Naturally, I disagree. In this thread, I will explain two things. First, why these outfits looks terrible to most…

Naturally, I disagree. In this thread, I will explain two things. First, why these outfits looks terrible to most people. Second, why it's you, not me, who lacks taste. 🧵

There are no universal rules in dress. Everything starts with the cultural language you're operating in. Thus, to answer any style question, you first have to ask what aesthetic language inspires you. If you're inspired by classic men's tailoring, there are some rules.

Since the suit is a British invention, it's natural that many of our norms derive from Britain. Historically, men there wore dark business suits with black oxfords when doing business in London, and then more leisurely suits with brown derbies when relaxing in the countryside.

However, in Southern Italy and the United States, were life was a bit more casual, it was customary for men to wear dark or mid-brown shoes, even with business suits and in more "serious" settings.

The combination of these things — dark suit with a white shirt, dark tie, and generally dark shoes — created an aesthetic language that can be summarized by a simple rule: the cynosure of a tailored outfit should the V-shaped section formed by jacket's front edge, shirt, and tie

This leads the viewer's eye up to your face, so the outfit feels like it's supporting you. There are rare exceptions. Some banking firms are called "white shoe" because elite bankers used to wear white bucks; spectators also have a long history in classic men's style.

But as a general rule, you don't want your shoes to stand out. If you look back at the history of classic men's tailoring, you will find that most men achieved this by wearing shoes that mostly disappeared from view. This put the focus on them, not their footwear.

To make sure your shoes don't stand out, it helps to pay attention to two things. First, the totality of your outfit. Second, nuances in color, such as shade, temperature, and vibrancy. Brown is not just "brown" — there are many variations.

Shade and vibrancy should be obvious and thus need no explanation. Color temperature can be explained by the image below. Warm colors have red undertones; cooler colors have blue or gray undertones.

Observe the three combos below. As laid out, these combos work because the cooler gray-brown jacket teams well with the stone-colored trousers, while the brighter, warmer blue teams well with the yellow-cream trousers. Cold with cold; warm with warm.

If you don't want any single element to stand out, it helps to pay attention to these subtle nuances, as they can help create harmony. See how everything on the left is a cool color; everything on the right is a warm color (suit, shirt, tie, shoes, etc). Hence, we get harmony.

When you wear tan shoes like this, you drag the eye downward, violating the rule about how the focus should be the V-shaped section underneath your chin. The shoe color is too light, warm, and vibrant. Gives the impression of Donald Duck.

Now onto matters of taste. You will notice that everyone posted above was a member of the ruling class or at least cultural elite: King Charles, George HW Bush, John F Kennedy, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, Gary Cooper, and such.

In his book Distinction, Pierre Bourdieu right noted that our notions of "Good Taste" are often nothing more than the preferences and habits of the ruling class. If we're to take the "sociological" understanding of taste, bright tan shoes here would be "bad taste."

People intuitively know this, even if they can't spell out the history. It's why everyone recognizes that the King of Spain dresses in "good taste," while many will look upon the outfits on the right as clumsy and unsophisticated.

Should you want to wear tan shoes, it would help to do two things. First, pay attention to the whole outfit. It's easier to wear tan shoes with light colored tailoring. This is like wearing a charcoal suit with black dress shoes, but made a few shades lighter.

Second, pay attention to temperature. The softer, unsaturated, colder shade of tan on the left could work with a tan suit. But the warmer, redder, more saturated tan on the right will require a more vibrant color, such as a bright blue suit.

IMO, most men should avoid tan shoes entirely, as they are unlikely to have the wardrobe to support them. Better to stick to black for more formal shoes, and then mid- or dark brown for other types of dress shoes.