes, man. Those aren't the guys in really nice light brown shoes.

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who are pushing back against this. I've seen the light brown shoes that these dudes be wearing when I go to weddings or even, you know, just walking around. I see those shoes, man. Why would you want somebody to be looking at those shoes as the first thing that they notice?

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Yo, what up? Welcome to I'm Not A Gentleman, the show designed to help you look stylish without following trends. I'm your host Vladimir Riché from chaceandryder.com and your favorite menswear YouTuber's favorite menswear YouTuber. I've helped dozens of clients and hundreds of students and viewers feel more confident by looking their best and always making a great first impression.

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Welcome to episode 29 of I'm Not A Gentleman. And what I really want to talk about today is why Navy suits and light brown shoes don't work.

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And this is something that I've been talking about for a while. The first video I made on this topic was in 2019. So we're talking about five years ago. And it's a controversial topic. And when I first brought it up, I didn't think that I was saying anything controversial. And I still don't think I'm saying anything controversial, but the truth of the matter is it is a controversial topic and that's because so many guys love that combination.

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I'd say probably 99% of guys out there think that wearing a Navy suit with light brown shoes is a great combination, man. And that's what I want to talk about on this episode. I know I've touched on it before, but I want to dedicate a whole episode on it because I think that when I'm dead and gone, this is what I'm going to be remembered for. The dude that was on a crusade to help eliminate.

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the whole Navy suit and that brown shoes combination, man. So we're gonna talk about that coming right up. Intro.

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Intro music: Bag in that bag in that bag again, whoa!

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So yeah, man, I made a video in late December on Instagram, like little short video, like 40 seconds or something like that, telling guys how to wear brown shoes and the best combinations to wear with brown shoes. Obviously brown has multiple shades. So I started the video by saying that, so I started off the video saying that before you buy those light brown shoes, you should think about what you're going to be wearing them with.

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and all hell broke loose after that. I can't believe how funny this is to me. It's really hilarious, man. Now, if you read the comments on this video, you'll see that it's probably 75% of people disagreeing. And I kind of expected that because when you talk about something that guys are doing wrong,

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They feel like you're attacking them personally. You could have sworn that I was talking about these dudes' moms or something. You know, so instead of taking a step back and saying to themselves, man, why is he saying that? Does he have a point? No. All these dudes jumped out the window instead. And to make matters worse, my tie, or should I say the tie knot,

06:13
my tie knot in the video was a little bit crooked. Now, I know that some guys wear their ties like that on purpose, you know, to give it a certain flair. That's not really what I was going for in this video. My tie knot was a little bit crooked and I didn't notice. And by the way, it's not extremely crooked either, but you wouldn't believe how many people in the comments.

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mentioned the fact that my tie is a little bit crooked, a way of deflecting the issue at hand. The thing is, my tie not being slightly crooked is something that'll take me what, less than two seconds to fix it? Versus someone who's wearing light brown shoes and a navy suit, they have much bigger issues and two seconds will not help them. And all I'm trying to do is help.

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You know, trying to bring something to the forefront that a lot of guys may not be aware of. And the thing about the classic menswear community that I belong to, this is old news. So I'm not saying anything that I made up myself. This is something that I picked up along my journey. And one story that I always tell people is

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I realized that I wasn't dressing well around 2013, but it still took me two years to finally start putting everything together the right way. And that's because I try to do everything myself. And I've enjoyed it because, you know, the journey is better than the destination. But at the same time, if I could have saved myself a year,

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Like it's okay to probably do your research for a year and then you're like, you know what? I gotta find a way to accelerate this thing. But I didn't really do that. I just tried to do everything myself. So this is why, not to go on a tangent about this, but this is why now I try to help guys transform without taking the time that it took me. Because I already have the information that they're looking for. So I just wanna share the information.

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You have to realize sometimes you need a mentor. And one of my guests, my man August, from episode 24 of the wardrobe audit, he said even doctors need doctors. And that's a great way to put it. So whether you think you're already at a point where you know everything already, or you're somebody who's just starting out, you should definitely be looking for someone that could take you to that next level. But.

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Back to the topic at hand, being that I try to do everything by myself, which is possible by the way, it just takes longer, I picked this up while I was doing my research. You know, I read somewhere, I couldn't really tell you who said it, where I picked it up from. Might have been from Styleform because that's probably where I got most of my information. Someone said, you shouldn't be wearing light brown shoes with darker suits.

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And this is something that I've done myself plenty of times. I remember that my son, Chase's christened, which was in May or June, probably June 2012. He was born in November of 2011. And I wore a Navy suit with light brown shoes. And that's a picture that I always post whenever I'm talking about some of the mistakes that I used to make.

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So when I heard it, it's not like I automatically agreed with it right away. But it stopped me in my tracks because that used to be one of my favorite combinations. But what I didn't do was fight it. You know, I didn't comment back and said, no, you wrong. You know, I didn't take it personal, man. I'm here to learn, you know what I mean? So.

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When the dude said that and then he explained why, you know, something along the lines, that is too much of a contrast. It draws the eyes downward as opposed to, you know, you always want the eyes to be upwards towards your face. When you walk in a room, you don't want people to be looking at your feet.

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You know, you want them to look at your face first. It made sense to me. But I still had to really think about it, because I'm like, man, I really like my light brown shoes, you know? And I want people to see them. But here's the crazy part, man. Back when I was wearing light brown shoes with a navy suit, that was before I really stepped up my menswear, stepped up my shoe game and all that stuff.

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So most of the guys who are arguing with me, saying that I'm wrong about this, the funny part about it is, and I put everything on this, I bet everything I have, those guys aren't wearing nice shoes, man. Those aren't the guys in really nice light brown shoes who are pushing back against this. I've seen the light brown shoes that these dudes be wearing when I go to weddings or even, you know, just walking around. I see those shoes, man.

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What would you want somebody to be looking at those shoes as the first thing that they notice? So that's why a lot of times, not even a lot of times, that's why I kind of like stopped responding to the comments on that video. I don't remember how many comments the video has, but it's a lot. Because why am I wasting my time arguing with you not even wearing nice shoes? So there's already a disconnect. It's the same thing of guys who like to wear really colorful

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socks with like 20 different colors on them, stripes and all sorts of craziness, drawing your eyes downward and you look and they're not even wearing nice shoes. It's like, what are we doing, man? And you would think that I'm a type of guy who doesn't like nice shoes because I'm saying that people shouldn't be looking at your shoes first. So I must not like shoes. A couple guys mentioned that in the video and I'm saying to myself, what?

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On the contrary, man, I'm one of the biggest proponents of shoes there is. I've been told to so many guys to nice shoes. And that's a comment that I get a lot, man. Thanks for introducing me to these brands. I've never heard of them before until your video. I take great pride in that. So to me, the shoes are the most important part. And this is what my framework is called the ground-up method because we're starting from the ground up.

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If you listen to any of my content, I call shoes the foundation. So it's not that I don't like shoes. I love shoes. I just don't think that this is the first thing that people should notice when they see you. By the way, this may come off as hypocritical because I always say that the first thing that women notice on men or their shoes, I didn't make that up. That's a saying that's been around forever. And the difference between that and what I'm saying is.

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When women look at your shoes, it's a choice. A lot of women like nice shoes for themselves, so they like shoes, period. So when they see a man, they think that this man dresses well, they wanna see what kind of shoes he's wearing. It's a choice. Versus when you step in somewhere and you're wearing a dark suit like Navy and you're wearing light brown shoes, you're not giving anybody a choice. Automatically, they just see two light beams on your feet, two flashlights, if you will.

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So that's the difference. Another example I can give you, and I've gotten pushed back on this as well, when you're in tailored clothing, you should be wearing a dress watch. That's if you wear a watch, right? So if you wear a watch, it should be a dress watch when you're in tailored clothing. Dress watches are typically smaller than let's say two watches. I get a lot of pushback about this because a lot of guys take their watches very personally. So let's say they have a chronograph

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in love with and they want to wear it with everything. Because they want people to see it, you know what I mean? So they feel like when they're looking at their best, they're in tailored clothing, they're going to be wearing their best watch. It could be a very expensive watch. But here's the thing, dress watches are going to be smaller, like I was saying. So you want the dress watch to fit nicely under the cuff of your shirt. But some of those bulky watches that I see guys wearing, they can't fit it.

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under their shirt sleeve or their shirt cuff. So they're thinking, this guy must not like watches because I want my big watch to be seen because I love that watch, it's a nice watch. But here's the thing that I always tell guys, if you want a nice watch, people will notice the watch regardless if it's big or not. So I always wear a dress watch when I'm in tailored clothing, but I still get comments about my watches.

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Because when I'm sitting down, I'm speaking, my hands are moving, and people will notice the watch, man. You don't have to go extra hard for people to notice it. If it's a nice watch, they will notice. If it's on a nice strap, they will notice. By the way, I do have my own watch strap company, shameless plug, link is in the show notes.

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But yeah, it's the same thing with shoes, man. I love shoes. Absolutely adore them. But I don't want those things to be the first thing that you notice when I walk in a room. I want you to see me first, not my shoes. And the reason why light brown shoes and navy suits don't work is because it's too much of a contrast. So the contrast is too jarring.

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Now, before you say, what about if someone is wearing, let's say, dark brown shoes, and they're wearing light color trousers? So if the shoes are heavy and the trousers are light, it still works because your shoes are your anchor. It doesn't work in the opposite though. And that's basically it. So this is why it kind of baffles me when I get pushed back.

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and people think it's controversial. It's not controversial. It's common sense. And if you say to yourself, I do love light brown shoes, so how should I wear them? The way to wear light brown shoes is to wear them with a light-colored suit. So something like a light gray is a perfect combination to wear with light brown, and light green, like a sage.

17:31
Anything that's really light would be a good color to wear with light brown, maybe a khaki cotton suit, something like that. Because there's not going to be that much of a contrast. And also, if you are saying, OK, I love Navy suits and I've always worn them with light brown shoes, what color shoes do you recommend? Number one, black always goes with every suit color and.

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Black and Navy is a classic combination for a CBS event. So let's say you go on to a wedding, a Navy suit and black shoes is a really good combination. Black shoes should always be worn when you're talking about a CBS event, anyway, like a wedding or a summer event. So, contrary to popular belief, because I have heard in the past that Navy and black don't go, that's such bad information.

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Other colors that you can wear are burgundy and oxblood. Those are two really good colors to wear with navy, but my favorite with navy is actually dark brown. Most of the time when I'm wearing navy, I'm typically wearing dark brown. So whether suede, regular leather or grain, I usually reach for those. But there are a few colors that go with it. You just don't want to wear anything light, even medium brown to me.

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It's too light to wear with navy. So I say medium brown for like more medium gray colors. As dark as navy is, you want something that's going to be able to take that kind of darker color and not stand out too much because of the contrast. I did make a podcast episode about this. So if you go back to episode four, it was the five must-have shoe colors and how to wear them. Then you'll find more information.

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in that episode. And by the way, guys are free to wear whatever they want.

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And some of the comments I've gotten is, well, it depends, you know, it depends on the person's confidence. It's so hilarious, man, because confidence, yes, it's extremely important. Because a lot of guys have told me, man, I can never pull off what you're wearing. And I'm saying to myself, of course you can, man, you gotta be confident when you're wearing whatever it is that you wanna wear, you know? But just because you're confident doesn't mean that you're well dressed.

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Being confident is part of it. You know, I take credit for being one of the worst-dressed guys when I first started wearing tailored clothing. Between 2006 and 2013, yeah, I was out here looking really bad. You know, reading GQ magazine, thinking that all my suits should be tight. I was looking crazy. But my confidence was to the roof. You couldn't tell me anything, man.

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And I was bigger too than I am right now, and my suits were smaller. Make that make sense? It doesn't, man, it doesn't make any sense. You know what I mean? But my confidence was through the roof, man. So yeah, confidence goes a long way, but you can be badly dressed and be confident as hell. Just facts. So yes, you can wear whatever you want, bro. You can wear your light brown shoes, your navy suit, and think that I'm crazy. That's cool.

20:53
The thing about it is that video has over 100,000 views right now on Instagram. And I know for a fact that it has helped a lot of guys, but what happens is the people who agree, they usually silent. They take the information, they apply it and they are better because of it. Versus those who disagree are going to be very vocal because they feel like I'm attacking them.

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Like I said, I don't want to sound cocky about this at all. And I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just telling you what looks good and what doesn't. So feel free to wear whatever you want, but just remember where you heard this first. And like I was saying, I didn't make it up. So I don't want to take credit like I made it up. I've learned it myself, but you don't hear many guys talking about it. Although recently somebody did make a video on it after watching my video and he's kind of passing it off as if.

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He came up with it all by himself. It's all good, man. And toward that whole discussion, one thing that became clear to me is there are two types of men when it comes to menswear. And I'm speaking about guys who like to dress up. There are those who get dressed to be noticed, and there are those who just get noticed.

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because they are dressed well. I'm in the latter category. I don't want to go somewhere and everybody's talking about what I got on. If one piece gets too many comments, I usually have to rethink that piece because I don't want one part of my wardrobe to stand out more than the others. One line that I've said in one of my YouTube videos that's gotten a lot of love.

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I've had a few guys repeated in the comments of that video, but I said something along the lines that dressing well is like an orchestra that's so in sync that you can't tell which instrument is doing what. A lot of time when you listen to an orchestra, you can't make out which instrument is actually playing. You just hear a really beautiful sound. And that's how I think about my outfit when I get dressed. And I've always said the biggest compliment that somebody can pay me

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is you dress really well, but I can't really pinpoint exactly why. That's the best compliment I've ever gotten. And I don't think anything can top that. And that's the model that I go by. That's what I try to teach my students. That's what I try to teach my clients. And at the same time, it's what I try to teach my viewers. Dressing well should be seamless. I don't want people to keep commenting about my shoes.

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because it's so in their face. I want them to compliment the whole thing. And don't get me wrong, people will have their favorites. Some guys will compliment the shoes because they're probably really into shoes. When I meet a guy, the first thing I do notice are the shoes, you know, I'm a shoehead, so yeah. I'm biased, you know? And some guys will compliment the tie. When well-dressed men get together, the first thing that they notice on each other are the ties

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the shoes are all given. They already know that you're going to be wearing nice shoes if you're well dressed, because there's no such thing as somebody who's well dressed in bad shoes. So the tie is a really big thing. So what I'm saying is there will be favorites, and that's cool. But if one thing is just getting all the attention and all the comments over everything else, yeah, something might be wrong. So if you are someone who dresses because you want to get noticed,

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I mean, it's all good, man. But just know that I'm not in that category. And the crazy part about that is I never go anywhere and just blend in, even though my goal is to blend in. For example, when I go to a wedding, I don't want to outshine anyone, but I've never been anywhere where people don't come up to me and say, you know what you're doing, bro. And that's because my suit fits well.

25:15
My shoes are usually well-polished. I'm wearing a really nice tie, really nice collar on my shirt. Like I said, I wear nice watches and those things speak volumes. But it's not unusual for somebody who I don't consider well dressed to get more compliments than me if we both go into the same place. And I'm so fine with that, I can't even explain. Because once again, some of the things that I do, they fly under the radar.

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especially when most people don't really know the difference anyway. So I don't dress for compliments. And when I do my group coaching Master the Art of Dressing Well, the first thing that I teach, compliments don't matter because most of the compliments that you're going to get are from people who don't really know. They mean well, but they don't really know the difference. So if I walk in somewhere dressed the way that I dress and then someone else walks in,

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wearing light brown shoes with a navy suit, they'll probably get more compliments than I do. Because the contrast is so in people's faces, they have to say something. Versus me, only those who really know will be like, man, this guy. And you gotta be cool with that. Don't try to outshine people and do all that stuff. If you're well dressed, people will notice. They may not say anything, but they'll notice. It's like wearing a

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really nice cologne. People may not see anything, but they smell it. So don't wear cologne because you're trying to get a lot of compliments. Wear cologne because you want to smell good. And you like it. I hope that makes sense. Oh, and by the way, I received a couple comments on Instagram. How come I don't answer questions on the podcast anymore? Well, if you're not sending the questions in, how can I answer them, man?

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I mean, you want me to post the questions myself and then answer them too? Come on, man. Anyway, man, go to abno if you have any questions. You'll see a microphone on the bottom right corner. Click on that, leave your name and where you calling from and leave your questions and I will answer it live on the podcast. So thanks for tuning into episode 29 where we talked about light brown shoes and navy suits.

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It's not a go and come back again in a couple of days for a fire wardrobe audit episode. Peace!!

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